The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down (57 page)

232
Pirates scatter (Condent):
ADM 1/2282 f13: Vincent Pearse to the Admiralty,
Phoenix
at New Providence, Bahamas: 4 March 1718; Pearse to the Admiralty, 3 June 1718;
GHP,
pp. 581–582.

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Vincent Pearse obtains pardon:
ADM 1/2282 £13: Pearse to the Admiralty,
Phoenix
at New York; 4 February 1718. Pearse says he received word of the proclamation "the 25th of last month," but I am assuming he meant the month of December, as it seems impossible that the proclamation, printed by the
Boston News-Letter
on 9 December, would take nearly two months to reach New York.

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Storm of 24–25 December 1717:
News item,
Boston News-Letter,
6 January 1718, p. 2. Winter storms also delayed the departure of the weekly postal rider on the week of 9 December.

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Pearse background:
Hardy, p. 34.

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Pearse refits the P
hoenix:
ADM 51/690: entries of December 1717–February 1718. Pearse notes in the log that he departed New York "having partially re-rigged."

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P
hoenix
specifications, history:
Lyon, pp. 37–38; ADM 33/298: HMS
Phoenix
Pay Book, 1716–1718.

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P
hoenix
departs New York:
Pearse to the Admiralty,
Phoenix
at New York: 4 February 1718; ADM 51/690: entry of February 6,1718.

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P
hoenix
arrival at Nassau:
ADM 51/690: entries of 22–24 February 1718; Pearse to the Admiralty, 3 June 1718.

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Lt. Symonds's identity, trip ashore:
Abstract of a Letter of Robert Maynard to Lt. Symonds, North Carolina: 17 December 1718 in [London]
Weekly Journal or British Gazette,
25 April 1719, p. 1,339.

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P
hoenix
confronts Vane, takes L
ark:
ADM 51/690: entry of 24 February 1718.

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Vane and the L
ark:
ADM 51/690: entry of 24 February 1717.

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–236
Pearse meets with pirate leaders, releases Vane:
ADM 51/690: entry of 24 February 1718.

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Pardoning of pirates, list thereof:
ADM 51/690: entries of 24–28 February 1718; ADM 1/2282 f13: A List of the Names of such Pirates as Surrendered themselves at Providence to Capt. Vincent Pearse, Nassau, Bahamas: 26 February to 11 March 1718.

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Pearse estimates 500 pirates, optimistic comments:
Pearse to the Admiralty, 3 June 1718; Pearse to the Admiralty, 4 March 1718.

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Edward England described:
GHP,
p. 114.

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Several sloops come and go from Nassau:
ADM 51/690: entries of 1–7 March 1718.

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Events of March 1:
Ibid., entry of 1 March 1718.

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Pirates scatter (Jennings):
Bennett to the Council of Trade, 3 February 1718; "Bermuda Dispatch, February 16,"
London Gazette,
12 April 1718, p. 1.

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Pirates scatter (on merchant vessels):
"Philadelphia Dispatch, March 5,"
Boston News-Letter,
17 March 1718, p. 2; Francis Leslie to Bennett, Nassau: 10 January 1718 in
CSPCS
1717–1718,
 No. 345iii, p. 171.

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Jack Rackham described:
GHP,
pp. 148, 620.

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Vane captures Jamaica sloop:
Ibid., p. 141; ADM 51/690: entry of 21 March 1718.

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Orientation of Nassau harbor:
Nassau Harbor, map, in Little, p. 183; Pearse to the Admiralty, 3 June 1718.

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Vane plunders sloop in harbor, Pearse counterattacks:
GHP,
p. 141; ADM 51/690: entry of 22 March 1718; Pearse to the Admiralty, 3 June 1718.

238
Quotes on change of mood in Nassau:
ADM 51/690: entry of 22 March 1718; Pearse to the Admiralty, 3 June 1718.

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Pirates burn ships at Nassau:
ADM 51/690: entry of 29 March 1718.

