English settlement of Belize

The Anglo-Saxon, English, or Baymen's settlement of Belize is traditionally thought to have been effected upon Peter Wallace's 1638 landing at the mouth of Haulover Creek. As this account lacks clear primary sources, however, scholarly discourse has tended to qualify, amend, or completely eschew said theory, giving rise to a myriad competing narratives of the English settling of Belize. Though none of the aforementioned have garnered widespread consensus, historical literature has tended to favour a circumspect account of a landing near Haulover sometime during the 1630s and 1660s, effected by logwood-seeking, haven-seeking, or shipwrecked buccaneers.

Prelude

Buccaneering

In NovemberDecember 1544, a patax of 22 French corsairs, mates of a captain called Pedro Braques by the Spanish, were apprehended off the coast of colonial Honduras. Their arrival marked the beginning of over three centuries of piracy in the Bay of Honduras. French corsairs were followed into the Bay by Elizabethan Sea Dogs three decades later. The earliest of these is thought to have been either Sir Francis Drake in the Minion, or John Oxenham in the Beare, who during 23 February 1573 – 22 March 1573 cruised the Bay and watered at Guanaxa. English buccaneering activities in the Bay intensified in the ensuing decades. Notably, during October 1577 – April 1578, an English pirate or privateer, called Francisco de Acles by the Spanish, with 60 men aboard two ships, sacked Puerto Caballos and Bacalar, possibly marking the earliest entrance of such sea dogs into Bacalar's waters. It is commonly thought that, upon the 1570s discovery of the intricate, secluded reefs, cayes, and coastline which characterised the waters of Bacalar, English buccaneers promptly opted to base their operations in this portion of the Bay, it affording them safe haven and quick access to Spanish ports.

Smuggling

Prior to 1630, Spanish smuggling with Anglo-Dutch pirate-merchants at ports in the Bay of Honduras is thought to have 'amounted to little more than evasion of duties and taxes,' with typical cases described as 'not spectacular.' However –
Consequently, post-1630 smuggling in the Bay is thought to have been 'sporadic but fairly frequent,' especially in indigo and logwood, 'large quantities' of which found their way to non-Spanish markets.

Logging

The earliest logwood cutting near the Bay of Honduras is commonly dated to 1562, and attributed to the Spanish conquistador Marcos de Ayala Trujeque of Valladolid, Yucatán. By the 1570s, Yucatanese encomenderos were shipping to Spain some 200 tonnes of logwood per annum, principally via Campeche. During this same decade, English pirates, privateers, or buccaneers are thought to have first recognised the commercial value of logwood, and consequently, to have increasingly sought it as prize.
It is uncertain when and where exactly English pirates or buccaneers first began surreptitiously cutting logwood, as opposed to merely seizing Spanish-cut logwood. Proposals range geographically from Campeche to Belize, and temporally from 1599 to 1670.

English settlement

The earliest English settlement near the Bay is thought to have been Old Providence. Anglo-Dutch buccaneers are known to have watered or camped in the island, and Cape Gracias a Dios, since at least 1616. English presence intensified shortly upon the 4 December 1630 chartering of the Old Providence Company. In 1631, Anthony Hilton's settlement in Tortuga was made a dependency of the Company. In 1633, Sussex Cammock established a trading post in Cape Gracias a Dios for Old Providence. By 29 January 1636, the Company was granted letters of reprisal against the Spanish. On 8 June 1638, the Company granted William Claiborne letters patent to settle Roatan. And shortly after 17 May 1641, Old Providence refugees are thought to have established themselves at Cape Gracias a Dios or Roatan.

Maya revolt

The 1638 Tipu rebellion against Bacalar, possibly aided by piratical raids of coastal and riverine Maya hamlets in that district, is thought to have significantly eroded Spanish dominion and presence in Bacalar's waters.

Incident

In tradition

Belize is traditionally held to have been among the first English settlements in the Bay of Honduras, along with Roatan. It is commonly thought to have been settled by Peter Wallace and his crew of 80 buccaneers, aboard the Swallow, in 1638. No records of this landing have been discovered, however, and it is commonly thought that none are extant, or that the story is apocryphal.

In scholarship

The traditional story of the English settlement of Belize is the most commonly given account in scholarly literature, though historians often qualify it, given the lack of primary sources. A variety of competing accounts have been proffered since the 18th century, none of which have gained widespread scholarly favour. Despite this, most scholarly accounts seem to favour a second- or third-quarter-of-the-17th century date, with responsibility attributed to pirate's-haven-seeking, logwood-seeking, or shipwrecked buccaneers.

			Date	Settled	Cause	Notes
1	1603	1607	late 1603 / c. est. of Hond. flotilla	Wallace	settle
2	1605	1615	c. 1610	Wallace	settle
3	1613	1641	prior to / c. Fuensalida misiones	the British	log
4	1617	1617	–	Wallace	?
5	1617	1652	prior to Bacalar sacking	the English	?
6	1629	1635	c. est. of Providence	Earl of Warwick's privateers / Providence Puritans	haven / farm
7	1630	1670	mid-17th cent.	Wallace	settle
8	1630	1670	prior to Treaty	the British	?
9	1634	1668	in sec. third of 17th cent.	Wallace	?
10	1638	1638	–	a few British subjects	wreck
11	1638	1638	–	Wallace	wreck
12	1640	1640	–	Wallace	wreck
13	1642	1658	during Cromwell govt.	the English	haven
14	1642	1680	after Bacalar sacking / after Truxillo sacking / after logging Tris	the British	haven / log
15	1650	1685	in sec. half of 17th cent. / prior to early 1680s	the English	–
16	1655	1680	after Jam. invasion / after logging Tris	Jamaicans	log
17	1658	1668	c. 1663	Wallace	log
18	1662	1670	–	Wallace	log
19	1662	1680	after logging Catoche / after logging Tris	Jamaicans	log
20	1667	1680	shortly after Treaty	Wallace	?
21	1667	1700	in last third of 17th cent.	the English	?
22	1701	1734	early 18th cent.	the English	haven
23	1717	1717	after logging Tris	Wallace	haven / log

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Category:17th century in Belize
Category:Piracy in the Caribbean
Category:17th-century pirates
Category:Caribbean pirates
Category:English pirates
Settlement