historical
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John Bowen
John Bowen was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean during the early years of the ‘Pirate Round,’ commanding the ship Speaker and raiding shipping around Mauritius, the Comoros, and India. He is noted for maintaining relatively cooperative relations with local rulers in the region. Accounts of his death around 1704 following a shipwreck are…
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Nathaniel North
Nathaniel North was an American-born pirate whose long career in the Indian Ocean was marked by repeated cycles of piracy, capture, pardon, and return to piracy over roughly two decades. He eventually settled among Malagasy communities on Madagascar, reportedly becoming a respected local chief. He was killed there around 1710 in a local conflict unrelated…
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John Taylor
John Taylor was an English pirate active in the Indian Ocean, best known for co-commanding, with Olivier Levasseur, the 1721 capture of the Portuguese carrack Nossa Senhora do Cabo off Réunion Island, netting one of the largest hauls in the history of piracy. He later sailed to the Caribbean and reportedly accepted a Spanish pardon…
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Thomas Anstis
Thomas Anstis served under Bartholomew Roberts before breaking away to command his own pirate crew aboard the Good Fortune, raiding shipping in the Caribbean. Facing dwindling options as anti-piracy patrols intensified, his crew reportedly petitioned for a royal pardon while continuing to raid. Sources disagree on the precise circumstances of his death, though most agree…
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Philip Lyne
Philip Lyne was a pirate active in the Caribbean and Atlantic in the mid-1720s, reportedly claiming to have killed dozens of captives during his short career. He was captured by a British ship near Cape Corrientes, Cuba, in 1726. He was tried and hanged shortly afterward, among the final pirates executed as the classic Golden…
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John Quelch
John Quelch was an English sailor who led a mutiny aboard the privateering ship Charles and turned to piracy off the coast of Brazil in 1703, attacking Portuguese shipping despite England being at peace with Portugal. He was captured on his return to Massachusetts. His 1704 trial and execution in Boston is considered one of…
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William Fly
William Fly led a brief and violent mutiny aboard the slave ship Elizabeth in 1726, killing the captain and renaming the vessel Fame’s Revenge to pursue piracy. His piracy career lasted only about a month before his own crew turned him over to authorities. He was tried and hanged in Boston in 1726, reportedly showing…
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Emanuel Wynn
Emanuel Wynn was a French pirate operating around 1700, cited in British naval records as one of the earliest pirates documented to fly a black flag bearing a skull and crossbones design, an early precursor to the classic Jolly Roger. Beyond a 1700 encounter with a Royal Navy ship recorded by Captain John Cranby, little…
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John Gow
John Gow was a Scottish sailor who led a mutiny aboard the merchant ship George off Spain in 1724, renaming it Revenge and turning to piracy. He sailed to his home waters in the Orkney Islands, where his ship ran aground and he was captured by local residents. He was tried in London and executed…
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John Halsey
John Halsey was a Boston-born pirate active in the Indian Ocean, raiding shipping including vessels belonging to the Great Mughal. He was notable for reportedly refusing to attack English or American ships. He died of fever around 1708 near Madagascar and was buried at the pirate haven of St. Mary’s Island, where his grave marker…