Philip Ashton - a Voluntary Exile Who Repeated the Fate of Robinson Crusoe (9 photos)

Modern history is full of miraculous rescues and survivals of people who were shipwrecked and overcame their trials on their own thanks to their tenacity and fortitude.





This Massachusetts guy suffered a fate similar to that of Defoe's main character, just three years after the publication of Robinson Crusoe. His ordeal was so terrible that when the story was first published in book form a few years later, many considered it a work of fiction, written in the Robinsonade genre.



Roatan Island

The young man was nineteen-year-old Philip Ashton, who lived in the small town of Marblehead, which was then the British colony of Massachusetts. In 1722, Ashton set out on a small schooner with four other men to fish off the coast of Nova Scotia near Cape Sable. After completing the fishing trip, Ashton decided to return home.





Ned Low

However, during the return journey, their ship was captured by a group of pirates led by a notorious scoundrel and sadist named Ned Low, known for his brutal torture of victims before killing them. Ashton found himself helpless in the face of this cruel man, and had no choice but to submit to his demands. Low not only confiscated the schooner, but also forced Ashton and his crew to join the pirate gang.



For the next six months, Ashton served aboard one of Low's ships, capturing and plundering ships from Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal. One day, the pirates encountered a British warship. Ashton knew that if they were apprehended, he would be hanged along with the pirates.

In the spring of 1723, the fleet approached the island of Roatan in the Gulf of Honduras, where they stopped to take on firewood and drinking water. Ashton volunteered to help, and went ashore in a longboat with six other men to get water from a nearby stream.

While the crew was filling the barrels, Ashton began to make his way to the nearest coconut grove, saying that he was going to get some coconuts. As soon as he was out of sight, he ran into the forest and hid in the thicket.



The crew finished filling the barrels and called Ashton to come back, but he remained hiding. The pirates searched for him for some time, but eventually gave up and returned to the ship. When they left, Ashton came out of his hiding place and waited for five days, watching the pirate fleet in the harbor. Finally, the ships disappeared, leaving him alone on a desert island. Ashton had no tools for hunting or fishing, so he had to survive on fruits and raw turtle eggs.

Luckily, the island had plenty of water and plenty of fruits and berries to eat. But it was also inhabited by dangerous animals, such as poisonous snakes, giant lizards, and wild pigs. Ashton was attacked by a shark while swimming in shallow water, and once a wild boar attacked him, forcing him to climb a tree to escape the enraged beast. The most unpleasant adversaries were the swarms of tiny black flies that caused him a lot of trouble. Trying to save himself from this relentless scourge, he built a hut by the sea, hoping that the breeze would drive the flies away. But the malicious, persistent insects continued to torment him.



After nine months of miserable existence, an Englishman appeared on the island in a canoe and told Ashton that he had escaped from captivity by the Spaniards. Ashton was delighted by his arrival. Especially since his new neighbor had brought with him a gun with ammunition, a piece of salted pork, and a dog.

A few days later, the Scotsman suggested going to another island to hunt wild pigs and deer for food. However, Ashton was still too weak for such a journey. The newcomer decided to go on a sortie alone, assuring Ashton that he would return in a few hours. Unfortunately, the Scotsman never showed up, which led Ashton to assume that he had drowned.



Luckily, the Scotsman left his tools, which allowed Ashton to hunt small animals and make fires to cook hot food. Ashton ate fried turtle meat, fish and crabs, gradually regaining his strength.

About three months after this incident, a canoe washed ashore. At first, Ashton thought it was the Scotsman's vessel, but upon closer inspection, he discovered that it was not the same vessel. Using the canoe, Ashton began exploring the neighboring islands. However, one day, while he was peacefully dozing under a tree, a group of Spaniards on board a passing ship opened fire on him. Ashton barely escaped alive.



The beach at Palmetto Bay on Roatan Island today

In June 1724, sixteen months after his landing on the island, a group of eighteen Englishmen from Honduras arrived on the island in several rowboats.

They fled after the Spanish attack. Ashton welcomed them warmly, and together they built a small dwelling, which they affectionately named Comfort Castle. A few months later, after a pirate attack, some of the men decided to leave. But two, along with Ashton, chose to stay, confident that on the island of Roatan they had a better chance of being rescued by a passing ship than anywhere else.



Soon after, a large flotilla appeared in the harbor. They were English merchants heading for Jamaica. Ashton was overjoyed when he learned that one of the ships, the brigantine Diamond, was from Salem. Captain Dove kindly offered Ashton accommodation on board the ship, and so, after two years and ten months, in June 1725, Ashton finally returned to his hometown of Marblehead. Later that year, Ashton published a memoir of his experiences entitled Ashton's Memorial: A History of the Strange Adventures and Remarkable Deliverances of Mr. Philip Ashton.

Ashton died in 1746 at the age of 44 and was buried in Marblehead Cemetery.