La Gazette Pirate References - 1720

p. 45-46:

From London, January 18, 1720

We heard from Harwich that on the 15th & 16th, two Transport Vessels, on which eight hundred Dutchmen had embarked, had sailed, and that the preceding days, six hundred others had left on other vessels, en route to The Netherlands. Two ships of thirty guns order to go against the Corsairs [Pirates], who continue to disturb trade in the Colonies of America & the Coast of Guinea, where they appear in greater numbers than ever. They burned several takes they made, & we learn from letters from Barbados, that they looted or burned forty English Vessels of this Colony & other neighbors, & twenty on the coast of Guinea, from different Nations . According to the latest advice from this country, Captain Maxwel, who passed from old Calabar to Virginia, having on board a hundred Negros, had been taken near Isle of Cariscoe [Corisco] by three of these Pirates [almost certainly Olivier LeVasseur, Jeremiah Cocklyn, and Richard Taylor]; that they had taken him to serve as their Pilot; and having learned that two ships from London and one from Bristol had gone to the neighboring coasts to buy Negroes, they had sailed from this coast, and had taken them, as well as another vessel from Glascow. They have since made their way to the Gold Coast, & according to the report of Captain Maxwel who fled at night in a Rowboat, their intention was to go cruising towards the Cape of Good Hope, to await the Vessels returning there from East Indies. In the last sessions of the Justices of the Peace, it was ordered to the Connestables or Commissars of the districts, to have the Loix enforced against those who have seditious libels, or who sing insolent songs in the streets.

p. 214:

From London, April 25, 1720

The Duke of Shandois & others, Bought, the Patent of the Company of Africa, for two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling. We learn from Virginia that the Pirates started their races again, and that they had taken two Bristol Ships.

p. 227:

From London, May 2, 1720

The letters from America and the costes of Africa are known that the Pirates continue to make great disorders there, ransoming or plundering almost all the merchant ships they meet, & even attacking some of them under the cannon of the Forts. Several highway robbers have been executed to death here and in the Provinces, but thefts are very frequent.

p. 370-371:

From London, July 25, 1720

[excellent context:]
The Directors of the African Company wishing to restore their trade which was considerably diminished by the losses which the Pirates caused him to suffer there, made equip ten ships, to send there, besides the two warships of fifty piece of cannon that the Lords Justiciers granted them. The purpose of the Company is to fortify the ports where it has trading posts, & to put them out of insult, because their buildings were not there in rage, & to make a new establishment in the river of Gambia, ten leagues or so from its mouth, hoping by this means to attract the principal trade in elephant teeth, gold dust, and other merchants of the country, with the Cafres [of Southeast African origin] on the continent. She sent for this purpose a large number of all strong laborers, and quantity of materials, in addition to two hundred soldiers divide into four Companies each commanded by a Lieutenant, who will enter in garrison in the Fort which it is intended to build there . The Lords Justiciers having examined the project sent from Ireland, to establish in Dublin a Bank similar to that of England, had approved it: but on the admonitions which were made to them of the prejudice that this one could suffer from it, they have suspended the execution of the project until further notice. Some ships have arrived from Virginia, and others are expected to load tobacco and other country goods. We learn that the Pirates are causing disorder every day, & that the Spaniards have recently taken an English Vessel, because the suspicion of all hostilities, was not yet published in this country. The East India Company has made the sale of the goods which are loaded with the last Vessels which make them arrive, and it has been about seven hundred thousand pounds sterling, instead that above it was much stronger. We attributed this decrease to
little debit that the painted canvases and other manufactures of the Indies had, which the Merchants had obliged to give at low price, because of the Acts of the last Parliament. Notwithstanding the penalties imposed by the last Act of Parliament, highway robbers continue to cause a great deal of disorder: some of their leaders have been arrested, they have declared their accomplices, who are being researched. The Actions on the South Sea Company are today a thousand miles away.

p. 382:

From London, July 29, 1720

... The Directors of the Africa Company having resolved to establish a new dwelling in the Gambia river, ten leagues or approximately from its mouth, must send workers there incessantly, to build a fort there which can put the costes under cover from pirates who take a lot of it, we have even learned recently that they had taken three English Vessels, of which the Officers and the Sailors had been made slaves. On the assurance that the Resident of the Czar in this Court gave the Merchants that they could send their Vessels to the ports of Estats du Roy his Maistre, & traffic freely there, they sent several of them to Russia, & they ship goods every day for these countries.

p. 406-407:

From London there on August 15, 1720.

... The Merchants learned that the Pirates had kidnapped several of their Vessels in the Gambia river, which caused them great losses. They hope that the warships that the Government has granted to the different Companies, for the safety of their Trade, will deliver these Costes from all these Pirates. We write from Plymouth, that there had passed three Vessels from the Mediterranean Sea Wing, and we await the rest of this fleet. It is believed that that which was intended for this Sea, and which was to be commanded by Admiral Wager, will be disarmed, and we have already sent orders to two of the Vessels which compose it, to set sail, to go to the Costes of Guinea, & to assure there the Trade of the Company of Africa, which must make leave at the same time its Vessels. We continue to transport a lot of gold & silver for France, & for Holland.

p. 418-419:

From London, August 22, 1720.

