Bahamas Shipping Records 1721-1725

In fishing about the Bahamas shipping records 1721-1725 - did you catch the pun, there? - I came across some familiar names of characters in Virginia, North Carolina, or Bahamian pirate history. 

Of course, the Bahamas are just across the Florida Channel from the Carolinas. It's not far away. And, the Lords Proprietors in England owned both properties by 1671, so... anyway, anyone familiar with pirate history should recognize these names.

There's John Vickers, formerly of York River, Virginia, now sailing from Carolina in John Lovick's 22/29-ton sloop Carolina Adventure. Vicker's made a famous deposition concerning pirates Benjamin Hornigold and Henry Jennings at the Bahamas. Lovick was a commissioner, secretary, later vice-admiralty court judge, and naval collector in Carolina; he also was the first Englishman granted Ocracoke Island, where Edward "Blackbeard" Thache was killed in 1718. Small world, right? It actually was in the early 18th century.

John Vickers in 22/29-ton sloop Carolina Adventure

There's also three former pirates who had surrendered to Capt. Vincent Pearse of HMS Phoenix in 1718. 

One, John Cockram, sometimes with his brother Joseph Cockram, mastered the jointly-owned 30-ton sloop of New Providence Richard & John, not surprisingly owned with Richard Thompson, a trader so infamous as a pirate loot dealer or fence that he was represented on Stars! series Black Sails as Richard Guthrie:

Sean Cameron Michael is a South African actor best known for his role as pirate-fence Richard Guthrie

John Cockram, of course, was the real-life pirate doctor aboard Bermudan-transplant of Kingston Henry Jennings' sloop Barsheba. Jennings was the nut crazy enough to raid Spanish La Florida to steal their gold & silver salvaged from 11 Spanish vessels wrecked in the hurricane of July 30, 1715. Jennings also stole a French prize originally taken by Benjamin Hornigold from Bahia Honda, Cuba! Mentioned earlier, John Vicker's deposition talked about this.

John Cockram, master of 30-ton sloop of New Providence Richard & John

But, before Jennings, Cockram sailed with Hornigold in 1714 to steal Spanish goods off Cuba! Newpapers said "said Cockrum fitted out of Providence with 20 Men upon the Coast of Florida" to steal 2,000 pieces of eight from the Spanish. 

The records in CO 27/12, Bahamian Shipping Lists, 1721-1725 also show former pirate Daniel Stillwell as master of his own 5-ton sloop Happy Return, formerly owned by his father in law.

Daniel Stillwell as master of his own 5-ton sloop Happy Return

Hailing from Jamaica, Stillwell married the daughter of Jonathan Darvill before settling on Eleuthera. Borrowing Darvill’s shallop, he and a small crew (including Darvill’s son) captured a Spanish ship off of Cuba which carried over 11,000 pieces of eight around 1714.

Deputy Governor Thomas Walker of Nassau heard about the attack and as Spain and England had recently concluded a peace treaty, had Stillwell and his crew seized. Lacking authority to try Stillwell locally, he had Stillwell sent to Jamaica for trial. Hornigold had been using Darvill’s sloop Happy Return for his own piracy (and some sources indicate Hornigold had been with Stillwell off of Cuba), and had declared that all the Bahamas pirates were under his protection. He intercepted the ship carrying Stillwell and freed him, returning to Nassau to threaten Walker for interfering.

Incidentally, Thomas Walker and his sons are in these shipping records as well. The Walkers owned and operated the 15-ton New Providence-built sloop Industry. Neal Walker mastered the 20-gun Dover of New Providence. Charles Walker mastered the 10-gun Two Brothers of New Providence.

Thomas Walker operated the 15-ton New Providence-built sloop Industry

Stillwell later sailed as a crewmember aboard Hornigold’s ship. When King George offered a general pardon to all pirates who surrendered before September 1718, Stillwell accepted. He later became a ship owner, purchasing several vessels that operated out of the islands, including his father-in-law Jonathan Darvill’s old Happy Return. He sailed to Jamaica with Braziletto wood to trade for 100s of gallons of Rum to fuel Nassau's many taverns. 

Thomas Terrill also appears as master and owner of 12-ton condemned Spanish sloop Endeavor, which probably carries an interesting story of its own, seeing as how the Bahamas had been raided a couple of times by the Spanish. 

