Captain George Shelvocke

Captain George Shelvocke was a British privateer from 1690-1728. He wrote a famous 1726 book based on his exploits. He was born in Shropshire but was raised and lived in London, when he was not at sea.

The fact that Captain Shelvocke was regarded as a buccaneer is also recorded in Carlos López Urrutia's work "Chile: A Brief Naval History": In 1720 the English Shelvocke attempted to attack Concepcíon but without success, eventually losing his ship at Juan Fernández. Finally, local authorities fortified all the main ports: Ancud, Valdivia, Concepcíon, Valparaíso and La Serena. The inhabitants of smaller towns where no royal (Spanish) troops were quartered, were organized into militia units. These two measures eventually put an end to piratical raids.

In the 1726 book it alleged that Hatley, a sailor on this expedition, was the Ancient Mariner who shot the Albatross in Coleridge's famous poem. His son, George Shelvocke, who travelled with him, later became Secretary to the General Post Office in London from 1742 to his death in 1760. An alternative history of that voyage was published by another crew member. The modern book "The Speedwell Voyage" by Kenneth Poolman is a story is based on the real-life adventures of George Shelvocke, commander of the 22-gun privateer Speedwell, that set sail in 1718 to steal treasure from Spanish ships in the South Seas.

There are several reminiscences by the poet William Wordsworth concerning the above:

"Written at Alfoxden in the spring of 1798, under circumstances somewhat remarkable. The little girl who is the heroine I met within the area of Goodrich Castle in the year 1793. Having left the Isle of Wight and crossed Salisbury Plain, as mentioned in the preface to "Guilt and Sorrow," I proceeded by Bristol up the Wye, and so on to North Wales, to the Vale of Clwydd, where I spent my summer under the roof of the father of my friend, Robert JONES. In reference to this Poem I will here mention one of the most remarkable facts in my own poetic history and that of Mr. COLERIDGE. In the spring of the year 1798, he, my Sister, and myself, started from Alfoxden, pretty late in the afternoon, with a view to visit Lenton and the valley of Stones near it; and as our united funds were very small, we agreed to defray the expense of the tour by writing a poem, to be sent to the New Monthly Magazine set up by Phillips the bookseller, and edited by Dr. AIKIN. Accordingly we set off and proceeded along the Quantock Hills towards Watchet, and in the course of this walk was planned the poem of the "Ancient Mariner," founded on a dream, as Mr. COLERIDGE said, of his friend, Mr. CRUIKSHANK. Much the greatest part of the story was Mr. COLERIDGE'S invention; but certain parts I myself suggested:--for example, some crime was to be committed which should bring upon the old Navigator, as COLERIDGE afterwards delighted to call him, the spectral persecution, as a consequence of that crime, and his own wanderings. I had been reading in SHELVOCK'S Voyages a day or two before that while doubling Cape Horn they frequently saw Albatrosses in that latitude, the largest sort of sea-fowl, some extending their wings twelve or fifteen feet. "Suppose," said I, "you represent him as having killed one of these birds on entering the South Sea, and that the tutelary Spirits of those regions take upon them to avenge the crime." The incident was thought fit for the purpose and adopted accordingly. I also suggested the navigation of the ship by the dead men, but do not recollect that I had anything more to do with the scheme of the poem. The Gloss with which it was subsequently accompanied was not thought of by either of us at the time; at least, not a hint of it was given to me, and I have no doubt it was a gratuitous afterthought. We began the composition together on that, to me, memorable evening."

"The Ancient Mariner was founded on a strange dream, which a friend of COLERIDGE had, who fancied he saw a skeleton ship, with figures in it. We had both determined to write some poetry for a monthly magazine, the profits of which were to defer the expenses of a little excursion we were to make together. The "Ancient Mariner" was intended for this periodical, but was too long. I had very little share in the composition of it, for I soon found the style of COLERIDGE and myself would not assimilate. Beside the lines (in the fourth part)--"And thou art long, and lank, and brown,/As in the ribbed sea-sand--" I wrote the stanza (in the first part) "He holds him with his glittering eye--/ The Wedding-Guest stood still,/And listens like a three-years child:/The Mariner hath his will.--" and four or five lines more in different parts of the poem, which I could not now point out. The idea of shooting an albatross was mine; for I had been reading SHELVOCK'S Voyages, which probably COLERIDGE never saw. I also suggested the reanimation of the dead bodies, to work the ship."

Shelvocke's son, George, is mentioned in Christopher Smart's "Jubilate Agno" (1722-71), which contains the following lines in Opening of Fragment B, (which was not published until 1939):

"Let Achsah rejoice with the Pigeon who is an antidote to malignity and will carry a letter...For I bless God for the Postmaster general and all conveyancers of letters under his care especially Allen and Shelvock..."

George Shelvocke, Senior, known bibliography

• "A voyage round the world by the way of the great South Sea. Performed in a private expedition during the war, which broke out with Spain, in the year 1718." by George SHELVOCKE, fl. 1690-1728; 1757
• "A Voyage round the World by the way of the great South Sea, performed in the years 1719-1722." SHELVOCKE, George, the Elder; pp. xxxii. 468. J. Senex: London, 1726. 8o.
• "A Voyage round the World ... "With introduction and notes by W. G. Perrin ... With 7 ... plates and 1 map. SHELVOCKE, George, the Elder pp. xxii. 262. Cassell & Co.: London, 1928. 8o.
• "A Privateer's Voyage round the World. By Capt. G. SHELVOCKE. With aspersions upon him by William Betagh [extracted from A Voyage round the World]." SHELVOCKE, George, the Elder pp. 285. Jonathan Cape: London, 1930. 8o.
• "Voyage round the World." [Abridged account.] SHELVOCKE, George, the Elder
• "Das Capitain Georg SHELVOCKE Reise um die Welt, auf dem Wege durch die grosse Sudsee ... im Jahr 1718" ... unternommen ... Aus dem Englischen. SHELVOCKE, George, the Elder - Bremen, 1787. 8o.
• "The Voyages of Captains Clipperton and SHELVOCKE." SHELVOCKE, George, the Elder
• "The Great Art of Artillery "... Translated from the French by G. SHELVOCKE ... Illustrated with ... copper plates. SIEMIENOWICZ. Kazimierz London, 1729. fol.
• "A voyage round the world, by way of the great south sea: performed in a private expedition during the war, which broke out with Spain, in the year 1718". By Capt. George SHELVOCKE. The second edition, revised and republished by George SHELVOCKE, Esq.; SHELVOCKE, George, the Elder London: printed for W. Innys and J. Richardson, M. & T. Longman ..., 1757. [6],iii,[3],476p.,[5]leaves of plates, maps (8o); 22cm