Peter Wallace (buccaneer)

This article is about the 17th century buccaneer. For other uses, see Peter Wallace (disambiguation).

Captain
Peter Wallace
Buccaneer standing with arms crossed looking at stage-right
The Buccaneer by Walter A. Clark for Scribner’s Magazine (1907)
Bornbefore 1630s
England or Scotland
Diedafter 1630s
colonial Belize (presumed)
Known forfounding the first English settlement in the Bay of Honduras in 1638
Piratical career
TypeBuccaneer
Years active1630s
RankCaptain
Base of operations
CommandsSwallow

Peter Wallace (fl. 1638) is commonly held to have been an English or Scottish buccaneer who, in 1638 aboard the Swallow, founded the first English settlement in present-day Belize. Wallace's historicity is debated, first emerging in the 1829 Honduras Almanack; however, several scholars deem him a legendary protagonist of the country's founding myth, rather than an actual historical figure.

Buccaneering

In 1638, Wallace is believed to have landed at Swallow Caye aboard the Swallow, with a crew of some 80 British men. This is often regarded as the first non-Maya, non-Hispanic settlement in present-day Belize.[1][note 1]

Legacy

Social

Wallace became the subject of local buccaneering myths and legends by at least the 1830s, emerging from the 1829 Honduras Almanack.[2] Swallow Caye is believed to be named after the Swallow.[3] Similarly, the 'Belize' toponym is commonly held to be a Spanish-mediated corruption of 'Wallace' or 'Wallis.'[4][note 2][note 3]

Scholarly

19th century

The earliest mention of Wallace in print is thought to be that of the Honduras Almanack for 1829, which noted that 'Wallice' was a 'Lieutenant among the Bucaniers who formerly infested these seas [the Bay of Honduras] ... [and who] first discovered the mouth of the River Belize.'[5][6][note 4] The same publication gave further notice of Wallace in 1839, now noting –

Belize owes its origin to a Scotch Corsair Chief of the name of Wallace, a native of Falkland in Kinrosshire. At the time that these formidable pirates were driven from Tortuga, a small island situated a few miles north of St. Domingo [Haiti], Wallace[,] to escape from the just vengeance of the Spaniards[,] fled for security amongs [sic] the numerous islands on the coast of Yucatan and finally settled at the mouth of the River Belize. Here[,] after many vicissitudes both by sea and land[,] Wallace fixed his residence, [and] erected a few log huts and a small fortalice, which stood on the site now occupied by the handsome premises of Messrs. Boitias and Delande.

— Honduras Almanack for 1839.[7][8]

This information was promptly popularised by John Lloyd Stephens, who, on 30 October 1839, landed in Belize with Frederick Catherwood en route to Maya ruins in Guatemala, further enriched by Justo Sierra O'Reilly on 5 September 1849, and repeated throughout scholarly and lay literature of the 19th century.[9][10][11][note 5] By 1883, an historian described the state of affairs thus –

A halo of romance surrounds the early history of British Honduras, legend assigning this region as the scene of many a daring exploit, many a riotous orgie, in the good old times when the adventurous sons of Albion roamed the Caribbean, partly under the protection of their own dreaded black flag, and sometimes under that of the country of their birth, [...]. The central hero of this romance was a Scottish rover named Wallace, or Wallis, "who so distinguished himself," naively remarks the Honduras Almanac fifty-six years ago, "by acts of bravery and desperation that his name became a terror to the Spaniards."