The Lords Justiciers who had referred to the ordinary Judges the decision of the concertation which is between My lord Craven & My lord Londondery, for the property of the Isles of Bahama in America, examined this affair for a third time, in the Council which was held on the 20th of this month, & it was ordered that the Attorney General would draw up an Act to annul the Charter which was granted to My Lord Craven under the reign of Charles II & to reunite these Isles to the Crown. This judgment did not, however, prevent the Company formed by My lord Londo [n] dery in favor of a Patente which was given to him by the Roy [king], to continue his projects to make an establishment in these Isles & she must send there immediately any strong of workers, on the Vessels which leave at the end of the month for the Isle of Providence. The Duke of Grafton, Viceroy of Ireland, to whom the Lords Justiciers had referred the examination of a Request, to establish in Dublin a Insurance Company for fire, having made a very favorable report to this establishment, the interestez hope more than ever to obtain a Charter which authorizes it, & they have chosen a Governor & Directors of this Company, whose project is to establish Insurance Offices in London, Dublin, & in all Trade cities of the Kingdom of Ireland. The South Sea Company Books have been opened to receive new Subscriptions, but the eagerness has not been so great for a few days, which causes them to close them until next week. The East India Company & that of Africa, always continue to engage Officers, soldiers & workers, to send in their establishments, and work to build new there. They become more and more everyday necessary, all the news of these countries containing only the various catches made by the Pirates who make them become so powerful on these coasts, that the Merchant Vessels no longer dare to go to sea without escort.

p. 575-576:

From London, November 21, 1720

... The Attorney General has handed over to the Court of Bench of Roy [king] the information he has given by order of the Lords Justiciers against Mr. Lowther Governor of Barbados who is to be tried at the next term. For the past few days, there have been several proceedings against the commitments made between individuals on the Shares of the Compagnie de la Mer du Sud, but it appears that the Judges will decide nothing on these strong cases only when they will be informed of the intentions of Parliament on these commitments. Interested in the latest Subscriptions, await the Assembly of Parliament with great impatience; & they still hope it will do them justice. There are a very large number of Briefs which must be presented on this case, and particularly against Directors who hope to glue them to justify themselves of what is imputed to them on the discredit of Actions, the price of which has been further reduced since the news come from the considerable bankruptcies that take place in Holland. Six large Vessels & six others a little smaller which belong to the Company of Africa made sail of the Dunes last week, under the escort of two Vessels of war, & there are still in the Thames two large vessels which must incessantly put sailing. This Company has embarked on these Vessels a large number of soldiers and workers, to build new Forts in their establishments. The warships escorting these vessels are ordered to hunt down the Pirates & destroy them entirely, so the Company, whose trade has been much smaller for some time, hopes to make it much more profitable, and to build up Your credit, Don Hyacinthe Pereyra de Castro Envoy Extraordinary of the King [king] of Portugal in this Court, died here on the 20th of this month. Four thousand three hundred and thirteen ounces of gold were sent to Douanne this week for Holland, and two hundred ounces for being transported to France. The shares of the Compagnie de la Mer du Sud are now two hundred and ten.

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Quest for Blackbeard: The True Story of Edward Thache and His World

2020 Updated 2nd Kindle Edition
by Baylus C. Brooks (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

Price: $19.99

Pirate References in Le Nouveau Mercure - April 1718

p. 148

MILORDS ET MESSIEURS

... It is written from Carolina that 60 Pirates came to return to the Governor, and 200 others, with one of their Commandants, to the Governor [Bennett] of Bermuda.

It has been said at Jamaica, that Captain Jennings [at least for Jennings, surrendered in Bermuda] Chief of the Pirates, & 4 or 5 others of the most considerable, also submitted in accordance with the Proclamation of the King.

Captain Rogers, who was on his departure for the Isle of Providence, in order to unearth the Forbans [pirates], received a counter-order, leaving that the Court was informed that these Corsairs are so well fortified, & are so great number, that it is not possible to [subdue] them with little force: That thus, one will be obliged to increase those which were designed for this expedition.

p. 159:

PORTUGAL,

In Lisbon, April 6.

... We also suspended the armament of 8 larger warships, & we stopped working on the construction of 5 new warships, & two new [frigates] which had been placed on the sites, for about 12 days . Only two second-tier vessels will be armed, in addition to those that served in the Levant last year; & all our naval forces will make up this campaign only of 16 vessels of line & 4 [frigates], which will be used to convoy our merchant fleets, & to cross on the Corsairs of Salé, & on the English pirates who sail these seas, where they often take.

p. 160:

SPAIN.

In A Coruña: 6.

Of the 4 warships of the Spanish squadron which flit along the Coté pour la lurete du Commerce, 2 made re-enter this Pig with two of the biggest Corsairs of Salé which they took after three hours of combat, between this place & Vigo. One of the Saltins vessels was mounted with 84 pieces of cannon & 280 men of Crews: They also brought back three vessels; to know, two Portuguese & an Englishman, that these Pirates had taken off the boat in the evening towards the Cape of Finestere; the other two Spanish ships there entered at one o'clock in the afternoon, with two English Forbans taken twelve thousand miles below the Cape of Bilbao, where these Forbans had been cruising for three weeks. All the crews of these sea skimmers, which number more than 700, were to leave this port in a few days, to be transported to Cadiz where they will be used to reinforce the Chiourmes des Galeres. We were working to repair the two Saltins Vessels which are new and very good sailing ships, to join them to the wing, which, after linking, to join it to the wing, which, after this junction, will be separated in two, from 9 warships each; one of which will cross to the costes of Andalusia, & the other, on the Coasts of Galicia & Vizcaya, to enhance trade in Spain & Portugal with other Foreign Nations. In case of rupture with England, these two squadrons will join to compose with those which one builds in the ports of these Costes; which will form a small fleet of 25 warships.

Edward "Blackbeard" Thache Leaves the Slave Trade for the Royal Navy!

HMS Windsor pay record abbrev. for "Barbados Merchant"

Before Edward "Blackbeard" Thache signed as "able seaman" aboard HMS Windsor on April 12, 1706 during Queen Anne's War, he worked in the Atlantic slave trade. A note on his pay record indicated that he signed aboard from a slave trader - Joseph Bingham's 250-ton, 16-gun vessel Barbados Merchant. Merchant was then captained by John Deeble, of the Plymouth Deeble family. 