Thomas Terrill as master and owner of 12-ton condemned Spanish sloop Endeavor

Two very interesting ship masters hold great meaning for North Carolina's history. One, for 29 June 1721 was for 50-ton sloop Diamond of London, master Matthew "Higgingbotham." Diamond's owner was Samuel Buck, one of several merchants who negotiated with the Lords Proprietors of Carolina and the Bahamas for a 7-year lease of the Bahamas, beginning in 1717. James Gohier was another one who appears as shipowner in these records.

Matthew "Higgingbotham" of 50-ton sloop Diamond of London

An interesting note on the cargo in Diamond states "European goods as p[er] cocquete." Now, Merriam-Webster's Definition of coquette shows:

1: a woman who endeavors without sincere affection to gain the attention and admiration of men

2: any of several small, tropical American hummingbirds (genus Lophornis) with the males typically having a colorful or ornate tuft of feathers on the head

The first definition would ironically be appropriate, considering the notorious reputation of Nassau with ladies of the night! Still, I hardly think that the women would be listed as "cargo." The 2nd definition of the exotic birds... well, that, too is doubtful. But, birds can be found there, sure.

No, there's another explanation:

19th cent. "cocquet" or order certificate 

These "European goods" probably were men's powdered wigs, or ladies' fancy corsettes and ordered like on Amazon. Diamond simply delivered the order like an 18th century UPS, "p[er] cocquete."

Another name on these shipping records important to North Carolina is master James Wimble of 5-ton sloop Hardtimes, built in South Carolina and later master of Bermudan-built 5 -ton Bonetta. Wimble had been born in Hastings, Sussex, England and came to the Bahamas when it became free of pirates in 1718. 

This man was essentially the prime motivator in the development of the town of Wilmington in North Carolina's Lower Cape Fear. Several mariners had been involved in conceiving the town, including this same surveyor and mapmaker Capt. Matthew Higginbotham, who lived for a while in Brunswick Town, across the Cape Fear River from New Town, Newton, New Liverpoole, New Carthage, or as it was finally known in 1740, Wilmington. 

1733 James Wimble Map of Wilmington area

1738 James Wimble Map of North Carolina

 

An Unwelcome Visit from Pirates!

 

Defense and Cassandra with tender attack Fort Lijdzaamheid on Rio Delagoa (Southeast Africa) circa 30 April 1722

 

 

Occupation of Fort Lijdzaamheid (Fort Agility) & Debauchery of the Pirates: 22 April - 30 June, 1722:

Narrative of Jacob de Bucquoy in his "Zestien Jaarige Reize Naar de Indien," published in 1757, 27-36, concerning the attack and two-month stay of pirates Richard Taylor in 72-gun Defense (formerly Portuguese Viceroy of Goa's vessel, Nossa Senhora do Cabo) and Olivier LeVasseur (La Buse) in 44-gun Cassandra (former East India Company vessel of Capt. James Macrae) and their crews at the newly-built Dutch fort on Rio De La Goa or modern Maputo Bay on southeast shore of Africa.

Narrative broken up for easier reading...

------------------

We lived in the Fort, apart from sickness among our new recruits, and death, in a moderate rest, and feared no foreign enemies: but then often the danger is near, as will appear in the following.

It was on the 11th April [22 April by Gregorian calendar], (a year after we arrived here) that the natives informed us that there were three ships in the Bay, but they had not raised the flags: at once an order was given to ship to the corner [bend] of the River constantly setting out posts to learn what kind of Ships they might be: 

Every day the Natives came to our Fort, with pieces of Indian Lynwaet [lijnwaet; "linen"] for the body, which they said they had bartered from other Ships; What they had left they used for flags and pennants on their canoes and tubes. 

It lasted until the 19th of April [G: 30 April] when the said ships, bearing an English King's flag and pennant, approached the mouth of the River; we could not imagine what this might mean. English King's ships to be seen here in an unknown region, where there was no War, seemed strange, and on Sea Rovers no suspicion [English pirates were usually welcome]; but the outcome soon showed us; what people they behold. 