— Archibald Gibbs in 1883.[12]

20th century

A number of competing theories regarding Wallace's identity and arrival to Belize were proffered in the 20th century.[13]

  1. In 1925, Guatemalan historian Francisco Arturias claimed that Wallace was Sir Walter Raleigh's chief mate at least during that privateer's El Dorado expedition, and further, that Wallace sailed from England on 14 May 1603, settled Belize shortly thereafter, but abandoned the settlement in 1617, finally dying in England in 1621.[14][15] Notably, this theory was accepted by Sir Alan Burdon in 1931.[13][16]
  2. In 1946, Belizean historian E. O. Winzerling claimed that 'Willis' set sail for Tortuga in 1639 with a group of men 'drawn mostly from those expelled from Nevis' and became their governor there, and further, that Wallace and company were routed from Tortuga by the French in August 1640 and arrived at the mouth of the Belize River, founding a settlement there 'approximately in September 1640.'[17][18][note 6]
  3. In 1956, American geographer James Jerome Parsons suggested that Wallace may have been an Old Providence Puritan who, with a sizeable contingent of refugee settlers, arrived in Belize in 1641 after the Spanish capture of Old Providence.[19][20]

21st century

Recent, 21st century literature has tended towards agnosticism regarding the identity and historicity of Wallace.[17] However, some scholars have deemed this trend 'incorrect,' arguing that Wallace is demonstrably apocryphal.[17][21][22] Most notably, historians Barbara and Victor Bulmer-Thomas argued in 2016 that the Baymen George Westby and Thomas Pickstock, and the Jamaican historian George Wilson Bridges, disseminated the account of Wallace's founding of Belize in the 1820s, despite lacking primary sources.[23] They further note, 'an extensive search for a buccaneer called 'Wallace,' 'Wallice' or 'Willis' in the 17th century reveals not surprisingly that there was no such person.'[24] This analysis was further supported by historian Matthew Restall who conducted his own research and concluded that 'if Wallace had existed, there would at least be one mention of him in seventeenth or eighteenth-century sources. But there is not even a passing mention of a Wallace in any of the printed sources from the era.'[25]

Notes and references

Explanatory footnotes

  1. ^ Variations of this story exist. See English settling of Belize for a fuller discussion. For instance, anon. 1829, p. 40 states

    1638. ---- This year a few British subjects first inhabited Honduras, having been wrecked on the Coast.

    (which story is accepted by Avery 1900, p. 333, by Bristowe & Wright 1888, p. 23, by Swayne 1917, p. 162, and [broadly] by Gibbs 1883, p. 22), while anon. 1828, p. 4 (quoting anon. 1826) states

    The British Settlement of Honduras, of which Belize is the capital, cannot be traced to be of any greater antiquity than from the administration of Oliver Cromwell, in Great Britain, at which period it was, from its remote and secret situation, used by the English, rather as a place of refuge and concealment, from the dreadful and savage warfare then carried on by the Spaniards ... .

    (which story is accepted by Temple 1857, p. 116), whereas Ancona 1877, pp. 7–8 states
    1. (quoting a column entitled Ojeada histórica sobre el establecimiento británico de Belice in the Fénix newspaper by Justo Sierra) that Wallace landed in the mid-17th century at the mouth of the Belize River, where he and his crew built defensive trenches (accepted by Peniche 1869, pp. 218–219, and by Rubio Alpuche 1894, p. 34),
    2. (quoting a biography of Antonio de Figueroa y Silva by Crescencio Carrillo) that Wallace led British buccaneers from their base in Laguna de Terminos to the Belize River in 1717 (repeated in Carillo y Ancona 1878, pp. 260–261),
    3. (quoting a geographical dictionary by Ungewitter) that Wallace landed in 1640 (accepted by Craig 1969, p. 55 and Winzerling 1946, pp. 53–56),
    4. (quoting a geographical dictionary by Egli) that Wallace landed in 1610,
    5. (quoting a geographical dictionary by MacCulloch) that Wallace landed after the signing of the Earl of Sandwich's Treaty on 23 May 1667,

    while Asturias 1925, pp. 8–9, 11 states that Wallace landed in 1603 or 1604.