Thache was discharged by Deeble on the southern coast of England. Windsor was then anchored in St. Helens Bay on the Isle of Wight and how Thache and his fellow crew found their way home to Jamaica is an interesting tale!

The vessel's owner Joseph Bingham had tried 24 February 1706 to offer the Royal African Company (RAC) the use of his vessel . But, they refused and he then offered it to the Royal Navy as a war ship or privateer in the West Indies, who also refused. 

From T 70/2 about an earlier voyage for the RAC

As the record above revealed, B. Merchant had sailed for the RAC before, going to the Guinea Coast in 1704, but further voyages for the company in 1706 would require a refit, as the RAC was refining their trade by then. A number of RAC requirements necessitated B. Merchant's modification, notably a larger cargo space and a larger furnace to enable providing food for the African slaves. 

In the midst of these official refusals, in the early spring of 1706, Bingham had recalled Barbados Merchant from its final tour of duty in the hands of John Deeble, who had delivered slaves to Barbados from the African Coast, there picking up "381 brrl: 44 terce: 8 barr: Musco" or unrefined Muscavado Sugar (used to make rum) and "881 bags ginger." B. Merchant departed Barbados in September 1705, leaving no time for another voyage, which often required the most of year to complete. Therefore, we know that this voyage was the last for Deeble, Thache, and the crew. Deeble apparently discharged and dropped off some of his crew, including Edward Thache, at the port of St. Helens in late March/early April and offloaded his cargo at Plymouth by 21 April.

Barbados Shipping record for Barbados Merchantman in fall 1705

Barbados Merchant offloaded her cargo at her homeport of Plymouth through April and waited through May until... as luck would have it, by 20 June 1706, Bingham again began negotiating with the RAC and England's Tresaury Department for a number of months to refit B. Merchant for service in the RAC. This time - due to recent losses from other vessels - they accepted!

T 70/44 John Pery, RAC secretary letters to Joseph Bingham - 1706

 
Nigel Tattersfield, author of The Forgotten Trade: Comprising the Log of the Daniel and Henry of 1700 and Accounts of the Slave Trade From the Minor Ports of England 1698-1725, on pages 218-221, examined Treasury records concerning the negotiations between Bingham and the RAC for this vessel. Tattersfield first found according to his book that Bingham had offered "Barbados Merchantman," or just "Barbados Merchant" according to a majority of records, for another voyage following Deeble's last Barbados run (cApril-May 1706), when the RAC and Royal Navy had turned him down. However, trouble with the RAC's other vessels changed that verdict. 

Resolution, which had been chartered by the RAC, was chased and caught by the Royal Navy for an unstated transgression and was then diverted to Portsmouth and taken out of action. Her £2,775 worth of cargo was warehoused there. 

Furthermore, another ship chartered by the RAC at this time, Maurice and George, was to sail from London for Cape Coast Castle, to Whydah to pick up 600 slaves, but ran into a storm just off Spithead, England and foundered. Fortunately, her £3,672 worth of cargo was recovered, but the RAC had run out of options and began negotiations with Joseph Bingham of Plymouth for Barbados Merchant. At any rate, changes would still be required, including "a Negro furnace, shackles and a mill for grinding corn" and later, "deal platforms, shackles, bolts, firewood and a separate cabin big enough to stow about a ton of horse beans," which would require months in a dockyard.. Bingham had sent his vessel to be refit at what is now HM Naval Base Portsmouth for that purpose.

What happened to the ship's captain and crew after their discharge?  Deeble intended to return to his home at Plymouth and Thache and others needed a ride back to the West Indies, so Deeble dropped them off at St. Helens at the Isle of Wight once their convoy returned from the West Indies to Spithead. There, they found HMS Windsor riding at anchor, loading fresh water, iron hoops, and beer. They also took on new crew from other vessels... like Barbados Merchant!

In January 1706, HMS Windsor had left the Downs at the eastern end of Southern England and docked at nearby Plymouth, anchoring in the Hamoaze. Then she sailed to Portsmouth in February, then crossed the "Solent" or a small channel of water separating the Isle of Wight from Portsmouth off the English shores, to the port of St. Helens at the Isle of Wight by mid-February. Windsor, whose orders were to make immediately for Thache's home of Jamaica in May, loaded provisions at that port throughout the months of February to April. Thache and his fellow crew from Barbados Merchant probably signed on with Windsor's crew to obtain passage home. Windsor's log mentioned many merchant vessels that arrived with the warships of the navy.

From March 27 to April 14, 1706, five men signed aboard Windsor, all of whom are probably former crewmen of Barbados Merchant: Edward "Thatch," Arron Huggins, Samuel Gaine, Henry Nellson, and William Horn. All of these men were paid together, with "Thatch" owing four times more rent than the others for his "chest allowance" - in other words, he possessed more goods than the others (Angus Konstam suggested at ECU a couple of weeks ago that many "gentlemen" enlisted in this fashion). This ended Thache's career as a slave trader... but he found a new profession in the Royal Navy!

At least three of these crewmen were discharged in or near Jamaica and Thache, himself, received "preferment" or promotion, remaining to serve his nation in the war with Spain and France. Pair this duty-bound behavior with another suggested by a deed to his family, late in 1706, where he gave his inheritance to his family to help them live while he coursed the seas in the Royal Navy!

ADM 33/267 HMS Windsor Pay Records showing Edward "Thatch"

By 1713, Queen Anne's War ended and Thache's naval service with it...

It's likely that the "Kinder, Gentler Blackbeard" war-veteran Edward Thache remained a merchant after Queen Anne's War, from 1713-on. He apparently had been seen in Philadelphia as a "mate" on a Jamaican ship about 1715. And, then, by 1716, he had become a pirate, taking (with Benjamin Hornigold) Henry Timberlake's vessel Lamb in August of that year.

