author

William Betagh

Known for a vivid early-18th-century sea narrative, this little-documented writer left behind a firsthand account of privateering, shipboard conflict, and survival in the South Seas. His surviving reputation rests largely on one dramatic book that blends adventure with eyewitness testimony.

1 Audiobook

A Voyage Round the World Being an account of a remarkable enterprize, begun in the year 1719, chiefly to cruise on the Spaniards in the great South ocean. Relating the true historical facts of that whole affair: testifyd by many imployd therein; and confirmd by authorities from the owners.

A Voyage Round the World Being an account of a remarkable enterprize, begun in the year 1719, chiefly to cruise on the Spaniards in the great South ocean. Relating the true historical facts of that whole affair: testifyd by many imployd therein; and confirmd by authorities from the owners.

by William Betagh

About the author

William Betagh was an early-18th-century writer best known for A Voyage Round the World, first published in 1728. The book presents him as a captain of marines in an expedition that began in 1719 and was aimed chiefly at cruising against the Spanish in the South Seas.

What can be confirmed with confidence is mostly tied to that voyage and to the book itself. Project Gutenberg and other catalog records preserve A Voyage Round the World under his name, while a later historical article from The Mariners' Museum describes Betagh as serving on the Speedwell under George Shelvocke, being taken prisoner by the Spanish in February 1721, and returning to England later that year.

Beyond that, reliable biographical details about his personal life appear to be scarce. Even so, his book remains an important firsthand account of a turbulent maritime expedition, and it continues to interest readers drawn to naval history, privateering, and real-life adventure at sea.