William Kidd | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byJames Thornhill | |
| Born | c. 1645 |
| Died | 23 May 1701(1701-05-23) (aged 56) |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Piratical career | |
| Type | Privateer |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of EnglandProvince of New York |
| Commands | Blessed William Adventure Galley |
William Kidd (c. 1645 – 23 May 1701), also known asCaptain William Kidd or simplyCaptain Kidd, was a Scottishprivateer. Conflicting accounts exist regarding his early life, but he was likely born inDundee and later settled in New York City. By 1690, Kidd had become a highly successful privateer, commissioned to protect English interests in theThirteen Colonies in North America and theWest Indies.
In 1695, Kidd received a royal commission from theEarl of Bellomont, the governor ofNew York,Massachusetts Bay andNew Hampshire, to hunt down pirates and enemy French ships in theIndian Ocean. He received aletter of marque and set sail on a new ship,Adventure Galley, the following year. On his voyage he failed to find many targets, lost much of his crew and faced threats of mutiny. In 1698, Kidd captured his greatest prize, the 400-tonQuedagh Merchant, a ship hired byArmenian merchants and captained by an Englishman. The political climate in England had turned against him, however, and he was denounced as a pirate. Bellomont engineered Kidd's arrest upon his return toBoston and sent him to stand trial in London. He was found guilty and hanged in 1701.
Kidd was romanticised after his death and his exploits became a popular subject of pirate-themed works of fiction. The belief that he had leftburied treasure contributed significantly to his legend, which inspired numerous treasure hunts in the following centuries.
Kidd was born inDundee, Scotland[1][2][3] prior to 15 October 1645. While claims have been made of alternative birthplaces, includingGreenock andBelfast, he said himself he came from Dundee in a testimony given by Kidd to the High Court of Admiralty in 1695. There have also been records of his baptism taking place in Dundee. A local society supported the family financially after the death of the father.[4][better source needed] The myth that his "father was thought to have been aChurch of Scotland minister" has been discounted, insofar as there is no mention of the name in comprehensive Church of Scotland records for the period. Others still hold the contrary view.[5][6]
As a young man, Kidd settled in New York City, which the English had taken over from the Dutch.[7] There he befriended many prominent colonial citizens, including three governors.[8] Some accounts suggest that he served as a seaman'sapprentice on a pirate ship during this time, before beginning his more famous seagoing exploits as aprivateer.
By 1689, Kidd was a member of a French–English pirate crew sailing theCaribbean under CaptainJean Fantin.[9] During one of their voyages, Kidd and other crew members mutinied, ousting the captain and sailing to the British colony ofNevis.[10] There they renamed the shipBlessed William, and Kidd became captain either as a result of election by the ship's crew, or by appointment ofChristopher Codrington, governor of the island of Nevis.[11]
Kidd was an experienced leader and sailor by that time, and theBlessed William became part of Codrington's small fleet assembled to defend Nevis from the French, with whom the English were at war.[12][13] The governor did not pay the sailors for their defensive service, telling them instead to take their pay from the French. Kidd and his men attacked the French island ofMarie-Galante, destroying its only town and looting the area, and gathering around 2,000 pounds sterling.
Later, during theWar of the Grand Alliance, on commissions from the provinces ofNew York andMassachusetts Bay, Kidd captured an enemyprivateer off theNew England coast.[14] Shortly afterwards, he was awarded £150 for successfulprivateering in theCaribbean. One year later,Captain Robert Culliford, a notorious pirate, stole Kidd's ship while he was ashore atAntigua in theWest Indies.
In New York City, Kidd was active in financially supporting the construction ofTrinity Church, New York.[15][16]
On 16 May 1691, Kidd married Sarah Bradley Cox Oort,[17] who was still in her early twenties. She had already been twice widowed and was one of the wealthiest women in New York, based on an inheritance from her first husband.[18]
On 11 December 1695,Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont, who was governing New York,Massachusetts, andNew Hampshire, asked the "trusty and well beloved Captain Kidd"[19] to attackThomas Tew,John Ireland,Thomas Wake,William Maze, and all others who associated themselves with pirates, along with any enemy French ships. His request had the weight of the Crown behind it, and Kidd would have been considered disloyal, carrying much social stigma, to refuse Bellomont. This request preceded the voyage that contributed to Kidd's reputation as a pirate and marked his image in history andfolklore.
