Biographies of more famous Pirates

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Abraham Samuel
Active 1690's


Of mixed African and European descent, Jamaican Abraham Samuel proclaimed himself pirate "King" of port Dauphin, on Madagascar in the days of the Pirate Round.

Richard Sawkins
Died 1680


Buccaneer captain in the Caribbean, Sawkins attacked Spanish shipping merchants and outwitted the British Navy. He fought in Panama and was killed there at Pueblo Nuevo.

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Sir Anthony Sherley
Died 1637


Captain Sherley was an Oxford educated man, born into wealth, but forced to make his own way in the world after his family went bankrupt.

On a stint as a soldier in Normandy under the command of the Earl of Essex, he was knighted by the French for his valiant efforts. Back in England in 1593, however, he was imprisoned until he renounced his foreign title.

Striving to again rise in stature, he married a cousin of the Earl of Essex, but soon found his wife intolerable. Captain Sherley then decided to use his relationship to the earl to acquire funds for an expedition to capture Sâo Thomé, a Portuguese island off the coast of Africa.

In 1596, Captain Sherley assembled eight ships carrying about 400 soldiers, but the expedition was struck by disease early in the voyage so he changed his course to the north. He instead took Santiago in the Cape Verde Islands, but the booty was very sparse.

His forces now depleted, he headed for Colombia, where he sacked Santa Marta. His next attack was of a poor Jamaican settlement of Santiago de la Vega in order to replenish supplies. So far the sum total of booty for his raids was pretty sparse.

While in Jamaica, Captain Sherley met Captains William Parker and Michael Geare. The two joined with forces with Captain Sherley in an attack upon Trujillo (Honduras), but were unsuccessful. Next they attacked Puerto Caballos only to find it to be impoverished.

Geare parted ways, then Captains Sherley and Parker decided to try to march across the Guatemalan mountains to the Pacific, but they were daunted by the severity of the trip and chose to take their remaining men through the Strait of Magellan instead. By this time, Captain Sherley's men had lost faith in their captain and deserted him. With his remaining ship, Captain Sherley went back to England and also to tremendous debts.

Toward the end of 1597, Captain Sherley was sent to Ferrara, Italy, in the company of English troops. By the time they arrived, the differences between Italy and England were settled and Sherley was faced with unemployment. Captain Sherley, once again using his relationship with the Earl of Essex, managed to raise enough money to sail to Persia. He planned to establish diplomatic relations (without the consent of the crown) with the new shah. The shah made Captain Sherley his ambassador and enlisted him to gain allies against the Ottoman Empire. When Captain Sherley returned to England, his plan was condemned and he was forbidden to return to Persia. Sherley then made his rounds from royal court to court and conned nobles out of funds.

In 1607, Captain Sherley managed to become an agent for the Spanish. During this time, he wrote to Captains Simonson and John Ward attempting to convince them to attack the Ottoman Empire. In 1609, the Spanish had Captain Sherley assemble ships in Sicily to attack the Barbary corsairs. It was planned that Captain Sherley would join in a Spanish attack on Tunis, but instead Captain Sherley attacked European merchantmen and looted the Greek Islands. After Captain Sherley's failure to support Spain's attack on Tunis, he lost all influence in the Spanish courts but stayed in Spain constantly trying to gain political stature. He died destitute in Spain in 1637.

[Salty Dog]

Simon Simonson
AKA der Tantzer (the Dancer)
Also Delli Reis (Captain Devil)
Died 1616


An experienced shipbuilder, the Dutch born Simonson moved from Marseilles to Algiers, leaving his family behind. There his fame grew quickly and within three years, he was given the name Delli Reis by the locals.

Using captured ships, Simonson taught the Muslim captains how to sail them, personally capturing around 40, all of which were incorporated into the corsair fleet.

Simonson led the corsairs through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic. Once in the Atlantic, they hunted Spanish treasure fleets and raided as far north as Iceland.

In 1609, after stealing four ships and booty, killing 150 Algerians and stealing two large brass cannons belonging to the Algerian government, he returned to Marseilles to rejoin his family.