We prepared our pieces [canon], and enabled us to resist, if they should be against us: to this end we took a crowd of Blacks in the Fort, and led the Hoeker there, to defend us like a Watercastle, meanwhile the approaching ships; as two large ones, one of 72 [Defense], and the other of 44 cannon [Cassandra], plus a Brigantin up to the Lodge [entry building before Fort?]; they were crammed with people, who blew on the Kampanje [trumpets] lustily; then the largest ship dropped anchor and fired a shot in front of the Hoeker and our Fort, and then gave the whole broadside, likewise the other. We did not owe it to the shore, and gave them in the same language [returned fire], but in such a way that with the first volley the largest Pieces shook in the sand, for we had no fixed batteries yet, but loose planks deposited on the sand. We recovered as much as we could, when we saw with amazement that the Hoeker had already lowered the flag, and prepared as a prize. 

 

Jacob de Bucquoy, Plattegrond van Fort Lijdzaamheid on Rio de Lagoa, 1721.

They were still firing steadily with their 12-pounders, loaded with bullets and scrap; all the Blacks rushed over the patisfaden [palisade?], and fled into the woods. We saw that 78 men who were still alive at the Fort, and many of them sick, could not stand this crowd: but it seemed reasonable with the Commande while I was busy getting the Pieces ready to fire. 

As I acted for Opperkonstapel [Chief], I was told that someone had lowered the flag in the hole; This dropping of the flag communicated to the ships that we had surrendered: at once boats full of people came to the shore. Our Chief, Monsr. [Jean] Michel exclaimed "par Dieu wat dat ly wat dat! What that, I said, they have cut the flag in the hole, and we are taken." 

Under this message of Monsieur the people came ashore, four of whom emerged from the heap with pistol in one hand and saber in the other as far as the Lodge [entrance battery?]; Each of them looked with astonishment that so few men had such boldness; while one asked in a gruff voice, Where is the Chief? who answered here, asking them at the same time what kind of people they were? They answer that they were Kings of the Sea and of the World. 

Each was silent and looked at the other, and did not know what the further consequence would be, which we learned shortly. He immediately commanded the people to lay down their rifles, and at once ordered the Chief [acting-Chief Jean Michel] to sail aboard the great ship [Defense]: against which he long protested, [to no avail.] I [Bucquoy] accompanied him, and meanwhile they made sure of their accommodation. 

Round about, and seeing it necessary, they set up sentries, and divided the defenders (whom they immediately disarmed) here and there: while more and more people came ashore for their reinforcements. We left the second, one Jan van de Capelle, ashore, and sailed with the barge from the shore to board the great ship, where the Sea-robbers' flags were waving from the top of the stern and aft. 

When we were on the side of the ship, the Captain [Richard Taylor] stood with a saber in hand, aboard, waiting for us. Monsr. Michel, seeing a Negro approaching from his sight, Did not want him to climb over first; I said that to him [the Chief] that honor belonged, that otherwise I wished to be the first, as he then bid me: so I climbed by a rope, so that there was no stairway, and came over. Monsr. Michel was joined by 6 to 7 men; 

On his behalf we were ordered to follow the Captain who entered a room, and we with him: there we found the whole Assembly in order, with a box of punch in the middle, accompanied by an agreement of Muzyk, according to the English style, immediately wares we sat, or the punch box went round, and then, after the occasion of the country, and our condition, we were asked very accurately, by articles; whereupon Mr. Michel replied. Furthermore, they asked about Victuals [food provisions] for their ships, Water, etc. were available here. 

After we seemed to have satisfied them with a few things, they declared that upon their last visit that they had found a Dutch Comptoir [trading post] here [surprised at the presence of a fort]. They needed a place in these Indian regions, but if they had known this, they would have called upon another; but the matter now being so, it was their custom to lay down the anchors with little effort; Money, Tobacco, and Liquor, were Contrabands, and they were in need of them. 

Then our Victuals and Ammunition came, miraculously, and what more they thought could be of service. For the rest we must console ourselves with fate, and be at peace. 

Here people played merrily and drank about clearly. After an hour or two, my curiosity caught my eye to go downstairs to go between decks; and there to consider their lives; it seemed like a complete Robber's Fair; all the guests sat about their bowls, and drank profusely. Here I found all sorts of nations among each other, even black Negroes. 

Jeder spoke to me, Brother! 