Four-fifths of the cost for the 1696 venture was paid by noble lords, who were among the most powerful men in England: theEarl of Orford, the Baron of Romney, theDuke of Shrewsbury, andSir John Somers. Kidd was presented with aletter of marque, signed personally by KingWilliam III of England, which authorised him as a privateer. This letter reserved 10% of the loot for the Crown, and Henry Gilbert'sThe Book of Pirates suggests that the King fronted some of the money for the voyage himself. Kidd and his acquaintance ColonelRobert Livingston orchestrated the whole plan; they sought additional funding from merchantSir Richard Blackham.[20] Kidd also had to sell his shipAntigua to raise funds.
The new ship,Adventure Galley,[21] was well suited to the task of catching pirates, weighing over 284tons burthen and equipped with 34cannon, oars, and 150 men. The oars were a key advantage, as they enabledAdventure Galley to manoeuvre in a battle when the winds had calmed and other ships were dead in the water. Kidd took pride in personally selecting the crew, choosing only those whom he deemed to be the best and most loyal officers.
As the Adventure Galley sailed down theThames, Kidd unaccountably failed to salute a Navy yacht at Greenwich, as custom dictated. The Navy yacht then fired a shot to make him show respect, and Kidd's crew responded with an astounding display of impudence – by turning and slapping their backsides in [disdain].[22]
Because of Kidd's refusal to salute, the Navy vessel's captain retaliated bypressing much of Kidd's crew intonaval service, despite the captain's strong protests and the general exclusion of privateer crew from such action. Short-handed, Kidd sailed for New York City, capturing a French vessel en route (which was legal under the terms of his commission). To make up for the lack of officers, Kidd picked up replacement crew in New York, the vast majority of whom were known and hardened criminals, some likely former pirates.
Among Kidd's officers was quartermasterHendrick van der Heul. The quartermaster was considered "second in command" to the captain in pirate culture of this era. It is not clear, however, if Van der Heul exercised this degree of responsibility because Kidd was authorised as a privateer. Van der Heul may have been African or of Dutch descent. A contemporary source describes him as a "small black Man". If Van der Heul was of African ancestry, he would be considered the highest-ranking black pirate or privateer so far identified. Van der Heul later became amaster's mate on a merchant vessel and was never convicted of piracy.
In September 1696, Kiddweighed anchor and set course for theCape of Good Hope in southern Africa. A third of his crew died on theComoros[23] due to an outbreak ofcholera, the brand-new ship developed many leaks, and he failed to find the pirates whom he expected to encounter offMadagascar.
With his ambitious enterprise failing, Kidd became desperate to cover its costs. Yet he failed to attack several ships when given a chance, including a Dutchman and a New York privateer. Both were out of bounds of his commission. The latter would have been considered out of bounds because New York was part of the territories of the Crown, and Kidd was authorised in part by the New York governor. Some of the crew deserted Kidd the next time thatAdventure Galley anchored offshore. Those who decided to stay on made constant open threats ofmutiny.
Kidd killed one of his own crewmen on 30 October 1697. Kidd's gunner William Moore was on deck sharpening achisel when a Dutch ship appeared. Moore urged Kidd to attack the Dutchman, an act that would have been considered piratical, since the nation was not at war with England, but also certain to anger Dutch-born King William. Kidd refused, calling Moore a lousy dog. Moore retorted, "If I am a lousy dog, you have made me so; you have brought me to ruin and many more." Kidd reportedly dropped an ironbound bucket on Moore, fracturing his skull. Moore died the following day.[24]
Seventeenth-century Englishadmiralty law allowed captains great leeway in using violence against their crew, but killing was not permitted. Kidd said to his ship's surgeon that he had "good friends in England, that will bring me off for that".[25]
Escaped prisoners told stories of being hoisted up by the arms and "drubbed" (thrashed) with a drawncutlass by Kidd. On one occasion, crew members sacked the trading shipMary and tortured several of its crew members while Kidd and the other captain, Thomas Parker, conversed privately in Kidd's cabin.