In 1610, Simonson came up with a plan to raid the city of Algiers and presented it to the royal court. His plans were denied, but Simonson was paid to maintain a squadron patrolling against the corsairs. During one of his patrols, Simonson was captured by the corsairs, taken to Tunis and executed.

[Salty Dog]

Bernard Claesen Speirdyke
Dutch Pirate
Active 1670


Spain, a long time victim of pirating, suffering heavy losses from the pirates and deciding that Sir Henry Morgan's Portobello raid in 1669 was the last straw, sanctioned the governors of its colonies in the procurement of privateers and disbursement of letters of marque. Few pirates responded to this act, but Captain Rivero, who was Portuguese, did and rushed out to seek enemy nation's ships to prey upon.

In 1670, Rivero, in command of the San Pedro left Cartagena for Jamaica but was forced to change course because of winds. Captain Rivero sacked the poor settlement on Grand Cayman Island and seized two small boats as well as taking four children. With his meager booty, he went to Cuba. Once there he found out that Bernard Speirdyke, the Dutch pirate, was at Manzanillo. Captain Rivero set out to do battle with Speirdyke. Captain Rivero was victorious in the battle and seized the Dutchman's ship.

Captain Rivero returned to a hero's welcome in Cartagena in March 1670 and was made admiral of the Spanish corsairs. Captain Rivero next went to Jamaica with two ships and captured a sloop and raided isolated villages in the north. His next venture took him to the southern coast of Jamaica where he issued a challenge to Captain Henry Morgan:

Governor Modyford of Jamaica commissioned Captain Morgan to defend Jamaica. Captain Morgan assembled all French and English pirates that were at Jamaica and set sail, but instead of looking for Captain Rivero, they sailed to Panama and sacked the town. While all this was going on, John Morris encountered Captain Rivero off the Cuban coast. Captain Rivero's ship was boarded by Captain Morris men. The crew panicked and jumped overboard, where they either drowned or were shot by Morris' men. Captain Morgan chased Captain Rivero ashore and shot him to death in 1670.

[Salty Dog]

Störtebeker
Active 1390's


This former merchant formed a pirate band called the The Friends of God and Enemies of the World. The pirates sailed the Baltic sea and attacked the city of Bergen, in Norway. Stortebeker was caught and executed in 1402.

Ralph Stout
Active Late 1600's


In 1692 Stout was arrested in India while serving with James Kelley. The prisoners escaped by boat four years later and made their way to Bombay. There, they enlisted as crew members under the command of Captain Edgecumbe aboard the Mocha. Eight days after leaving port, Stout and other members of the crew seized the Mocha. Twenty-seven of the Mocha's crew escaped and reached shore safely, but Captain Edgecumbe wasn't as fortunate. The pirates bludgeoned him to death, threw him overboard and stole the ship's booty. With the success of the attack, the pirates elected Stout as their new captain.

Captain Stout sailed their newly captured ship to Mergui Archipelago, southeast of Burma, where he ran into the merchant ship which had arrested pirates Robert Culliford and others. Stout captured the ship, freed the pirates who then joined his crew.

In 1693, Stout cruised between India and the Strait of Malacca alongside the ship the Charming Mary. They were extremely successful, plundering lots of booty from seven or more ships.

Stout was a cruel man who had a priest tortured after capturing a Portuguese ship and on another occasion, seizing a vessel, locking up its crew and burning them alive along with the ship.

The Mocha and Charming Mary parted ways in 1697. Stout sailed off to the Laccadive Islands where he was eventually murdered.

Robert Surcouf
1773 - 1827


Originally from the corsair haven of St. Malo, this famous privateer attacked British shipping in the Indian Ocean with devastating success. He captured the Triton in 1795 and the Kent in 1800.

Sweyn Forkbeard
Died 1014


Viking King of Denmark, Sweyn defeated and killed his own father, Harald Bluetooth. He led many piratical raids against England, receiving huge sums of money in payment of ransom demands.

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John Taylor
Active Early 1700's


Taylor was with Edward England when England captured a 30 gun sloop off Africa in 1719. Taylor was given command of the ship which he named the Victory. Together they captured the ship Cassandra. Because England had shown mercy toward the captain of the captured sloop, he was deposed and put ashore and Taylor took charge of England's crew. Taylor hunted in the Indian Ocean where he took several small European and Indian ships. He also chased away a British naval squadron which he originally believed to be the fleet of pirate Conajee Angria.

Taylor next went to the Dutch port of Cochin to reprovision his ships, but was forced to pay heavy bribes once in port. Taylor careened his ships at Mauritius and Saint Mary's Island. There he was joined by Olivier La Bouche who assumed command of the Victory. La Bouche headed for Reunion Island in 1721 where they captured the Portuguese carrack Nostra Senhora de Cabo, and took its diamond and rare oriental treasures.

La Bouche headed for Madagascar before divvying up the booty. Once there, the crew divvied up their loot then burned the Victory replacing it with the Nostra Senhora de Cabo, which they renamed the Victory.

Taylor and La Bouche parted company 1722. Taylor took the Cassandra and headed for Panama, arriving there in 1723. In Panama, the governor of Portobello pardoned Taylor and his crew in exchange for his ship. It is believed that Taylor may have gone on to become a captain in the Panamanian coast guard.

[Salty Dog]

Guillaume Le Testu
French Pirate
Active 1551 - 1572


Captain Le Testu was born at Le Havre in Normandy. His exact date of birth is unknown, but is believed to be circa 1509. At Dieppe he studied navigation and was pilot of a French ship during an exploration mission of Brazil in 1551.

Le Testu participated in an expedition which founded a colony near Rio de Janeiro in 1555 and in 1556 he was appointed royal pilot and presented to King Henry II a world atlas which consisted of 56 maps, which he drew.

Le Testu's atlas included a southern continent which didn't exist, stating, "Not imaginary even though no one has found it."

During the 1500's France was in turmoil over religion. France had been catholic for centuries and in the 1520's Lutheranism entered the country. By 1534 Lutheranism threatened Catholicism and the crown adopted a policy of rooting it out, by force if necessary. Calvin (also a Frenchman), an outspoken man of Protestant ideas whose ideas were expressed as Calvinism and by 1540 he had gained quite a bit of support for his cause. In the 1550's many of the Noblemen, being on the side of the Protestants fought against the the local churches and established the church. By this time France had effectively been split into two religious parties, the Catholics and the Calvinist (who were, by this time called the Huguenots). The tensions between the parties escalated until fighting broke out in the spring of 1562. The war was temporarily ended in 1563 when the Edict of Amboise was issued. It gave limited right of worship to the Huguenots. This was a diversion set up by the crown while they tried to gain support from the people. This was only temporary for the Catholics were about to enlist the aid of Spain in their cause. In 1567 warfare broke out again due to the fear of an alliance with Spain. It was during this time that Le Testu raided for the Huguenot side. He raided throughout 1567 and 1568 until he was captured by the Catholics. He was imprisoned for the next four years when King Charles IX, after being subjected to many pleas, allowed his release. The religious wars would continue long after Le Testu's death.

Le Testu became captain of an 80 ton warship with about 70 men in his crew. Sir Francis Drake encountered Le Testu in April 1573 off Panama. Just why Le Testu was cruising around Panama is anyone's guess. Spanish reports of the time stated that the French were planning a large expedition for 1572 but it is more likely that he was cruising on his own. Whatever his reason, Le Testu joined Drake in an attack on a mule train carrying treasure to Nombre de Dios. The attack was a complete success and the pirates loaded themselves with as much gold as they could carry, burying the rest. Le Testu's booty was around £20,000.

Le Testu was wounded in the assault and choose to remain behind to regain his strength. Two of his men stayed with him. While resting, Spanish soldiers fell upon them and Le Testu was killed. Le Testu was beheaded and his head was put on prominent display in the marketplace at Nombre de Dios.

[fleetp]

[Salty Dog]

Weird indeed! Yes, it talks about a Captain Rivero, not Speirdyke. I copied the source document without checking, sorry!

[Salty Dog]

Thomas Tew
American Privateer
Died 1695
Thomas Tew's Flag


Thomas Tew was a famous pirate headquartered in Madagascar. Under commission, Tew sailed in consort with Captain Dew from Barbados to join with the Royal African Company in an attack on the French factory at Goori, Gambia. But instead of going to West Africa, Tew and his crew turned pirate and sailed to the Red Sea. There he encountered a richly-provisioned Indian ship and promptly attacked. Prevailing in the battle, he took her as a prize. The booty made each of Tew's crew members rich. Laden with this new-found wealth, they sailed to Madagascar.

Tew was soon held in high esteem by the pirates who resided in that favorite stronghold. According to Johnson's "A General History of Pirates," it was at this time that Tew met the legendary French pirate Misson, in his garden city of Libertalia. A quarrel arose between Misson's French followers and Tew's English pirates and a duel was arranged between the two leaders, but with the help of one of the pirates who was a former Italian priest, they were able to settle their differences amicably.

Tew was appointed Admiral and the diplomatic ex-priest suitably chosen as Secretary of State to the little republic. Tew had such a reputation for kindness that ships seldom resisted him; upon learning who their assailant was they gave themselves up freely. Around this time some of Tew's men sailed off to start a colony on their own. The Admiral followed trying to persuade them to return to the fold at Libertalia. The men refused, and while Tew was arguing with them, his ship was lost in a sudden and fierce storm. Tew was soon rescued by the ship Bijoux with Misson on board, who, with a few men had narrowly escaped being massacred by the natives. Tew must have realized that the eastern waters were becoming less hospitable to pirates.

Furnished with an equal share of gold and diamonds from Misson's last venture, he made his way to back to America and settled down in Rhode Island. Tew was now a wealthy man. With an honesty rarely encountered in those who pursued his trade, he kept a promise to his friends in Bermuda, who had originally set him up with a ship, and sent them fourteen times the original cost of the sloop as their share of the profits.

In the end Tew, found the call of the sea and the lure of the grand account irresistible. He consented to take command of a pirate ship en route to the Red Sea. Soon after his arrival, Tew attacked a large ship belonging to the Great Mogul and during the battle was mortally wounded.

[Salty Dog]

Charles Vane
British Pirate
Died 1720
Charles Vane


In 1718, Vane and his crew tortured and killed several men on two Bermuda sloops. When Governor Woodes Rogers arrived in New Providence offering pardons to any pirates who turned themselves in, everyone but Vane accepted his offer. Woodes then sent the former pirate Captain Benjamin Hornigold to track down Vane, but Vane had already fled to avoid capture.

Vane pirated a sloop and put pirate Yeats in charge. Taking their pirating skills to the South Carolina coast, Captains Vane and Yeats became very successful by attacking ships coming in and out of port. The local government sent two armed sloops led by Colonel William Rhett to capture Vane. When Colonel Rhett finally caught up with Vane's crew, he overheard their plans to head south so he set sail in that direction. An intentional deception set up by Vane, his ship actually headed north. Although Rhett was unsuccessful in locating Vane, by chance he ran into and captured another famous pirate of the times, Major Stede Bonnet.

In another incident, Vane had set out to capture a ship, but when he got closer and realized that it was a larger French Man o' War, he decided to retreat, feeling they were outmatched. This decision cost him his command. Feeling his act cowardly, his crew had him removed and elected Calico Jack to replace him as their new captain.

Vane left on another sloop, which was eventually wrecked in a storm off an uninhabited island in the Bay of Honduras. Marooned, a ship finally found him, but its captain Holford refused to rescue him after he recognized him from his infamous reputation. After a while, another ship finally rescued Vane, but soon after leaving the island, the ship met up with Captain Holford's, and its captain held Vane prisoner, turning him over to the authorities in Jamaica where he was found guilty and hanged.