Before and after: so the night ended with us: but it had not gone like this normally; for when they are drunk they live boldly with their captives; the Konstaple [leader; in this case, Richard Taylor] had a heart in the Arm [love of arms?], and the others had dutifully queried [parried] with the Sabers: a steady alarm, frightening the peasantry, and in fear for their lives, that the Second [Chief?], with twenty-one men more, would take flight in secret; chests and treasuries were opened with crowbars, and the well demolished;

In the morning the People [pirates] were divided on the shore and on the ships; and I was utilized to trade Vee [cattle] and Victuals for them. I was quite pleased with this; for whole bales of Lynwaat [lijnwaet; "linen"] were but cut up, and exchanged in pieces, for trifles, of Hoenders [Afrikaans: "chicken"], Fruits, etc.; the barrels of Corals and trifles, like Nuremburg Kramery [haberdashery; British: small items used in sewing, such as buttons, zippers, and thread (see thimble below)], which we had for Negotie [negotiating] at the Comptoir [trading post], everything was now in common. This was riotous and rude. I'm glad to have read the Hellish Fair, but it was one hell of a job. Offending women, drinking publicly drunk, and then inflicting violence on the native, was the same work; 

Briefly they [pirates] were at war with them [natives]; day and night they shot sharply across the plains: the natives grew so bitter, that is to observe the Ships and Vessels and then throw in with their Assegayen [a slender, iron-tipped, hardwood spear used chiefly by southern African peoples], wherewith several [pirates] have already been killed. 

Thimble | German, probably Nuremberg - Metropolitan Museum of Art

A curious case occurred on the birthday of King George the Second [must be the First, b. May 28; Second was b. 11 November and was not yet king (1727)], weekday, when they usually spend boozing and like a Sea-robbers Joyful feast.

Captain Tailor and Captain Labous, beside some officers, sat separately with a Punch bowl, drinking together. Tailor, looking before the Fort about Botree, a Native, standing somewhat to the side of the others, standing near the wood, and looking elsewhere, little thinking that death was so near to him, his Snape [Snaphaan; snaphaunce, or flintlock pistol], which sat beside him, and said to his company: Would you see that Karel [derogatory reference to a native] make a cabriolet [type of one-horse carriage]? they, according to their degenerate natures, said yes: Indeed he aims and shoots him, that he fell to the ground and gave up the ghost after a little thrashing; Having done this, he set the Snaphaan [Flintlock pistol or Snaphaunce] aside again, continued his conversation with the same composure as if nothing had happened, and I never heard him speak of it again.

I am ashamed to inform the reader of the liberality which I saw that day, as much about malking [associating with an untidy woman] as the violent treatment of women in public practice, so as not to introduce vexatious ideas of it into anyone's imagination or memory.

This lasted until the 26th June, when they had their ships ready and clean: As for my interest, I changed my clothes daily; the one took everything from me, and the other gave me a skirt again, or vest: in short I had changed fashion all day long; long, short, wide, and narrow, all was my pass; that which I gained in exchange, I again venerated to those who had not, 'Never have I looked better at the world and life, and learned to know its intemperance and futility; now I had it by experience.

Finally being supplied with Victuals, and being there their time of departing again, they shot a lap, and waved the Black Flag to Pitsjaaren [signal].* By this it was well thought to take the Hoeker as foresailer: but so their great ship [Defense] went 22 feet deep [draught], and in the bay was but 18 feet of water by common cyn [average, measurement?], and knowing that I had drawn the map of the bay [see map above], they beseeched me that I might cast them out in the open sea; that in return they would give 5 bales of Lynwaet [lijnwaet; "linen"] to the people, to sustain life; and the Hoeker, after they had removed the masts in advance, before leaving in the Comptoir [trading post] to us for storage. 

Though I had little inclination to go with them, as they cannot take much on their word, but we were in need. I suggested this to the Chief [Michel], who advised me to do it: but being like a Frenchman, not trusting much with him, I told him that if he were so to me as Chief, and for that I recognized him, to command my self, I was then ready to obey his commands; which he then did in the presence of the rural folk, and the master of Hoeker, a Frans van Haften; thereupon I beg of them 2 or 3 helmsmen to go with my self, to lay the weights and bearings of the deep with barrels, and to mark as marks of course, for their and my assurance; which they approved. We were here for eight days. On the 30th June (J: 11 July) we lifted our anchors, and after the cannon's praise, we bid farewell to Rio de la Goa.

* Pitsjaaren - To make a sign on ship board for giving notice to the other Commanders that a Council of war is to be kept, or something like to be done. [A Compleat Dictionary, English and Dutch, to which is Added a Grammar, for Both Languages, Volume 2 (Amsterdam: K. de Veer, 1766), 639]

"Capt. Charles Johnson" was indeed Nathaniel Mist

 

Stationers' Company Archive, London, Entries of Copies, 28 April 1710 to 25 September 1746, p. 317.