Edward Thache's "higher social status" has drawn much recent attention during the 300th anniversary of Blackbeard the Pirate's death in Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina. Several interviews have taken place - one from Bristol, England - and The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke author Andrew Lawler has recently penned an article for Smithsonian magazine detailing this "Kinder, Gentler Blackbeard."

Some authors hold out on this theory, as Lawler tells, but professional historians, archaeologists, and "other scholars find Brooks’ case compelling."

----

Note: the earlier version of this article referred to the vessel as Barbados Merchantman, but after careful review of the primary sources, it appears that she was actually called Barbados Merchant. This article has been changed to reflect that. Nigel Tattersfield was simply mistaken. 12-15-2018

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BLACKBEARD: 300 YEARS OF FAKE NEWS.
from BBC Radio Bristol
300 years ago on Thursday - 22 November 1718 - Bristol born Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard, the most famous pirate in the history of the world), was killed in a violent battle off the coast of North America. And after 300 years we can finally separate the truth from the myth. You can hear the whole story this Thursday at 9am in a one off BBC Radio Bristol special: BLACKBEARD: 300 YEARS OF FAKE NEWS. With new research by Baylus C. Brooks, narrated by Bristol born Kevin McNally - Joshamee Gibbs in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, and produced by Tom Ryan and Sheila Hannon this is a very different Blackbeard from the one in the story books...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06s6zfx

You can hear it at https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_radio_bristol

Author Spotlight

#Blackbeard #pirate #twitterstorians


Also:

Three Centuries After His Beheading, a Kinder, Gentler Blackbeard Emerges - Smithsonian Online

By Andrew Lawler
smithsonian.com
November 13, 2018



Read about the final end of Edward Thache:
Murder at Ocracoke! Power and Profit in the Killing of Edward "Blackbeard" Thache



In commemoration of "Blackbeard 300 Tri-Centennial":

As always, drop by baylusbrooks.com and check out the primary source transcriptions av

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Howell Davis and the Royal African Company

Fort James on Kunta Kinteh Island

Renowned pirate Howell Davis is famous for using trickery to gain access to and burn the Royal African Company's (RAC) slave entrepôt on what was then called "James Island" in the Gambia River on the west coast of Africa - a fortified structure known as "Fort James." The island is now called "Kunta Kinteh Island,"  listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an historical site in the West African slave trade.

A controversial Jacobite newspaper publisher named Nathaniel Mist, writing under the pseudonym "Capt. Charles Johnson," published A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates in 1724. This extravagant, flamboyant, and ultimately popular narrative was literally a "political hit piece" on the "Commonwealth of Pyrates" across the Atlantic Ocean - a wilderness colony of England's, created by the cruder and more conservative Stuart Dynasty. We call it "America." The Stuarts had launched nearly a century of theft, native enslavement, and general mayhem originally intended to allow England's rise to power over their Spanish and French competitors in a land raped of its material wealth by all - America's nominal life of crime or piracy.

In that respect, a then financially-troubled Mist intended his book to be only partly a "history," while he had also been coerced by the new stabilizing Whig government to write derogatory references to this "Commonwealth" and its nests of maritime criminals known as "pirates" - commissioned to tell little white lies, as it were. England's desire was to use information warfare to end this Stuart menace to their trade in America. As Shakespeare knew all too well, "the evil that men do lives long after them [especially if in print] - the good is oft interred with their bones." Anyone in journalism or politics understands this human truth - including Nathaniel Mist and Lord Sunderland's Whigs. Sunderland intended to stop this century-old trend and bring America back into the fold of civilization by shaming them into giving up their evil ways - it may have only partly worked.

Mist also liked the idea of profiting from his book, which certainly would have effected it's accuracy! His property taxes and number of rental properties increased greatly after 1724!

Mist's tale for Howell Davis told of three similar incidents of his using slight of hand and playacting to fool administrators, governors, and others into believing that he was a gentleman merchant or official... and not a pirate! The last incident at Principe Island killed the amateur actor.

Davis had supposedly become a pirate because he was taken at Sierra Leone by Edward England off a vessel supposedly named Cadogan, Capt. Skinner. Skinner's first mate, Howell Davis (according to Mist), turned pirate a few months after being taken and imprisoned on his return to Barbados. His annoyance at being treated by Barbadian authorities as a pirate caused him to actually turn into one! He then supposedly surrendered at New Providence, the Bahamas, when Capt. Vincent Pearse arrived there late in February 1718. So, the Cadogan was supposedly taken by England at Africa before February 1718 - in other words, probably in 1717.

The problem with Mist's narrative is that the timing on these events does not fit. England probably began his career after capture of Cadogan - a vessel actually called Coulston and captained by Peter Skinner on a voyage to Africa throughout most of 1718, not 1717. The most damning part for Mist's elaborate and "villainous" (Mist's comic-book characterization of Edward England had him being allegedly rather rough with Skinner, killing him in 1718) narrative was the fact that Skinner's 1st mate was not named "Howell Davis," but "Hugh Vaughn," and Vaughn remained master of Coulston for another two years - he did not become a pirate. Oh, and there was the disappointing fact that Skinner died in 1719, not 1718 when Coulston was actually captured, and not in 1717 when England supposedly killed him! Mist apparently manipulated data to fit his literary needs - he wrote historical fiction, not history!

So... the actual history of Howell Davis probably never involved Edward England. The "enhanced" narrative (I'm being kind to Mist) that Mist provides for the events following the spring of 1718, after the pardoning at New Providence, however, could have been true - only the partisan Jacobite journalist Mist (not an historian) probably conflated (or intentionally faked) a great deal of information concerning Howell Davis with a pirate mentioned on Pearse's list of surrendered pirates named Othniel or "Othenias" Davis. This Davis, partner to pirate brothers Thomas and Daniel Porter on New Providence, was one-time master of Moville Trader, a vessel mentioned in Mist's "Howell Davis" narrative as Mumvil Trader, one of the two vessels (including Buck) fitted out by the Bahama's new governor, Woodes Rogers - as alleged by Nathaniel Mist. These events had to have occurred after April 1718 when Rogers arrived at the Bahamas. They are not the same men. The later legitimate anti-Spanish privateer Othniel Davis is discussed in Quest for Blackbeard: The True Story of Edward Thache and His World.

Again, Mist failed as an historian. 

Still, Mist's continued narrative after April 1718 for Howell Davis has him serving as a crewman aboard Buck, consorting with Mumvil Trader on a voyage to Martinique, "where Davis having conspired with some others, rise in the Night, secured the Master and seized the Sloop [Buck]." Davis called to the Mumvil Trader, "among whom they knew there were a great many Hands ripe for Rebellion," joining with them on Buck, and sending Mumvil Trader "to go where they pleased."

Mist then has Davis cleaning Buck, then crewed by 35 hands, at "the East End of the Island of Cuba" and then making sail to the north side of Hispaniola where they captured a French sloop of 12 guns and another of 24 guns and 60 men, keeping them for two days. Presumably, some of the French crewmen joined Davis, but Mist didn't say. He then "steered Northward, in which Course he took a small Spanish Sloop; after this, he made towards the Western Islands, but met with no Booty thereabouts; then he steered for the Cape de Verde Islands," which lay off the coast of Africa not far from the Gambia River and Fort James.

Cape Verde Islands location and detail

Mist then told that Davis cast anchor at the Portuguese island of São Nicolão or St. Nicholas where the inhabitants believed him to be an English privateer - perhaps giving him the idea for his future "piratical acting career." Davis and crew remained there for 5 weeks, "caressed by the Governor and the Inhabitants," exploring to the island's interior and enjoying their fortunate sojourn. Five of his crew remained behind for the "free Conversation of some Women" (leaving 30?); one, "Charles Franklin, a Monmouthshire Man, married and settled himself," supposedly still there in 1724 when Mist published his book. Presumably, these events occurred in late 1718, for by February-March 1719, Davis and his crew raided and burnt the RAC's Fort James.

Coast of modern-day São Nicolão

"From hence they [Davis and crew in Buck] sailed to Bonevista [Boa Vista; to east of São Nicolão], and looked into that Harbour, but finding nothing, they steer’d for the Isle of May [Maio; to south of Boa Vista]." Maio had been a source of salt, especially for the English, who exported it regularly from Porto Inglês (hence the name). There Davis and crew met "a great many Ships and Vessels in the Road" and plundered them. They took on new crew from those vessels, most of whom joined them willingly and "One of the Ships they took to their own Use, mounted her with twenty six Guns, and call’d her the King James (prob. former Loyal Merchant, Mathew Golding, commander)."

Afterward, as Mist wrote, Davis' crew could find no fresh water at the Isle of May and so they sailed for "St. Jago [Santiago]." Mist wrote:

Davis, with a few Hands, going ashore to find the most commodious Place to water at, the Governor, with some Attendants, came himself and examined who they were, and whence they came? And not liking Davis’s Account of himself, the Governor was so plain to tell them, he suspected them to be Pyrates. Davis seemed mightily affronted, standing much upon his Honour, replying to the Governor, he scorn’d his Words; however, as soon as his Back was turn’d, for fear of Accidents, he got on Board again as fast as he could. Davis related what had happened, and his Men seemed to resent the Affront which had been offered him [even though they actually were pirates]. Davis, upon this, told them, he was confident he could surprize the Fort [Forte Real de São Filipe is a 16th century fortress in the city of Cidade Velha in the south of the island] at in the Night; they agreed with him to attempt it, and accordingly, when it grew late, they went ashore well arm’d; and the Guard which was kept, was so negligent, that they got within the Fort before any Alarm was given: When it was too late there was some little Resistance made, and three Men killed on Davis’s Side. Those in the Fort, in their Hurry, run into the Governor’s House to save themselves, which they barricadoed so strongly, that Davis’s Party could not enter it; however, they threw in Granadoe-Shells, which not only ruin’d all the Furniture, but kill’d several Men within. [Oh, no... not the furniture! That was a beautiful Georgian desk! - "Not any more!" (French accent; sarcasm for those who've watched Pink Panther movies)...]

São Filipe fortress at Cidade Velha, Santiago island, Cape Verde. The fort has been restored in 1999-2001.

Forte de São Filipe: Walls and cistern

Mist told that Davis and crew, in King James and Buck, consisting now of 70-men, left the Island of Santiago, "having dismounted [and taken] the Guns of the Fort." The pirate ships then made for the Gambia River where "Davis, he having been employ’d in that Trade [Atlantic Slave Trade], was acquainted with the Coast." Davis added, in Mist's entertaining words, "a great deal of Money always kept in Gambia Castle [The RAC's Fort James], and that it would be worth their while to make an Attempt upon it."

A list of historic details and data regarding the RAC's Fort James is here: Data about Fort James

Kunta Kinteh Island is suffering heavy erosion, and is now approximately 1/6 of its size during the time when the fort was active.

Mist continued:

Having come within Sight of the Place [Fort James on James Island; today, Kunta Kinteh Island], he ordered all his Men under Deck, except as many as were absolutely necessary for working the Ship, that those from the Fort seeing a Ship with so few Hands, might have no Suspicion of her being any other than a trading Vessel; then he ran close under the Fort, and there cast Anchor; and having ordered out the Boat, he commanded six Men in her, in old ordinary Jackets, while he himself, with the Master and Doctor, dressed themselves like Gentlemen; his Design being, that the Men should look like common Sailors, and they like Merchants. In rowing ashore he gave his Men Instructions what to say in Case any Questions should be asked them.

Being come to the landing Place, he was received by a File of Musqueteers, and conducted into the Fort, where the Governor accosting them civilly, ask’d them who they were, and whence they came? They answered they were of Liverpool, bound for the River of Sinnegal, to trade for Gum [Olibanum; Frankincense] and Elephants Teeth... 

Mist goes on with tremendous detail about how Davis playacted, fooled, and tricked Agent Charles Orfeur, captured him and burnt the Royal African Company's Fort James, "dismounting the Guns, and demolishing the Fortifications."

Ruins on Kunta Kinteh Island (James Island)

An actual primary source document, a deposition from the Island of Barbados, reveals some similarities as to this story told by Nathaniel Mist. They suggest that he used this deposition as a base document on which he abundantly added the greater detail and elaboration, whether true or not. William Slade of Barbados, master of Guinea Hen, formerly in the service of the RAC under Solomon Raynesford and John Gill, had left Bridgetown, Barbados on December 23, 1718 for Gambia River, arriving by February 8, 1719. They had anchored by James Island before Davis entered Gambia River and made his way to raid the fort - thus, they were eyewitnesses to the arrival, deception, and raid by Howell Davis.

----------------------- Detail from Donnan, Documents of the Slave Trade, page 111
James Fort, and Island, in the River Gambia; the island walled round; Out-works, great Guns, small Arms, and Stores; formerly mounted with 90 great Guns; with several Warehouses, Rooms for Factors and Officers; Work-houses for Smiths, and other Artificers; by means whereof, together with the Agreements with the several Kings of that Country, the Company have heretofore enjoyed the Trade of that River upwards of 300 Leagues, with Settlements and Factories at the Places following; viz. Barracunda, Alunjugar, jamassar, Geregia, Tankerwall, Jovy, Sangrigo, Vintan, Gellifree, Barrafatt, Furbrow, Cumbo, and Benyoun, all within that River; and the Factories of Portodella, Joallee, Felan, and Bassally, without the said River; and by Sloops and Vessels, trading from the said James Island to Rio Pungo, Rio Nunez, Bissow, and Catchow, Places adjacent to the said Island; by all which in the time of settled Trade Carried forward £216,194 0 0 ‘This fort the company finally surrendered in 1728. The description of the forts already cited says of this one, the property of Messrs. Richard Oswald and Company: “This Fort has not been any Expence to the Public (notwithstanding it has been kept in better repair, and supplied with every necessary for its defence), than the Forts at Senegambia, and on the Gold Coast, and Whydah have been, where so much Public Money has been expended. . . . Belonging to the Fort 33 Europeans and Mullatoes, 137 Castle Slaves, besides Women and Girls, 10 Sloops, and Schooners, the Fort in Good repair, 28 Cannon”. Eg. MSS. 1162 B, f. 78.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


As William Slade's deposition read:

And these Deponents Memory's a Ship [King James] Came Up the Sd: River, and Came to an Anchor & Saluted the fort and Immediately afterwards the Captain Or Cheif Officer of the Said Shipp (as these Deponents were informed) Went on Shoar and Acquainted the Company's agent [English agent from 1717-1721: Charles Orfeur (b. 1688? - d. 1745)] there, that he with his Said Ship were Drove off the Coast of Barbarry Where he had been trading for Gumm [Gum Olibanum or Frankincense?], and that he Came in there for Wood & Water; That he having told this plausible Story and the Agent belonging to the Said ffort Giving Credit to what was told him, And these Depon:ts at that time Suspecting Nothing he the said Cap:tn Or Cheife Officer of the Said Ship together with his Men Surprized & took ye Said ffort and the Said Agent & these Deponents found & Discovered them to be Pyrates, That the Said Capt:n of the Sd: Pirate Ship with his Company Immediately after they had So Surprized and taken ye Sd: ffort & Sloop, they Plundered & Ransacked the Sd: ffort [Fort James] & Sloop [Guinea Hen] of Every thing they thought fitt for them, and Sett the Said ffort On ffire; thereby burning & Destroying goods & Effects to a Great Value...

Note that the narrative is quite similar, except for one primary detail: the part above in red that reads "that he with his Said Ship were Drove off the Coast of Barbarry [North Africa] Where he had been trading for Gumm [Gum Olibanum or Frankincense?]." Mist's narrative, however, stated "they were of Liverpool, bound for the River of Sinnegal, to trade for Gum [Gum Olibanum; Frankincense]." 

Why the change in location? If Mist used this document on which to base his tale, which he apparently did, why did he change the location from which Davis claimed to have been before arriving at James Island? Yes, Slade could have gotten the details wrong but, if he did, then how did Mist know any location at all if not from Slade's deposition? Hearsay? The trade item "Gum" mentioned by both at exactly this point in the narrative is quite interesting, wouldn't you say?

Another primary source document came from Richard Luntley, a crewman aboard Guinea Hen. He tended to verify William Slade's testimony. His narrative agrees well with his captain's, but was curt on this event and did not mention details such as this Barbery-Liverpool discrepancy.

William Slade and Richard Luntley both mention that the pirate sloop Buck came up to the fort on 27 February, after Howell Davis and his crew seized the fort. They also both mention a surprise visitor, Olivier LeVasseur de la Buse, the famed "Buzzard," on the 8th of March, who "Arrived at the Mouth of the River in a Briganteen [Murrane],"  or, as Mist wrote. "a French Pyrate of fourteen Guns and sixty four Hands, half French, half Negroes; the Captain’s Name was La Bouse."

Mist wrote, "La Bouse desired Davis, that they might sail down the Coast together, that he (La Bouse) might get a better Ship." By coincidence (perhaps), William Slade deposed "Which Ship [King James] and Briganteen [Murrane] Consorted together, and on the Tenth of that Instant [March] went to Sea, having Obliged the Deponent William Slade at the perill of his life to Pilott out the great Ship [King James]," obviously accompanied by their prize, Slade's Guinea Hen. 

Mist next wrote:

The first Place they touch’d at, was Sierraleon, where at first going in, they spied a tall Ship at Anchor; Davis being the best Sailor first came up with her, and wondering that she did not try to make off, suspected her to be a Ship of Force. As soon as he came along Side of her, she brought a Spring upon her Cable, and fired a whole Broadside upon Davis, at the same Time hoisted a black Flag; Davis hoisted his black Flag in like Manner, and fired one Gun to Leeward.

In fine, she proved to be a Pyrate Ship of twenty four Guns, commanded by one Cocklyn.

Slade's deposition reads:

And these Depon:ts further Say, that about the 19th of ye Sd: Month of March as they were a going into the Said Port of Serraleon, they mett with Two Ships a Working out [transferring cargo?] the One proved to be another Pyrate [Jeremiah Cocklyn in Rising Sun], and the Other Ship that Pyrates Prize, being a Ship belonging to this Island Named the Two ffriends Commanded by Capt:n William Elliot, Which two Ships Commanded these Depon:ts to bring their Sloop [Guinea Hen] to an Anchor, and the Day following in the Morning the Said Pyrates Seized the Said Sloop [Guinea Hen] for the Use of an hospital Ship, they putting their Sick People On board of ye Sd. Sloop.

Mist further stated that:

... the third Day [22nd March] Davis and Cocklyn, agreed to go in La Bouse’s Brigantine [Murrane] and attack the Fort [RAC fort on Bunce or Bence Island]

They took Possession of it, and continued there near seven Weeks, in which Time they all cleaned their Ships. We should have observed, that a Galley came into the Road while they were there, which Davis insisted should be yielded to La Bouse, according to his Word of Honour before given; Cocklyn did not oppose it, so La Bouse went into her, with his Crew, and cutting away her half Deck, mounted her with twenty four Guns.

Photo from page 56 of the recently-published Sailing East: West-Indian Pirates in Madagascar by Baylus C. Brooks

"Artist's impression of Bunce Island c.1727 from the north-west" (circa 1727)

... ; they contrived it so, as to get up thither by high Water; those in the Fort suspected them to be what they really were, and therefore stood upon their Defence; when the Brigantine came within Musket-Shot, the Fort fired all their Guns upon her, the Brigantine did the like upon the Fort, and so held each other in Play for several Hours, when the two confederate Ships were come up to the Assistance of the Brigantine; those who defended the Fort, seeing such a Number of Hands on Board these Ships, had not the Courage to stand it any longer, but abandoning the Fort, left it to the Mercy of the Pyrates.

Slade went into more detail on this point regarding the RAC fort on Bunce or Bence Island in the Sierra Leone River and the many ships taken by these pirates, which compared well with the narrative of William Snelgrave (whose name shows up soon):

After Which they Immediately Weighed Anchor Carrying these Depon:ts Up the River with them to Bence Island, to Assist the Pyrate Brigantine [Murrane] their Consort, Which had Chased Up that River Seven Saile of Trading Ships & Vessels, Vizt: One Briganteen [Robert & Jane] belonging to Antigua Commanded by One Capt:n [John] Bennett, two Ships [Nightengall & Queen Elizabeth] Commanded by two Masters Named Cradons [James & David Creighton], the One belonging to London, the Other to Bristoll, One Snow [Parnall] Commanded by Capt:n [Henry] Morris belonging to Bristoll, One Other Ship [Jacob & Jael] belonging to London Commanded by Capt:n [John] Thompson, One Other Ship [Saint Antoine] belonging to London Commanded by a french Man [Clinet de Vitry], And One Other Ship belonging to London Named the Sarah Gally Commanded by Capt:n [Jonathan] Lamb. That these trading Ships having Run Up the River to Escape the Pyrates, The Pyrates Made after them in the aforesaid Ship [King James] & Briganteen [Murrane], and Coming Up with them the Commanders of these Trading Ships with Most of their People Quitted their Ships & Went on Shoar, And they together with the Company's Agent [Robert Plunkett] fled from the Fort, and Run into the Countrey to Save themselves, that the Pyrates Officers Coming to the ffort & finding but One Man there, they Writt a Letter to the afores:d Merch:ts and Agent to Come Down and take possession of their Ships and ffort, But two of the Master's (Vizt.) Capt. Bennett and Capt. Thompson Refusing to Come Down at the Pyrates Call[.] The Pyrates Sett their Vessells on fire And Burnt them, That the Pyrates after they had fitted their Ships & put the Briganteen's Company On board of the London Ship Called the Sarah Galley & Quitted the Briganteen they went Down the River where they Stayed Sometime, and took three Ships More Viz:t The Bird Gally Capt. [William] Snelgrave Commander[,] a french Ship bound for Widdah & a Company's [RAC's] Ship named the Dispatch Capt. Wilson Commander.

The RAC agent Robert Plunkett mentioned above also wrote to his superiors on April 16, 1719 telling them of the destruction of their "Factory at Bense Island" on March 22 or 23, 1719 by "the Pyrates from Gambia [Davis w/LeVasseur]." "That your Ship ye. Dispatch [Capt. Wilson] meet with the same Fate as did the Experimt. last Yeare." Plunkett took this opportunity to damn the European merchants, "so many Rascalls on Shore that Assist [pirates] wth Boats & Canoes to bring their goods on Shore" at the "Privateer Town [aka "Pirate Town" near modern Freetown at the mouth of Sierra Leone River]" as "All who live ashore except Capt. [Henry] Glynn & his Nephew [Robert Glynn?] ought to be tryd for being accessories to the Pyrates, who in 7 weeks had taken & ransacked 12 Ships [all listed in Sailing East: West-Indian Pirates in Madagascar], & no Sooner taken but his boats & Canoes were Sent from Shore on board the Prizes & plund loaden with goods & Liquors &c." Now, who doesn't love discount prices!?? ;)

BAIE DE SAWPIT, près de FREETOWN, location of the "Privateer Village" or "Pirate's Village" occupied by about 30 European merchants of ill-repute, including the ex-pirate Henry Glynn (see pic below), the only one who ironically had a good reputation with Agent Robert Plunkett at the RAC fort on Bence Island.

Capt. Vincent Pearse's List of Surrendered Pirates at New Providence (3 Jun 1718) - from the same Pearce's list showing Othenias Davis - here it shows "Henry Glinn[/Glynn]" and "Le[i]gh Ashworth." Glynn later serves as governor of the RAC Fort James in Gambia River from 6 Oct 1721 - 13 Apr 1723 as did Robert Plunkett from 28 Oct 1713 -  2 Nov 1725.

Note that this detail related on the RAC fort on Bence Island involving Capts. Bennett and Thompson was also commented upon in some detail and related in my new book Sailing East: West-Indian Pirates in Madagascar This detail came from the deposition, letter, and book of Capt. William Snelgrave, master of Bird Galley mentioned above in Slade's deposition. Pages 54-55 paraphrases and concatenates Snelgrave's various sources:

Robert and Jane, Capt. John Bennet, bound from Antigua to the coast of Guinea, was taken February 1719 at Cape Verde Islands by Howell Davis. Davis restored Bennet’s ship which unfortunately for Bennet then came into the Sierra Leone River about early March, where Capt. John Thompson of Jacob and Jael of London had arrived before him.  They carried their ships up river to “Brent’s Island” (Bunce Island; the fortified settlement of the Royal African Company) perhaps to see Gov. Robert Plunkett about slaves for their cargo. When [Davis again] approached them sometime in March, flying the “Jolly Roger,” they brought their ships very near the shore, entrenched under the fort’s guns, and having landed ammunition, resolved to defend them against the [two] pirate[s] who they saw coming after them.

LeVasseur in brigantine Murrane joined [Davis] in his March attack on these two vessels at the RAC fort. LeVasseur desperately wanted to be rid of William Moody’s old ship since before he met Davis at Gambia. He had hoped Bennet or Thompson’s vessel might suit him better. Robert Plunkett’s forces at the fort began firing at the pirates to protect the two ships under their walls. The pirates together took the day. Seeing the futility of the fight, Bennet and Thompson fled into the woods (presumably on the mainland) with the aid of Gov. Plunkett. These two captains hid from the pirates there, with only rice and oysters to sustain them.

Out of anger, Levasseur and [Davis] burned both captain’s vessels. They also kidnapped Gov. Plunkett, who would endure the same treatment under Bartholomew Roberts two years later. LeVasseur did not get a new ship that day, but soon found another to his liking, Sarah of London, Capt. Jonathan Lambert, a vessel captured by them shortly afterward. This vessel LeVasseur took and named Duke of Ormond, thereby happily scrapping his distasteful old Murrane. Snelgrave occasionally makes such diversions rich in detail.

Mist wrote about "La Bouse's" new vessel, saying "We should have observed, that a Galley came into the Road while they were there [Sierra Leone], which Davis insisted should be yielded to La Bouse, according to his Word of Honour before given; Cocklyn did not oppose it, so La Bouse went into her, with his Crew, and cutting away her half Deck, mounted her with twenty four Guns."

"A view of the new settlement in the river at Sierra Leone" (London: 1790) from the British Library

A modern view of the Sierra Leone River

"A View of the Entrance to Sierra-leone River" unknown origin

The pirates Jeremiah Cocklyn and Olivier LeVasseur left Sierra Leone on the 25th of April. Howell Davis soon followed them to Ouidah, Whydah or Judah on the coast of Benin. They caused great havoc to various French, Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English ships in that harbor. Howell Davis soon met his death on Principe Island, using the same dangerous tactics of slight-of-hand and playacting that served him so well at São Filipe and the RAC's Fort James. 

The Royal African Company suffered greatly... two forts burned within a month's time of each other! Was Davis making a statement against corporate monopolies on the African Slave Trade - a statement which favored private individual traders? Was Davis an early American Republican voter, favoring free-trade above all else? Was he yet another founding father of the "Commonwealth of Pyrates"? ;)

One thing that becomes clear in this study of documents on Howell Davis and his pirate companions, primary source data is a great deal more reliable, even if Nathaniel Mist elaborated a great deal more. A story isn't a story without the adventurous detail. Still, this is precisely why historians like myself simply cannot rely on "Capt. Charles Johnson" and his "alternate facts" or "fake news." He used sources available to him, but then inexplicably changed detail, like the "Barbery-Liverpool" quandary mentioned earlier. He appears to be bad actor in the annals of pirate history. But, then the king and Lord Sunderland's Whig ministry thought so as well - when writing under his real name: Nathaniel Mist! 





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This exciting new detail, including information from French and English depositions, appears in a new book, Sailing East: West-Indian Pirates in Madagascar, now available! 

Find further details at baylusbrooks.com
Author's Bookstore
Author's Amazon.com  page









My thanks to Dr. Jacques Gasser, author of :

Dictionnaire des flibustiers des Caraïbes

for his late 17th-century tales of the "Flying Gang of Toruga," or French buccaneers of the Caribbean!

Dr. Gasser was instrumental in my acquisition of these French depositions from l'Amiraute de Nantes.