Kidd was declared a pirate very early in his voyage by a Royal Navy officer, to whom he had promised "thirty men or so".[19] Kidd sailed away during the night to preserve his crew, rather than subject them to Royal Navyimpressment.[26] The letter of marque was intended to protect aprivateer's crew from such impressment.
On 30 January 1698, Kidd raised French colours and took his greatest prize, the 400-tonQuedagh Merchant,[27][28] an Indian ship hired byArmenian merchants. It was loaded withsatins,muslins, gold, silver, and a variety ofEast Indianmerchandise, as well as extremely valuable silks. The captain ofQuedagh Merchant was an Englishman named Wright, who had purchased passes from the French East India Company promising him the protection of the French Crown.[29]
When news of his capture of this ship reached England, however, officials classified Kidd as a pirate. Various naval commanders were ordered to "pursue and seize the said Kidd and his accomplices" for the "notorious piracies" they had committed.[29]
Kidd kept the Frenchsea passes of theQuedagh Merchant, as well as the vessel itself. British admiralty and vice-admiralty courts (especially in North America) previously had often winked at privateers' excesses amounting to piracy. Kidd might have hoped that the passes would provide the legal fig leaf that would allow him to keepQuedagh Merchant and her cargo. Renaming the seized merchantman asAdventure Prize, he set sail forMadagascar.[30]
On 1 April 1698, Kidd reached Madagascar. After meeting privately with traderTempest Rogers (who would later be accused of trading and selling Kidd's looted East India goods),[31] he found the first pirate of his voyage,Robert Culliford (the same man who had stolen Kidd's ship at Antigua years before) and his crew aboardMocha Frigate.
Two contradictory accounts exist of how Kidd proceeded. According toA General History of the Pyrates, published more than 25 years after the event by anauthor whose identity is disputed by historians, Kidd made peaceful overtures to Culliford: he "drank their Captain's health", swearing that "he was in every respect their Brother", and gave Culliford "a Present of an Anchor and some Guns".[32] This account appears to be based on the testimony of Kidd's crewmen Joseph Palmer and Robert Bradinham at his trial.
The other version was presented by Richard Zacks in his 2002 bookThe Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd. According to Zacks, Kidd was unaware that Culliford had only about 20 crew with him, and felt ill-manned and ill-equipped to takeMocha Frigate until his two prize ships and crews arrived. He decided to leave Culliford alone until these reinforcements arrived. AfterAdventure Prize andRouparelle reached port, Kidd ordered his crew to attack Culliford'sMocha Frigate. However, his crew refused to attack Culliford and threatened instead to shoot Kidd. Zacks does not refer to any source for his version of events.[33]
Both accounts agree that most of Kidd's men abandoned him for Culliford. Only 13 remained withAdventure Galley. Deciding to return home, Kidd left theAdventure Galley behind, ordering her to be burnt because she had become worm-eaten and leaky. Before burning the ship, he salvaged every last scrap of metal, such as hinges. With the loyal remnant of his crew, he returned to the Caribbean aboard theAdventure Prize,[34] stopping first atSt. Augustine's Bay for repairs.[35] Some of his crew later returned to North America on their own as passengers aboardGiles Shelley's shipNassau.[34]
The1698 Act of Grace, which offered aroyal pardon to pirates in the Indian Ocean, specifically exempted Kidd (andHenry Every) from receiving a pardon,[36][32] in Kidd's case due to his association with prominentWhig statesmen.[37] Kidd became aware both that he was wanted and that he could not make use of the Act of Grace upon his arrival inAnguilla, his first port of call since St. Augustine's Bay.[35]