About the author of A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates (1724):

 

From Quest for Blackbeard - "The most important detail, perhaps, appears that [Nathaniel] Mist’s foreman John Wolfe registered A General History in 'His Majesty’s Stationers’ Company' on June 24, 1724 'for Nathaniel Mist.'* Almost certainly, Mist authored A General History [he certainly owned the copyright] and he profited substantially from the publication. Indeed, A General History seemed to have been his financial lifeboat – at least for a few years [after his imprisonment and fines]. 

* Arne Bialuschewski, “Daniel Defoe, Nathaniel Mist, and A General History of the Pyrates,” Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America (PBSA), 98 (March 2004), pp. 25n14, 26 (from: Stationers' Company Archive, London, Entries of Copies, 28 April 1710 to 25 September 1746, 317 (see above picture); Mist owned 100% of the book, too). 

We should note here that Nathaniel Mist was a Jacobite-loving anti-government publisher (think: Fox News) who had been recently jailed and fined for his now-first-amendment-supported propaganda. Not that the propaganda was anything but harmful to Great Britain's reigning monarch. Only two years after publishing A General History, Mist fled England for France to avoid further trouble with the government. Arne Bialuschewski adds further:

In September 1728 an anonymous pamphlet entitled Mist’s Closet Broke Open appeared, which contained a number of epigrams that were published to ridicule Mist after he had taken flight. Its contents are of minor importance, except for the fact that there are two references to Captain Charles Johnson. The first comprises “Sea-news from Capt. Johnson to Mist,” the second is a fictional letter from Mist to Johnson.By that time, it seems, the connection between the fictitious captain and the Jacobite was an open secret in the publishing business.

Professor of Literature Dr. Manushag Powell of Purdue University assures us that this book was written as historical fiction or a "counterfactual" as she puts it.. Furthermore, Daniel DeFoe - sometime author of occasional articles appearing in Mist's newspaper, Weekly Journal or Saturday Evening Post - reputedly "authored" a cheap knock-off of A General History the year after Mist published it. DeFoe, however, never copyrighted this... which makes you wonder how he got later credit for it. Politics may have helped, as he was a spy for Lord Sunderland - keeping an eye on Mist and his anti-government writing! Jacobites often paid dearly for their treasonous efforts and Mist, of course, fled to France in 1726!

 

A General History is filled with corrigendums, or "things to be corrected, typically an error in a printed book," if we presume it to be an actual history. It is best viewed as historical fiction. How can we possibly treat Nathaniel Mist or any of his acquaintances as an historian or his uncited suspect secondary novel as an actual "history" in the face of this overwhelming evidence? There are a plethora of primary documents available from which to gain more trustworthy pirate history - many of them used and then, elaborated upon - even stretched into outright lies - by Mist! I often joke that my historical fiction, Fountain of Hope, could be looked at as "A General History of Florida" one day, based on this same criteria... some may even propose that time travel is real, based on that erroneous assumption! I assure you that - so far - it has not been proven and I never intended Fountain of Hope to be actual history, even though I loaded it to the brim with historical fact - a novelist's tactic to gain more realism. The polemical Mist, on the other hand, did indeed expect his readers to consider A General History to be just that! After all, he called his novel a "history," didn't he?

 

 https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/18cy/article/download/25330/31209

Who was Pirate Jasper Seager and Did he Use an Alias?

These details reference those pirates involved in the taking of Cassandra, an East India Company vessel under the command of James Macrae in the summer of 1720, in the bay of Anjouan or Johanna, just off the north-western tip of Madagascar.

First of all... Jasper Seager was NOT the same pirate as Edward England! 

Why would anyone think that, anyway? "Jasper" is no nickname for "Edward" that I've ever heard! "Seager" doesn't sound anything like "England." Presumably, some writers assume that pirates used aliases and this explains the comparison.

I read this all the time in various references - presumably because people today anachronistically believe that pirates used aliases on a regular basis. They really did not. There are a couple of rare examples, but it was by no means a common practice. Moreover, the common reference of "alias" in records of this time period simply meant "also known as" - perhaps a nickname commonly used - and was not a term necessarily to indicate an attempt by them to hide their true identity by taking on a completely different name. That's more of a 20th and 21st-century assumption about criminality and the modern concept of "alias."

