Biographical entry Dampier, William (1651 - 1715)

Summary

William Dampier commanded an expedition to the South Pacific which discovered the Dampier Archipelago and the Dampier Strait.

Details

Fought in the Anglo-Dutch War in 1672-3. Became planter in the West Indies and a buccaneer against the Spanish Caribbean colonies (1679-81). Wrote a valuable hydrographic treatise. Commanded an expedition to the South Pacific which discovered the Dampier Archipelago and the Dampier Strait. He also named the island of New Britain.

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Australian Botanists - Biographies, MS 064; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Published resources

Books

• Dampier, William, A New Voyage Round the World: the Journal of an English Buccaneer, Hummingbird Press, London, 1998, 284 pp. Details
• George, Alex S., William Dampier in New Holland: Australia's First Natural Historian, Blooming Books, Hawthorn, Victoria, 1999, 191 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Bach, J., 'Dampier, William (1651-1715)', in Douglas Pike (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 1, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1966, pp. 277-278. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010265b.htm. Details
• Baer, Joel H., 'William Dampier, 1651-1715', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004. Details

Conference Papers

• Williams, Gary C., 'William Dampier: Pre-Linnean Explorer, Naturalist, Buccaneer', in Michael T. Ghiselin and Alan E. Leviton (eds), Impact of Travels on Scientific Knowledge, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, 2004, pp. 146-166. Details

Online Resources

• 'Dampier, William', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1228973. Details