[Salty Dog]

Thomas Veal


Not much is known about pirate Thomas Veal other than he was one of four others who hid in Dungeon Rock in the Lynn Woods to escape capture. Reportedly, his loot remains stashed somewhere in a cave.

Francis Verney
Barbary Corsair
1584 - 1615


This English gentleman turned Turk and went off to become a Barbary Corsair at the age of 23. Based at Algiers, Sir Francis attacked English shipping but was captured by a Christian galley and enslaved.

[Salty Dog]

Rachel Wall
Female Pirate
Circa 1780's

Former Beacon Hill maid Rachel Wall accompanied by her fisherman husband George began their piracy days by stealing a vessel in Essex and devising a clever scheme in order to dupe passing ships off the Isle of Shoals into getting close enough for their dirty plans to work. Seems Rachel was a convincing lady in distress who would stand out at the mast, screaming for help until unsuspecting passing ships would get close enough to be attacked, boarded and robbed. After gather the loot, they would destroy the evidence by murdering the crew and sinking the victims' ships.

After George Wall drowned in a storm in 1782, Rachel was rescued and returned to Boston. There, she continued to pillage docks ships in Boston Harbor and is remembered in infamy as New England's only known female pirate.

In Boston, she was arrested for and convicted of murdering a sailor, a deed she denied until reaching the gallows. Before her death from the hangman's noose, she confessed to her crimes of piracy.

[Salty Dog]

John Ward
AKA Yusuf Raïs
Barbary Corsair
Active 1553 - 1622

In 1602 John Ward was jailed for plundering a Danish ship in the Caribbean. Then in 1603, Ward was forced into the Royal Navy, which by some was considered to be a fate worse than death. Shortly afterward, he and 30 others deserted at Plymouth and stole a small bark. Despite the size of the ship, they were able to capture a two larger ships, one with six guns, and set sail for the Mediterranean. Two years later he stole a 32-gun warship and renamed it the Gift and used it to plunder several merchantmen loaded with spices and silks.

In 1605 in Morocco, several English and Dutch sailors joined his crew, including Richard Bishop and Anthony Johnson. By the end of 1606, Ward had worked a deal with Uthman Dey, the ruler of Tunis. He was permitted to use Tunis as a safe haven from where he could strike out in hunt for prey. In return, Uthman Dey would buy their booty for a fifth of its true value. From their base, they took several rich prizes, including a 60 ton ship loaded with a tremendously valuable cargo.

The winter of 1607 Ward's largest ship became unseaworthy so he secretly deserted with a few of his crew, sailing off in a French ship. The large ship sank off Greece drowning 250 muslim and 150 English sailors aboard. The Tunisians were outraged over the loss of men and Ward's desertion, but Uthman Dey, wealthy from his dealings with Ward, offered him protection. Ward however offered King James I a large bribe in exchange for a pardon. King James refused Ward's offer and Ward was forced to return to Tunis. Uthman Dey kept his word, however, and Ward was safe. Ward eventually became a muslim and changed his name to Yusuf Reis. As Yusuf Reis, he continued his career in piracy until 1622, up until the age of 70. By then he had both an Italian wife and also a wife in England.

He lived out the rest of his life in luxury and may have died of the plague.

[Salty Dog]

Thomas White


Captain White migrated to Barbados from Plymouth after serving in the Royal Navy around 1698. White was in command of a ship taken by French pirates which was later captured by John Bowen. After refusing to join Bowen's crew, Bowen was made into a slave and was shared by both Captains John Bowen and George Booth.

Most of the crew retired in India and on Mauritius Island. The remainer of the crew, which included White, sailed to Madagascar under the leadership of Captain Nathaniel North. When the ship was blown off course toward Cape Dauphin in the south, North abandoned White along with 30 other members of the cerw who had gone ashore for provisions.

In 1704, White became captain of a small ship which had been abandoned there. With it, he plundered the Red Sea including several Indian ships, a Portuguese merchantman and in August, 1706, two British ships.

In 1707, White sailed under the command of Captain Thomas Halsey and died the following year in Madagascar of excessive drinking.

Christopher Winter
British Pirate
Active 1700's

See Edward England