 Woodes Rogers ( ca . 1679 – 15 July 1732 ) was an English sea captain and privateer and , later , the first Royal Governor of the Bahamas . He is known as the captain of the vessel that rescued marooned Alexander Selkirk , whose plight is generally believed to have inspired Daniel Defoe 's Robinson Crusoe . Rogers came from an affluent family of merchants and shipbuilders, and after serving in the Royal Navy , he became a privateer and a pirate hunter. sierpniu 1708 roku , he became the first Royal Governor of the Bahamas .
Rogers was born in 1679 in