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Hornigold's men, request for man-of-war:
"Rhode Island Dispatch, March 28,"
Boston News-Letter,
31 March 1718, p. 2; "New York Dispatch, March 10,"
Boston News-Letter,
18 March 1718, p. 2; Vincent Pearse to the Admiralty, 4 March 1718.

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Vane slips out of Nassau, joined by 24 others:
Ibid., entries of 18–19 March 1718;
GHP,
p. 141.

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Vane returns with L
ark,
threatens P
hoenix,
rows ashore:
Ibid.: entries of 31 March and 1 April 1718;
GHP,
p. 141; Pearse to the Admiralty, 3 June 1718.

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Growth of Vane's crew:
GHP,
p. 141; Pearse to the Admiralty, 3 June 1718.

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Vane captures two sloops in Nassau Harbor:
ADM 51/690: entry of 2 April 1718.

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Bennett on Pearse's deteriorating situation:
Bennett to the Council of Trade, 31 May 1718, p. 260.

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P
hoenix
catches fire, runs aground:
ADM 51/690: entries of 7–10 April 1718.

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Defection of P
Phoenix's
men:
Pearse to the Admiralty, 3 June 1718; ADM 1/2282 f13: Pearse to the Admiralty,
Phoenix
at Plymouth, England: 21 January 1722.

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"
Great Devil" in Gulf of Mexico:
"Jamaica Dispatch, March 28," London
Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer,
7 June 1718, p. 1.

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Blackbeard, Bonnet near Vera Cruz, threaten A
dventure:
"From a letter of
Crown Galley
of Jamaica," London
Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer,
27 September 1718, p. 1,161.

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A
dventure
specifications, largest frigate:
Lyon, p. 25; "A List of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels employed and to be employed at the British Governments and Plantations in the West Indies,"
London Gazette,
17 September 1717, p. 1.

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Bonnet engages P
rotestant
C
aesar:
"Report on William Wyer, May 31,"
Boston News-Letter,
16 June 1718, p. 2.

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Blackbeard deposes Bonnet:
GHP,
p. 22; "The Trials of Major Stede Bonnet and Thirty-three Others," in Francis Hargrave,
A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason,
4th Ed., Vol. VI, London: T. Wright, 1777, p. 183.

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Capture of A
dventure,
L
and of
P
romise:
"Report of Thomas Newton,"
Boston News-Letter,
16 June 1718, p. 2;
TSB,
pp. 44–45.

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Capture of P
rotestant
C
aesar:
Report of William Wyer;
GHP,
p. 72;
TSB,
pp. 44–45.

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Vane captures twelve vessels:
CO 37/10, No. 10viii: Deposition of John Tibby, Bermuda: 24 May 1718. The seven Bermuda sloops were, in order of capture: two unnamed sloops commanded by Daniel Styles and James Borden; the
William & Mary
(Edward North);
Diamond
(John Tibby);
Penzance
(William Hall);
Samuel
(Joseph Besea); and an unnamed sloop under Captain John Penniston. The others were the
Betty
of Jamaica (Benjamin Lee);a Jamaica sloop under John Gainsby; the twenty-six-foot sloop
Fortune
of Jamaica (George Guy);a sloop from New York (Samuel Vincent); and a Boston ship under Captain Richards.

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Bermuda vessels in Bahamas:
Bennett to the Council of Trade, 31 May 1718.

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Thomas Brown motivates abuse by Vane:
CO 37/10, No. 10i: Deposition of Samuel Cooper, Bermuda: 24 May 1718; CO 37/10, No. 10v: Deposition of Nathaniel Catling, Bermuda: 17 May 1718; CO 37/10, No. 10vi: Deposition of Joseph Besea, Bermuda: 28 May 1718.

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Tortures aboard W
illiam &
M
ary:
CO 37/10, No. 10Ü: Deposition of Edward North, Bermuda: 22 May 1718; CO 37/10, No. vii: Deposition of Nathaniel North, Bermuda: 22 May 1718.