Yes, pirates committed crimes, but the 18th century was far from a crime-free time period - much more crime-ridden than society today. The British government of older times often endorsed criminality themselves and often openly outside of Great Britain and especially in America - the land "beyond the lines of amity!" So, let's put this England-Seager false comparative assumption to rest once and for all!

Primary-source records - indeed, eyewitness accounts - can assure us that Jasper Seager and Edward England are not the same man:

John Barnes, the 1st mate of Greenwich, captain Richard Kirby, while in Johanna Bay, wrote in his journal entry for August 7, 1720 that Greenwich, Cassandra, and an Ostend vessel (220-ton Stahremberg, Capt. Richard Gargan) came under attack by two pirates: 46-gun French-built Victory, commanded by "Capt. England" and 36-gun Dutch-built Fancy, captained by "Capt. Seager." Barnes clearly understood that there were two different pirate captains named England and Seager.

Barnes' journal entry for August 7, 1720

Again, note that John Barnes' journal was an eye-witness account - and, therefore, a primary record! Most of the secondary sources - especially non-cited references, lacking in source notes - are definitely NOT primary sources! In my opinion, many 18th-century newspaper articles are highly suspect secondary sources - often derived from hearsay, printed quickly, and with little or no vetting. Many of those not trained in proper historical research techniques can misunderstand these subtle, but important, distinctions. Thus, a lot of popular pirate literature are bursting with errors and false assumptions.

I cannot say this enough, but Charles Johnson's counterfactual hit-piece A General History of the Pyrates is clearly secondary - quite faulty - and NOT a primary source! Yes, it was all that was handily available for nearly 300 years, but that fact does not magically give it precedence over valid primary sources readily available now! It also did not stop thousands of writers elaborating greatly upon the untold facts - again, over 300 years!

There are quite enough primaries available today that make using faulty references like Johnson's quite ill-advised (~175 transcribed primary records are available for all to use on the "Pirate Reference" tab of my website at http://baylusbrooks.com). Nothing in print can be trusted without detailed valid citations to indicate precisely where the author got his information. Otherwise, it might as well be rumors, religion, hearsay but certainly not history!

Okay... climbing down from the soapbox....

From Sailing East: West-Indian Pirates in Madagascar:

Jasper Seager is an historical enigma. His name does not appear in documents related to this particular group of pirates before sailing to Madagascar in 1720. He appears not to have come from the African Coast with the others. Still, he assumes command of Fancy, and possibly as commodore over both of the two ships that take Cassandra. If his name had not appeared in Chief Mate John Barnes’ journal from Greenwich as the captain of Fancy on the dated entry for 7 August 1720, before hostilities began on the 8th, he would not have been considered as all that important. His credit from historians is undeservedly and comparatively slight after taking Cassandra. He is not as perceptible in most narratives after the pirates take the Viceroy’s ship (see Chapter Five) at La Bourbon, despite the Viceroy’s own account – Richard Lasinby’s account, of course, came from aboard Victory and not Cassandra, then under Seager’s command. 

Owing purely to speculation, Seager may be regarded as an older man of great experience, perhaps already a pirate inhabitant of Madagascar when the others arrived. It is known that one Thomas Seager was in Henry Every’s crew, had not returned with others, and had possibly settled on Madagascar in the mid-1690s.  Perhaps another Seager served in Every’s crew or in Kidd’s? To his credit, Charles Johnson predicted that Edward England’s crew searched for Every’s old crew when they arrived at Île Saint-Marie. Evolving from this reasonable speculation, it may also be that later pirate crews [in the East Indies] consisted of mixes between elder pirate residents of Madagascar and the recent arrivals to the island. Charles Grey also alludes to this in Pirates of the Eastern Seas. As an older pirate residing on Madagascar who once possibly served with Henry Every, Jasper Seager could have been viewed by these younger pirates as legendary as Every himself. It should be noted that an early article by Grey, published in Bombay, India on the “Taking of Cassandra” gave Jasper Seager the primary credit for her capture, not Edward England. Indeed, from Barnes’ journal, it was Seager in Fancy who engaged Macrae for so long and so diligently while England in Victory chased Kirby’s Greenwich.

