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Alexander Selkirk (1676 – 13 December 1721) was a Scottish privateer and Royal Navy officer who spent four years and four months as a castaway (1704–1709) after being marooned by his captain, initially at his request, on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific Ocean.
Learn about Alexander Selkirk, the Scottish sailor who inspired Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Find out how he was marooned on an island for five years and what happened to him after his rescue.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Early Life
- Marooned
- The Miskito William
- Rescue & Riches
- Selkirk & Robinson Crusoe
Alexander Selkirk, sometimes given as Selcraig, was born in Scotland in 1676. He was the son of a shoemaker and had six brothers. His first appearance in the historical records is that he was found guilty of indecent behaviour, of all places, in church. He then went to sea and became officer material thanks to his skill in mathematics and using nav...
To be marooned on a desert island was not an uncommon punishment for unruly sailors, but in 1704, Selkirk volunteered for the treatment mid-expedition. Typically, a mariner was left without provisions, equipment, or even clothes so that marooning was, in reality, a delayed deathsentence and a punishment reserved for thieves and mutineers. For this ...
Curiously, Selkirk was not the first mariner to be marooned on the Juan Fernández Islands. In 1681, the buccaneer Captain Watling left there by necessity a Mosquito Indian (aka Miskito, from Honduras or Nicaragua). Watling’s ship was threatened by an approaching Spanish vessel and so he left the island while this man, called William, had been out h...
Alexander Selkirk had settled down to life on his island, but he kept a constant watch for passing ships. Finally, one ship landed. Back in 1708, the Englishman Woodes Rogers (1679-1732) had embarked on a privateering voyage that would ultimately take him around the world. On 2 February 1709, mid-circumnavigation, Rogers rescued Selkirk from the Ju...
Selkirk's life on a desert island inspired Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe, first published in 1719 and widely considered the first novel in the English language. Defoe took a great interest in maritime history and particularly the lives of privateers and pirates. Indeed, he is credited by some historians as the man behind the celebrated pirat...
- Mark Cartwright
Feb 9, 2018 · Learn about the life and adventures of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor who was abandoned on a deserted island for four years. Discover how his story inspired the famous novel by Daniel Defoe and influenced other literary works.
Learn how a Scottish sailor named Alexander Selkirk, also known as Selcraig, became the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's classic novel Robinson Crusoe. Discover his adventurous and turbulent past, his mutinous voyage, his marooning on a deserted island and his legacy.
5 days ago · Selkirk's real name was Alexander Selcraig, but he changed it to Selkirk after his marooning. 32. He was known for his incredible physical fitness, even in his later years. 33. Selkirk's story was so popular that it inspired other castaway tales, including "The Swiss Family Robinson."
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Sep 28, 2016 · Alexander Selkirk was a Scottish buccaneer who chose to be marooned on an island for four and a half years. Learn how his story differed from the famous novel by Daniel Defoe and other survival narratives.