245
Tortures aboard D
iamond:
Deposition of Nathaniel Catling; Depostion of Samuel Cooper.

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Threaten to attack Bermuda:
Bennett to the Council of Trade, 31 May 1718; Deposition of Samuel Cooper.

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Damnation to King George:
Deposition of Edward North; Deposition of Samuel Cooper.

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Other captures, growth in crew:
TJR,
pp. 38, 40; CO 37/ro, No. 10iv: Deposition of James Mack-Cuelle, Bermuda: 16 May 1718; Deposition of Edward North.

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Blackbeard, Bonnet arrive in Nassau:
Hargrave (VI), p. 164.

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Composition, contents of Rogers's fleet:
CO 23/i, No. 31: Memorial from the Copartners for carrying on a trade and settling the Bahamas Islands, London: 19 May 1721.

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S.P.C.K. documents:
Little, p. 180.

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Overall investment, six partners, Rogers portion:
Memorial from the Copartners..., 19 May 1721; Little, p. 180; CO 23/12/2: Woodes Rogers's Appeal to the King, 1726.

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–248
William Fairfax bio, quotes:
Donald Jackson, ed.,
The Diaries of George Washington,
Vol. i, Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1976, p. 3n; William Fairfax to Anna Harrison Fairfax,
Delicia
at the Nore, England: 19 April 1718 in Edward D Neill,
The Fairfaxes of England and America in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries,
Albany, NY: Joel Munsell, 1868, pp. 70–7!

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Specifications of HMS R
ose,
M
ilford,
S
hark:
Lyon, pp. 26, 37.

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Date of departure (from the Nore):
ADM 51/892 pt. 2: entry of 22 April 1718; ADM 51/801: entry of 22 April 1718.

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Stopped at Florida Wrecks:
TSB,
p. 45.

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Captures en route to Charleston:
GHP,
p. 74; Hargrave (VI) p. 164.

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–250
Movements of Burgess, Ashworth:
CO 5/508: South Carolina Imports for the 25th March to the 24th June 1718, pp. 51, 54; CO 5/508: South Carolina Exports for the 25th March to the 24th June 1718, pp. 59–61.

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Arrival at Charleston, seize pilot boat:
Governor Johnson to the Lords Proprietor of Carolina, Charlestown, SC: 18 June 1718 cited in Edward McGrady,
The History of South Carolina Under the Proprietary Government, 1670–1719,
New York: Macmillan Company, 1897.

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Vessel captures at Charleston bar:
CO5/508: South Carolina Imports..., p. 54; CO 5/508: South Carolina Exports..., p. 60; "South Carolina Dispatch, June 6,"
Boston News-Letter,
7 July 1718, p. 2; "Philadelphia Dispatch, June 26,"
Boston News-Letter,
7 July 1718, p. 2; CO 5/1265: Letter to the Lord Proprietors of Carolina, Charlestown, SC: 13 June 1718; Testimony of Ignatius Pell, p. 164;
GHP,
p. 74.

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Interrogation of Wragg, pirates' council and demands:
GHP,
pp. 88–89.

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Prisoners number eighty:
GHP,
p. 91.

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Events at Charleston:
GHP,
pp. 89–91; Letter to the Lord Proprietors of Carolina, 13 June 1718.

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Pirates are seen as heroes in Charleston:
Hargrave (VI), p. 163.

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Blackbeard offered pardon by Johnson:
Spotswood to Lord John Cartwright, Williamsburg, VA: 14 February 1718 in R. A. Brock (1882), p. 273.

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Plunder taken, cargoes destroyed, keeping Capt Hurst:
"South Carolina Dispatch, June 6,"
Boston News-Letter,
7 July 1718, p. 2; "Philadelphia Dispatch, June 26,"
Boston News-Letter,
7 July 1718, p. 2; Letter to the Lords Proprietor of Carolina, 13 June 1718.