  2. ^ For instance, the following variants of 'Wallace' or 'Wallis' appear in Spanish records– 'Walis,' 'Wallix,' 'Valiss,' 'Valiz,' 'Balis,' 'Balles,' 'Balize,' 'Bellesse,' 'Bellize,' 'Belize,' 'Belice,' per Ancona 1877, pp. 6, 10–12.
  3. ^ Though the following alternatives have been proposed for the etymology of 'Belize'–
    1. from French balise (lit. beacon), as in Ancona 1877, pp. 6, 9–12 (quoting Squier), in Bristowe & Wright 1888, p. 23, in Kinsbruner & Langer 2008, second para, and in Morris 1883, pp. 12–13,
    2. from Mayan belix (lit. muddy water) or belikin (lit. sea-facing land), as in Griffith, Alford & Bolland 2022, third para, and in Kinsbruner & Langer 2008, second para.
  4. ^ Published 9 March 1826 per Cave 1976, p. 23, or 1827 per Bulmer-Thomas & Bulmer-Thomas 2016, p. 139. Bulmer-Thomas & Bulmer-Thomas 2016, p. 139 describe the Honduras Almanack as 'a quasi-official record of the settlement [ie colonial Belize].' Further note, the printing press was first introduced to the country during 6 December 1825 – 9 March 1826 (Cave 1976, pp. 22–24, Burdon 1933, p. 288).
  5. ^ Stephens reported –

    The Honduras Almanac, which assumes to be the chronicler of this settlement, throws a romance arounds its early history by ascribing its origin to a Stotch bucanier named Wallace. The fame of the wealth of the New World, and the return of the Spanish galleons laden with the riches of Mexico and Peru, brought upon the coast of America hordes of adventurers–to call them by no harsher name–from England and France, of whom Wallace, one of the most noted and daring, found refuge and security behind the keys and reefs which protect the harbour of Balize. The place where he built his log huts and fortalice is still pointed out; but their site is now occupied by warehouses.

    — Stephens 1841, pp. 14–15
    O'Reilly reported –
    Dícese que un bucanero escocés atrevido y emprendedor, llamado Peter Wallace, [...] determinó buscar un sítio á propósito en que colocar perpetuamente su guarida. Como esto ocurria á mediados del siglo XVII la costa de Yucatan bañada del golfo de Honduras, se hallaba totalmente deshabitada de españoles, pues el único establecimiento que allí habia, el de Bacalar, habia sido aniquilado por la irrupcion del filibustero Abraham (en 1648 y 1652, segun Cogollydo) y por la sublevacion de los indios de aquel distrito. Wallace hizo un perfecto reconocimineto de aquellos bajos y arrecifes, y despues de un exámen diligente halló en nuestras costas un rio enteramente á cubierto con una series de cayos y bajos; y desembarcó allí con unos ochenta piratas, que desde el momento mismo construyeron unas cuantas chozas circunvaladas de una especie de empalizada ó ruda fortaleza. Dieron aquellos aventureros el nombre de Wallace al rio en cuyas márgenes se establecieron, nombre que despues degeneró en Wallix, y por último en Belice, [...].
    It is said that a daring and enterprising Scottish buccaneer, named Peter Wallace, [...] determined to find a suitable site in which to establish a permanent [pirate's] lair. As this happened in the middle of the 17th century, the coast of [southeastern] Yucatan [which is] bathed by the Gulf of Honduras, was totally uninhabited by Spaniards, since the only establishment that existed there, that of Bacalar, had been annihilated by a depredation of Abraham, the filibuster (in 1648 and 1652, according to Cogolludo) and by the uprising of the Indians of that district. Wallace made a perfect reconnaissance of those shoals and reefs, and after diligent examination he found on our shores a river entirely covered with a series of cayes and shoals; and he landed there with about eighty pirates, who from the same moment built a few huts surrounded by a kind of palisade or rude fortress. Those adventurers gave the name of Wallace to the river on whose banks they settled, a name that later degenerated into Wallix, and finally into Belize, [...].

    —O'Reilly 1849, pp. 3–4
  6. ^ Though theory mentioned in Ancona 1877, pp. 12–14.