Prior to returning to New York City, Kidd knew that he was wanted as a pirate and that several Englishmen-of-war were searching for him. Realising that his ship theAdventure Prize was a marked vessel, he cached it in theCaribbean Sea, sold off his remaining plundered goods through pirate and fenceWilliam Burke,[38] and continued towards New York aboard a sloop. He deposited some of his treasure onGardiners Island, hoping to use his knowledge of its location as a bargaining tool.[39] Kidd landed inOyster Bay to avoid mutinous crew who had gathered in New York City. To avoid them, Kidd sailed 120 nautical miles (220 km; 140 mi) around the eastern tip of Long Island, and doubled back 90 nautical miles (170 km; 100 mi) along the Sound to Oyster Bay. He felt this was a safer passage than the highly traffickedNarrows betweenStaten Island andBrooklyn.[40][page needed]
New YorkGovernor Bellomont, also an investor, was away in Boston, Massachusetts. Aware of the accusations against Kidd, Bellomont was afraid of being implicated in piracy himself and believed that presenting Kidd to England in chains was his best chance to survive. He lured Kidd into Boston with false promises of clemency,[41] and ordered him arrested on 6 July 1699. Kidd was placed inStone Prison, spending most of the time insolitary confinement. His wife, Sarah, was also arrested and imprisoned. They were separated and she never saw him again.
The conditions of Kidd's imprisonment were extremely harsh, and were said to have driven him at least temporarily insane.[42] By then, Bellomont had turned against Kidd and other pirates, writing that the inhabitants ofLong Island were "a lawless and unruly people" protecting pirates who had "settled among them".[42]
The civil government had changed and the newTory ministry hoped to use Kidd as a tool to discredit theWhigs who had backed him, but Kidd refused to name names, naively confident his patrons would reward his loyalty by interceding on his behalf. There is speculation that he could have been spared had he talked. Finding Kidd politically useless, the Tory leaders sent him to stand trial before theHigh Court of Admiralty in London, for the charges of piracy on high seas and the murder of William Moore. Whilst awaiting trial, Kidd was confined in the infamousNewgate Prison, regarded even by the standards of the day as a disgusting hellhole, and was held there for almost two years before his trial even began.
Kidd had two lawyers to assist in his defence. However, the money that the Admiralty had set aside for his defence was misplaced until right before the trial's start, and he had no legal counsel until the morning that the trial started and had time for just one brief consultation with them before it began.[43] He was shocked to learn at his trial that he was charged with murder. He was found guilty on all charges (murder and five counts of piracy) and sentenced to death. He was hanged on 23 May 1701, atExecution Dock,Wapping, in London.[14] The day of his execution someone took pity on him and gave him a large amount of alcohol, enough that he arrived at the gallows thoroughly drunk. He had to be hanged twice. On the first attempt, the hangman's rope broke and Kidd survived. Although some in the crowd called for Kidd's release, claiming the breaking of the rope was a sign from God, Kidd was hanged again minutes later, and died. His body wasgibbeted over theRiver Thames at Tilbury Point, as a warning to future would-be pirates, for three years.[44] Kidd's remains were either buried in the riverbank near where he was executed or more probably taken for public dissection by surgeons, a common fate for executed persons (e.g. Hogarth'sTom Nero).
Of Kidd's associates, Gabriel Loffe, Able Owens, and Hugh Parrot were also convicted of piracy. They were pardoned just prior to hanging at Execution Dock. Robert Lamley, William Jenkins and Richard Barleycorn were released.[35]
Kidd's Whig backers were embarrassed by his trial. Far from rewarding his loyalty, they participated in the effort to convict him by depriving him of the money and information which might have provided him with some legal defence. In particular, the two sets of French passes he had kept were missing at his trial. These passes (and others dated 1700) resurfaced in the early 20th century, misfiled with other government papers in a London building.[45] These passes confirm Kidd's version of events, and call the extent of his guilt as a pirate into question.