John Barnes Journal - entry for August 8, 1720

The entry in my Dictionary of Pyrate Biography for Jasper Seager is as follows:

Seager, Jaspar – possibly found at Madagascar by Edward England et al when they arrived in 1720; may be related to Henry Avery’s crewman, Thomas Seager; commanded Victory at Island of Johanna in the East Indies [Anjouan Island in the Comoros, NW of Madagascar], Edward England in Fancy with Richard Taylor aboard took East Indian vessel (8 Aug 1720; 17 Aug 1720 in misprinted Post Boy article) Cassandra, Capt. James Macrae [Mackra in Post Boy], 380 tons, 26 guns, 76 men (left Portsmouth, England 21 Mar 1720) – England is deposed by his crew and left at Madagascar – England then retires on Ile Saint Marie; Possibly an older man, Jasper Seager was made captain of Cassandra; met with Bombay Fleet, late 1720; proceeded to Dutch fort of “Cochins” [southwest coast of India, burial place of Vasco de Gama], Christmas 1720; see greater detail in Olivier LeVasseur and Richard Taylor; word that seven Indian ships sought them and hid at uninhabited island called “Morashes” [Mauritius] – cleaned and caulked badly leaking Victory; Seager in Cassandra, Taylor as quartermaster and LeVasseur made captain of Victory, Feb 1720; LeVasseur and Seager went to “Don Maskareene” [island group just east of Madagascar - Mascarene Islands: Mauritius, Réunion, and Rodrigues] – made for Bay of Bourbon or St. Denis, Réunion and arrived c. Easter Sunday [13 Apr; Moor says 8 Apr], 1721; Luís Carlos Inácio Xavier de Meneses, Viceroy of the East Indies, sailing on a Portuguese vessel, Nossa Senhora do Cabo [Guelderland - Vierge de Cap[1]] from Goa to France, after weathering a storm that blew down all masts and left them with 21 canons, captured by LeVasseur in Victory and Seager in Cassandra [Ericiera calls her Fantasie, variant of "Enchantress," a synonym for the meaning of "Cassandre"] in Bay of Saint-Denis, Isle de Bourbon (a booty equivalent to ten million Euros today, in diamonds, gold, silver coin, bar or ingot), 11/16 April 1721; to leeward [west] of island, captured Dutch ship City of Ostend (former Greyhound), 21/26 Apr 1721; arguments over the Nossa Senhora do Cabo ensued - returned to Madagascar with City of Ostend to clean and sell slaves - desired to split company; Seager died at Madagascar while avoiding British fleet under Comm. Matthews - Olivier LeVasseur took his place as captain of Cassandra.[2]

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[1]Research conducted by Baneto and Verazzone at Les Archives Nationales Portugaises de la Torre do Tombo. LISBOA – Portugal, http://ybphoto.free.fr/diamants_goa_ch2.html; This royal frigate was named after the DNS Zeelandia, DNS Gelderland and DNS Galderland. It was a second-class warship and was bought and renamed the Nossa Senhora do Cabo (“Our Lady of the Cape” called Vierge de Cap or “Celebrate the Cape” in Dutch by Comte d’Ericiera) by Portugal in 1717.

[2]“Captain Mackra’s ship taken by Edward England, Post Boy, 25 & 27 Apr 1721, “Richard Lazenby, a prisoner of Taylor,” “The Examination of Richard Moor, 31 October 1724 (addenda 5 November 1724), HCA 1/55, ff. 94-97,” “The Examination of John Matthews, 12 October 1722, HCA 1/55, ff. 201-21” in E. T. Fox, Pirates in Their Own Words (Fox Historical, 2014), 271-276, 276-285, 207-213, 192-195; “Jaques du Bucquoy” in Alfred Grandidier, Collection des Ouvrages Anciens concernant Madagascar, Vol. 5(Paris: Comité de Madagascar, 1888), 61-72; L. Robert, “Description, in general and in detail, of the island of Madagascar, made on the best memoirs of the old officers who lived in this island [at] the Port Dauphin; all checked exactly on the spot by the sieur ROBERT; Part 1. The discovery of the island. - 2nd part. The detail of each kingdom or provinces. - 3rd part. The Dauphin Port. - 4th part. The rancidity of the pirates; the great advantages that there would be in forming colonies there." (1730), No. 196, Manuscript 3755, Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque du Service Historique de la Défense, Bibliothèques de la Marine (Vincennes, Val-de-Marne, France), 4^th part, ff. 109-117; La Gazette de Paris, Bureau d'adresse (Paris), 23 May 1722;“Relation of Count Ericiera” in G. Cavelier, Le Mercure, May 1722, 54-68; both translated by Baylus C. Brooks.