Short citations

  1. ^ Winzerling 1946, p. x; Ancona 1877, pp. 5–8; Ancona 1878, pp. 371–373; Asturias 1925, p. 7-9, 11; Craig 1969, p. 55; Curry, Jr. 1956, p. 32; Donohoe 1964, pp. 27–28; Gibbs 1883, pp. 21–22; Griffith, Alford & Bolland 2022, third para; Kinsbruner & Langer 2008, first para; Waight 2022, second to fourth para.
  2. ^ anon. 1829, p. 2; Stephens 1841, pp. 14–15.
  3. ^ Kinsbruner & Langer 2008, first para.
  4. ^ Ancona 1877, pp. 5–7; Bristowe & Wright 1888, p. 23; Craig 1969, p. 55; Donohoe 1964, pp. 27–28; Gibbs 1883, pp. 21–22; Griffith, Alford & Bolland 2022, third para; Kinsbruner & Langer 2008, first para; Morris 1883, pp. 12–13; Waight 2022, first para.
  5. ^ anon. 1827, p. 5.
  6. ^ Bulmer-Thomas & Bulmer-Thomas 2016, p. 139.
  7. ^ anon. 1839, p. 2.
  8. ^ Bulmer-Thomas & Bulmer-Thomas 2016, pp. 139–140.
  9. ^ Stephens 1841, pp. 9–11.
  10. ^ O'Reilly 1849, pp. 3–4.
  11. ^ Bulmer-Thomas & Bulmer-Thomas 2016, pp. 140–141.
  12. ^ Gibbs 1883, p. 21.
  13. ^ a b Bulmer-Thomas & Bulmer-Thomas 2016, pp. 141–142.
  14. ^ Asturias 1925, pp. 7–9.
  15. ^ Bulmer-Thomas & Bulmer-Thomas 2016, p. 141.
  16. ^ Burdon 1931, p. 3.
  17. ^ a b c Bulmer-Thomas & Bulmer-Thomas 2016, p. 142.
  18. ^ Winzerling 1946, pp. 53–56, cap. 4.
  19. ^ Parsons 1956, p. 11.
  20. ^ Craig 1969, p. 55.
  21. ^ Humphreys 1961, p. 1.
  22. ^ Ancona 1878, p. 373-374.
  23. ^ Bulmer-Thomas & Bulmer-Thomas 2016, pp. 142–143.
  24. ^ Bulmer-Thomas & Bulmer-Thomas 2016, p. 144.
  25. ^ Restall, Matthew (21 February 2019). "Creating "Belize": The Mapping and Naming History of a Liminal Locale". Terrae Incognitae. 51 (1): 5–35. doi:10.1080/00822884.2019.1573962. S2CID 134010746.

Full citations

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  2. anon. (1826). The Honduras almanack, for the year of our Lord 1826 ... : Calculated to the meridian of Belize (1st ed.). Belize: Published by Authority of the Magistrates. OCLC 950944267.
  3. anon. (1827). The Honduras almanack, for the year of our Lord 1827 ... : Calculated to the meridian of Belize (1st ed.). Belize: Published by Authority of the Magistrates. OCLC 950947887.
  4. anon. (1829). The Honduras almanack, for the year of our Lord 1829 ... : Calculated to the meridian of Belize (1st ed.). Belize: Published by Authority of the Legislative Assembly. hdl:2027/nnc1.cu56617763. OCLC 682190774.
  5. anon. (1839). The Honduras almanack, for the year of our Lord 1839... : Calculated to the meridian of Belize. Belize: Published by Authority of the Legislative Assembly. OCLC 47749493.
  6. Ancona, Eligio (1877). Belice, estudio sobre el origen de ese nombre (1st ed.). Mexico: Imprenta de Gonzalo A. Esteva.
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17°30′04″N 88°12′24″W / 17.50099530654221°N 88.20655530199228°W / 17.50099530654221; -88.20655530199228