Abroadside song,"Captain Kidd's Farewell to the Seas, or, the Famous Pirate's Lament", was printed shortly after his execution. It popularised the common belief that Kidd had confessed to the charges.[46]
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The belief that Kidd had leftburied treasure contributed greatly to the growth of his legend. The 1701broadside song "Captain Kid's Farewell to the Seas, or, the Famous Pirate's Lament" lists "Two hundred bars of gold, andrix dollars manifold, we seized uncontrolled".[46][47]
It also inspired numerous treasure hunts conducted onOak Island in Nova Scotia; inSuffolk County,Long Island in New York whereGardiners Island is located;Charles Island in Milford,Connecticut; theThimble Islands inConnecticut andCockenoe Island inWestport, Connecticut.[48]
Kidd was also alleged to have buried treasure on theRahway River in New Jersey across theArthur Kill from Staten Island.[49]
Captain Kidd did bury a small cache of treasure on Gardiners Island off the eastern coast of Long Island, in a spot known as Cherry Tree Field. Governor Bellomont reportedly had it found and sent to England to be used as evidence against Kidd in his trial.[50][51]
Some time in the 1690s, Kidd visitedBlock Island where he was supplied with provisions by Mrs. Mercy (Sands) Raymond, daughter of the mariner James Sands. It was said that before he departed, Kidd asked Mrs. Raymond to hold out her apron, which he then filled with gold and jewels as payment for her hospitality. After her husband Joshua Raymond died, Mercy moved with her family to northernNew London, Connecticut (later Montville), where she purchased much land. The Raymond family was said by family acquaintances to have been "enriched by the apron".[52]
OnGrand Manan in theBay of Fundy, as early as 1875, there were searches on the west side of the island for treasure allegedly buried by Kidd during his time as aprivateer.[53] For nearly 200 years, this remote area of the island has been called "Money Cove".
In 1983,Cork Graham and Richard Knight searched for Captain Kidd's buried treasure off theVietnamese island ofPhú Quốc. Knight and Graham were caught, convicted ofillegally landing on Vietnamese territory, and each assessed a $10,000fine. They were imprisoned for 11 months until they paid the fine.[54]
According to local lore, a massive boulder known as Kidd's Rock on the waterfront of Kingsland Point Park in the village ofSleepy Hollow, New York, was a clandestine meeting place forFrederick Philipse, the extremely wealthy lord ofPhilipsburg Manor, and Captain Kidd, who was allegedly a business associate of Philipse.[55]
For years, people and treasure hunters tried to locate theQuedagh Merchant.[56] It was reported on 13 December 2007 that "wreckage of a pirate ship abandoned by Captain Kidd in the 17th century has been found by divers in shallow waters off theDominican Republic".[57] The waters in which the ship was found were less than ten feet deep and were only 70 feet (21 m) offCatalina Island, just to the south ofLa Romana on the Dominican coast. The ship is believed to be "the remains of theQuedagh Merchant".[57][58] Charles Beeker, the director of Academic Diving and Underwater Science Programs inIndiana University (Bloomington)'s School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, was one of the experts leading theIndiana University diving team. He said that it was "remarkable that the wreck has remained undiscovered all these years given its location", and that the ship had been the subject of so many prior failed searches.[59]Captain Kidd's cannon, an artefact from the shipwreck, was added to a permanent exhibit atThe Children's Museum of Indianapolis in 2011.[60]
In May 2015, a 50-kilogram (110 lb) ingot expected to be silver was found in a wreck off the coast ofÎle Sainte-Marie in Madagascar by a team led by marine archaeologistBarry Clifford. It was believed to be part of Kidd's treasure.[61][62][63] Clifford gave the booty toHery Rajaonarimampianina, President of Madagascar.[64][65] But, in July 2015, aUNESCO scientific and technical advisory body reported that testing showed the ingot consisted of 95% lead, and speculated that the wreck in question was a broken part of the Sainte-Marie port constructions.[66]
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