Ye Pirate Brethren

Now that I’m “Upgrading” my “Play Pyrate” and making it more period, I’ve decided that instead of being a “Generic Pyrate”, I want to be from a specific ship, and date.

So I’m trying to find an interesting Captain.

Rackham might be interesting, but the Bonney and Read bit may get tiresome quickly…
Blackbeard would be cool… but then I got thinking… What about Stede Bonnet, (right at the time when he joins up with Blackbeard). A rich man, who buys his own ship, hires a crew, and wants to be a Pyrate to get away from his nagging wife…. He wasn’t much of a Pyrate… but he was interesting!

Or can anyone suggest another Captain? (from around 1710 – 1720ish)

Edit: I just realized.... I'm not planning on reenacting a Captain, but one of his crew........

Personally, and this is only my feeling, I prefer to steer clear of well known people, unless the event is specifically about them.

You could go for one of those interesting and quite important pirates that didn't make it into the General History. Someone like Cocklyn, La Bouche, Hornigold, Jennings or someone like that.

Or, you could maybe go for one of those pirates that we don't know much about like Fox, Porter, Nichols or Napin.

Or how about a privateer like Shelvocke or Clipperton? (Particularly as both those gentlemen made it into the Pacific)

If you wanted to be a little obscure, but not too much so, then you could go for one of the pirates that's in the General History but not often read about, someone like Anstis or Lowther.

In that case, over on the Whydah's site I remember they used to have a roll-call. Pretty neat list. Hold on... will this work???
http://www.whydah.com/page.php?id=exp0242

<SNIPPED from Piratesinfo>


Kidd's crew on the Adventure Galley (from Expedition Whydah)

William Kidd, Captain
George Bollen, Mate
Henry Mead, Sailing Master
William Beck, Quartermaster
John Walker, Quartermaster
Robert Bradinham, Surgeon
Armand Viola, Surgeon's Mate
William Moore, Gunner
Archibald Buchanan, Gunner's Mate
Michael Calloway, Boatswain
Abel Owen, Cook
Robert Lamley, Cook's Boy
Richard Barleycorne, Captain's Boy
William Jenkins, Mate's Boy
Samuel Bradley, (Captain's Brother-in-Law)
John Finley
John Torksey
Alexander Gordon
George Sinclair
Joseph Palmer
John Wier
John Smith
Peter Hammond
Barnet Higgins
Alexander Milberry
William Bowyer
William Skines
William Turner
Edward Colliness
Walter King
Edward Roberts
Edward Spooner
Peter P. Rouse
Robert Smithers
Ellis Strong
Thomas Purdeg
Yoer oovrall (="Juer Averill"?)
John Kemble
Thomas Hobson
Hugh Washington
John Pearse
Robert Ruderford
Joseph Budden
Richard Basnet
William Rowls
Jacob Cornelijs
Jan Spons
Morgan Harriss
John Jonson
Peter Lee
Hendrik Albert
Henry Olive
John Browne
Ery Geyselar (="Uri Gissler"?]
Cornelus Orvyn
John Fletcher
John Marten
Clexfflders
Nicholas Jennings
Humphey Clay
Andries Jeaniszen
Jacob Horran
William Wellman
John Watson
Charles Bathurst
Henry Bainbridge
John Davis
Nicholas Tuder
Thomas Fletcher
Harmon Buger
Edward Buckmaster
Bernard Looman
William Hunt
Hendrickus Cregier
Harculis Bredsteed
Peter de Roy
Jan de Roodt
James Betles
John West
Henry Pieterson
John Fling
Casper Spreall
Daniel Mokoricke
David Carsson
Henry Sanders
Noah East
Edward Graham
James How
Aldris Saerdenbreech
Darby Mullins
George Tarpoole
Samuel Taylor
John Burton
John Collings
Ebenezar Miller
Henry Evertse
James Alger
Joseph Hill
William Percy
Richard Willdey, Sr.
William Willday, Jr.
Nicholas Tredgidgen
Phillip Conninghame
Thomas Wright
James Carr
Peter Smith
Robert Hunt
Gabriel Loffe
Alexander Mumford
John Hunt, Sr.
John Hunt, Jr.
William Holden
William Whitley
Patrick Dimmer
William Arnett
William Bowyer, Sr.
Neschen
Peter Fewlo
Isaac Ambros
Robert Clem
William Wakeman
Michael Evans
Jacob Conklin
Andrew How
Benjamin Franks
Abraham Coucher
Isaac Dernes
English Smith
Samuel Arris
John de Mart
Jonathan Tredway
Simon de Woolf
Andrew Calwell
John Parcrick
John Roberts
Governt Baners
Edward Palmer
Samuel Kennels
Franz Cordyne
Saunders Douglas
Moses Butterworth
Hugh Parrot
James Gillam
Edward Davis
John Hales
Dudley Raynor
Nicholas Churchill
John Dear
Robert Avery
Ventura Rosair
John Fishelis
John Elms
Michael Dekkar
Samuel Wood
Pierre Le Roy
Nicholas Alderson


The page of the published version of John Quelch's trial that lists his crew looks like this



Some of Sam Bellamy's crew (thanks to Expedition Whydah):

Samuel Bellamy, - Captain. Probably born Hittisleigh, Devonshire
Palgrave Williams, - Consort Captain. Newport, Rhode Island. His sloop, the Marianne, escaped the storm.
John Fletcher, - Quartermaster. Jamaica. Escaped with Williams?
Richard Noland - Quartermaster. Dublin, Ireland.
William Main - Sailing Master. Great Britain. Joined French pirate "La Buze" several months prior to wreck.
John Lambert - Sailing Master. Great Britain.
Richard Caverley - Sailing Master. Rhode Island. Escaped with Williams.
Jeremy Burke - Boatswain. Ireland.
Jeremiah Higgins - Boatswain. Jamaica. Escaped with Williams.
Jean Taffier - Gunner. France.
William Osborne - Gunner’s Mate. Great Britain.
Dr. [James?] Ferguson - Surgeon. Paisley[?], Scotland. Political refugee.
Thomas Davis - Carpenter. Carmarthenshire, Wales. Acquitted of piracy. Boston.
Thomas South - Carpenter. Boston, Lincolnshire, England. Acquitted of piracy, Boston.
Joseph Rivers - Pirate off Virginia, 1701.
William Lee - Great Britain.
John King - Jamaica.
Thomas Bernard - Bermuda.
John Baker - England.
Robert Danzy - Great Britain.
Edward Moon - Ex-privateer, Irish?
David Turner - A “North-Countryman” and runaway apprentice. Escaped with Williams?
[Edward?] Wood - Great Britain.
John Brown - Jamaica. Hanged at Boston.
Thomas Baker - Flushing, Holland. Hanged at Boston.
Peter Cornelius Hoof - Gothenburg[?] Sweden. Hanged at Boston.
Jean Shuan - Nantes, France. Hanged at Boston.
Hendrick Quintor - A mulatto born in Amsterdam. Hanged at Boston.
John Julian - An afro-amerindian of the Mosquito tribe. Survived the wreck. Believed to have been sold into slavery in lieu of trial at Boston.





The crew of Charles Harris (at least, those that survived the encounter with the Greyhound and made it to trial) with their ages.

Henry Barnes 22 Barbadoes
William Blads 28 Rhode-Island
John Bright 25
James Brinkly 28 Suffolk in England
John Brown 19 Liverpoole
John Brown 29 County of Durham
Thomas Child 15
Charles Church 21 St. Margaret's, Westm.
Patrick Cunningham 25
Edward Eaton 38 Wrexham in Wales
John Fitzgerrald 21 Limerick in Ireland
John Fletcher 17
Charles Harris Captain 25 London
Thomas Hazel 50
Daniel Hide 23 Virginia
John Hincher, Doctor 22 Near Edinburgh, Scot
Thomas Huggit 30 London
Thomas Jones 17 Flur in Wales
William Jones 28 London
Peter Kneeves 32 Exeter in Devon
Abraham Lacy 21 Devonshire
Edward Lawson 20 Isle of Man
Francis Leyton 39 New-York
Thomas Linister 21 Lancashire
Stephen Mundon 20 London
Thomas Powel, jun. 21Connecticut N. E.
William Read 35 Londonderry, Ireland
Owen Rice 27 South-Wales
William Shutfield 40 Lancaster in England
Joseph Sound 28 City of Westminster
Joseph Switzer 24 Boston in New England
Thomas Mumper Indian Mather's Vineyard N.E.
John Tomkins 23 Gloucestershire
John Waters, Quart.-mr. 35 County of Devon
John Wilson 23 New-London County


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There's also the lists of Roberts' crew quite readily available in Johnson (which also includes, and if anyone is really interested I've got the watch lists of Kidd's crew (more or less the same list of names as above, but divided into larboard and starboard watches).

Wow… The list of names, and especially the list from John Quelch's trial with their ages and occupations…is very interesting.

I’m thinking of Stede Bonnet because there is information about him, I’m not going to portray Stede Bonnet; but one of his crew. I like the idea of having a time and place that my “persona” would be from.

When I did American Civil War reenacting, I was in Co. A 14th Tenn. Archers Brigade. I wasn’t reenacting a specific soldier, but we could look up the history of where the unit was, and what happened to them. When I went to Gettysburg, it was kinda spooky to go McPherson’s Farm, or where the 14th was at for Picket’s Charge… It kinda made that part of History more “personal” to me….

One of the reasons that I was thinking of Stede Bonnets crew at the time when he first joins with Blackbeard, is that it would be part way through the “persona/character’s” carrier as a Pyrate, but I don’t have to worry if he survives, or joins up with Blakbeard crew because he’s disgruntled with Bonnet…. Basically I wouldn’t know what happens in the future, and why he isn’t around to get hung with the rest of the crew. He wouldn’t know any of that at the time…

One of the advantages of being just a crewman instead of a Captain is that I am not “pinned” down as that Captain, but can be “generic” enough to go with other crews. By having a specific Captain, I can read about him, and tell part of his History from a crewman’s perspective.

Stede Bonnet looks like he might fit what I’m looking for. He was from the time that I want; there is information about him, and he was interesting….

I’m not 100% “set” on Stede Bonnet, or using a specific Captain, but I do like the idea. That’s why I posted this, to get others opinions. I’m still thinking about what Foxe posted, But I would not be portraying a well-known person, just one of their crew.

I can't claim to have Foxe's experiance at this but I've found to date that an obscure enough person can serve the same as an unknown person. As an example I present my cyper persona of William Wallace Smith on the confederate privateers group. He was a real person with some documented experiance but I have to make up the rest. I admit this can be a killer for accuracy but .........

I like the idea on one hand, and dislike it on another. It's nice, because it does give one a point of reference from which to work, but I believe it can also act against you in some situations.

For instance, in my group, we often (and still do in some ways) like to cling to the Sam Bellamy/crew of the Whydah idea. This gets to be a sticky wicket when someone who knows more about Sam Bellamy and his starts grilling you.

Some people really do like getting down to the nitty-gritty, all the way down to the personal level. While it's not for me, I do admire those who can research things do to that level.

I follow a different path than Capt. Jack Sparrow; I don't want them to have heard of me, 'cause if they have that means they're looking for you!

I've always maintained the same, the most successful pirate is a guy whose name we do not know.

Patrick, do you have a copy of Pirates of New Spain, 1575-1742 by any chance? If you are looking for west coast action, you may want to check it out.

Hello all;

I am new to the list, but I am a veteran reenactor of a couple different time periods (yes, I am single , ha ha) -and the one thing that stays the same from one era to the next is the ambiguity of ones persona, unless specifically called for. Like guys who play Lee or Grant at a Civil War event, or the several Blackbeard impersonators at Pirate and Tallship events.

As a reenactor, I think the idea of having a persona based on an actual crewman an exciting chance to research specifics and try and implement them into my portrayal. Personally, I combine several different people into one persona, no matter the time period.

But I empathize with the poster who said having something specific made him feel more in his element, as at Gettysburg. I have felt that way myself a few times.

In the end, we spend so much time money and effort on our persona; it should be what makes the hobbyist, or the reenactor happy. And, of course, fit in with his crew/outfit that he plays with and their rules.

Thanks

Pyrate history is full of "loopholes" large enough for an enterprising living historian to slip through. For instance, when Bellamy's ship goes down the consort vessel, Marianne, survived the storm. Several of the crew recorded to be on the Wydah were thought perhaps to have escaped on the Marianne (David Turner, John Fletcher). It is not unreasonable, for the sake of storytelling, to insert oneself into the crew of the Wydah, transfer to the Marianne the day before the storm and be able to tell the tale of Bellamy and of the storm and explain your escape. While researching the history of specific pyrates, it would be quite simple to find instances of their gaining or losing crew and insinuating or removing your character at that point in the narrative. Is it accurate history? No, it is a device to move the story and allow for the "fly on the wall" or, more accurately, the "Unknown Pyrate" perspective. A diligent historian could weave a personal narrative into the history of pyates, transferring from ship to ship at opportune moments, beginning as a captured cabin boy of ten years in 1665 and telling the tale as a wizened old salt of 65 in 1720. Mind you, one is not allowed to take pivotal roles in such a stroyline, without the narrative device of changing one's name occasionally to that of an actual pyrate that escaped, never to be brought to justice. These are of course standard literary devices used to connect disparate storylines. Think Forrest Gump, but more of a background role.

I'm still not 100% sure if I'm going to do this, but the idea is to be one of the crew on Stede Bonnet's ship, right at the time when he joins with Blackbeard.

I don't want to portray someone famous, or well known.... I want to portray one of the ... well a Pyrate isn't exactly "common".... but an "average" Pyrate from the time period. I just like the idea of having a historical person, time and place as a "focus".

What would be the "back History" of the character/personna, and what would he have known about the time period.... also, what would the character/personna feel about Stede Bonnet's lack of nautacal experience....

I figure that the character/personna is "generic" enough, that I wouldn't alway have to be from Stede Bonnet's crew, but having an exact time period, place and history would add a level of detail that I could use when talking to the public.

Patrick I think you're on the right track there. An idea is incrediably fluid and a good one can transform itself many times in short order. I'd reccomend you go with this one. It'd give you a diffinitive timeline to work your kit up with and a story line for the public. If however you should want to add more freedom then leaving off the actual persons name and replicating what fits best for his proffession and time line would work and you could always fall back to useing the name.

I note that most of those with listed aged are in their 20's. Actually, I am surprised that there were not more in their teens.

Capt. William