DAVIS or DAVYS, JOHN (155o?-1605), one of the chief English navigators and explorers under Elizabeth, was born at Sandridge near Dartmouth about 155o. He early made several voyages with Adrian Gilbert. In Jan. 1583 he appears to have broached his design of a north-west passage to Walsingham and John Dee, and in 1585 he started on his first north-western expedi tion. He began by striking the ice-bound east shore of Greenland, which he followed south to Cape Farewell; thence he turned north, and coasted the west Greenland littoral, and shaped a "course for China" by the north-west. In 66° N., however, he fell in 7.,ith Baffin Land, and though he pushed some way up Cumberland sound, he turned back (end of August). He tried again in '586 and i587; in the last voyage he pushed through the straits still named after him into Baffin's bay, coasting west Greenland to 73° N., almost to Upernavik. Many points in Arctic latitudes (Cumberland sound, Cape Walsingham, Exeter sound, etc.) retain names given them by Davis, who ranks with Baffin and Hudson as the greatest of early Arctic explorers and, like Frobisher, narrowly missed the discovery of Hudson's bay via Hudson's straits.
In 1588 he seems to have commanded the "Black Dog" against the Spanish Armada, and in 1591 he accompanied Thomas Caven dish on his last voyage, with the object of searching "that north west discovery upon the back parts of America." After the rest of Cavendish's expedition returned unsuccessful, he continued to attempt on his own account the passage of the Strait of Magellan, and discovered the Falkland islands. After his return in 1593 he published a valuable treatise on practical navigation in The Sea man's Secrets (1594), and a more theoretical work in The World's Hydrographical Description (1595). His invention of back-staff and double quadrant (called a "Davis Quadrant") held the field long after Hadley's reflecting quadrant had been introduced. In 1596-97 Davis sailed with Raleigh (as master of Sir Walter's own ship) to Cadiz and the Azores; and in 1598-1600 he accompanied a Dutch expedition to the East Indies as pilot. In 16or—o3 he accompanied Sir James Lancaster as first pilot on his voyage in the service of the East India Company; and in Dec. i6o4 he sailed again for the same destination as pilot to Sir Edward Michel borne (or Michelbourn). On this journey he was killed by Jap anese pirates off Bintang near Sumatra.
A Traverse Book made by John Davis in 1587, an Account of his Second Voyage in '586 and a Report of Master John Davis of his three voyages made for the Discovery of the North West Passage were printed in Hakluyt's collection. Davis himself published The Seaman's Secrets, divided into two Parts 0594), The World's Hydrographical Description . . . whereby appears that there is a short and speedy Passage into the South Seas, to China, Molucca, Philippina, and India, by Northerly Navigation (1595). Various references to Davis are in the Calendars of State Papers, Domestic (1591-94), and East Indies (1513-1616). See also Voyages and Works of John Davis, ed. A. H. Markham (Hakluyt Society, 188o), and the article "John Davys" by Sir J. Laughton in the Dict. Nat. Biog. (C. R. B.)