thumb|Davy Jones pictured by [[George Cruikshank in 1832, as described by Tobias Smollett in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle]]
Davy Jones' locker is a metaphor for the oceanic abyss, the final resting place of drowned sailors and travellers. It is a euphemism for drowning or shipwrecks in which the sailors' and ships' remains are consigned to the depths of the ocean (to be sent to Davy Jones' Locker).
First used in print in 1726, the name Davy Jones' origins are unclear, with a 19th-century dictionary tracing Davy Jones to a "ghost of Jonah". Other explanations of this nautical superstition have been put forth, including an incompetent sailor or a pub owner who kidnapped sailors.
History
The earliest known reference of the negative connotation of Davy Jones occurs in The Four Years Voyages of Capt. George Roberts, attributed to Daniel Defoe (but likely involving the journal of a real George Roberts), published in 1726 in London.
And elsewhere in The Four Years Voyages: