Portcities UK

reflecting our cultures

[HOME]

[Bypass: Search Facilities ]

Maritime Partnership

Full Graphics | About this Site | Legal & Copyright

...discover the Maritime Histories of UK Port Cities

PortCities sites: Bristol | Hartlepool | Liverpool | London | Southampton

London and the pirates

Chapter Index

Send this story to a friend | Printer-friendly version | View this story in pictures

London-born pirates

Pirate origins

Bartholomew Roberts. © NMM

Although more British pirates were born in London than other seaports, there is no doubt that the most famous pirates were born elsewhere:

Henry Morgan, Bartholomew Roberts and Howell Davis were Welsh
Captain Kidd and John Gow were born in Scotland
Avery was from Plymouth
Blackbeard was from Bristol.

However, London did produce one of the nastiest of all pirates and also one of the very few female pirates.

Edward Low

The London-born pirate Captain Edward Low.

Captain Edward Low was born in Westminster. He was one of the most brutal men to command a pirate ship. During the 1720s he plundered ships on both sides of the Atlantic and became notorious for his savage cruelty.

He took a sadistic pleasure in cutting off the noses, ears and lips of his victims. He also tortured and murdered the entire crews of some of the ships he captured. Low was never caught and is believed to have ended his days in Brazil.

Female pirates

The female pirate Mary Read was born in London. As a young woman she joined the army in Flanders disguised as a boy soldier. She later went to sea, still dressed in male clothes, and was captured by a pirate ship commanded by Calico Jack Rackam.

Another member of Read's pirate crew was Anne Bonny. After several plundering expeditions around the Caribbean together, their ship was captured off Jamaica and the crew were sent for trial in Spanish Town.

All the men in the crew were hanged but Mary Read and Anne Bonny were reprieved because they were both pregnant. Mary fell ill with fever soon after the trial and died in prison.

Anne Bonny took part in many attacks and fought as fiercely as any male pirate. In 1720 she was put on trial in Jamaica and sentenced to death. Bonny claimed that Rackham would not have been hung like a dog if he had fought like a man!

Chapter Index

Send this story to a friend | Printer-friendly version | View this story in pictures

FIND OUT MORE

Captain Kidd

Top | Partner Sites: