William Fly (died 12 July 1726) was an English pirate who raided

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

shipping fleets for three months in 1726 until he was captured by the crew of a seized ship. He was hanged in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, and his body publicly exhibited in a gibbet as a warning to other pirates. His death is considered by many to mark the end of the

Golden Age of Piracy The Golden Age of Piracy was the period between the 1650s and the 1730s, when maritime piracy was a significant factor in the histories of the North Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Histories of piracy often subdivide the Golden Age of Piracy into th ...

Career

William Fly's career as a pirate began in April 1726, when he signed on to sail with Captain John Green to West Africa on the ''Elizabeth''. Green and Fly began to clash until one night Fly led a mutiny that resulted in Green being tossed overboard; Fly then took command of the ''Elizabeth''. Having captured the ship, the mutineers "caused a Black Flagg to be hoisted", renamed the ship ''Fames' Revenge'', elected Fly as captain, and sailed to the coast of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and north toward New England. They captured five ships in about two months before being captured themselves. Following Fly's capture,

Cotton Mather Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a Puritan clergyman and author in colonial New England, who wrote extensively on theological, historical, and scientific subjects. After being educated at Harvard College, he join ...

tried and failed to get Fly to publicly repent. William Fly and his crew were

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, located adjacent to Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the Northeastern United States. History 17th century Since its dis ...

on 12 July 1726. Reportedly, Fly approached the hanging with complete disdain and even reproached the hangman for doing a poor job, re-tying the

noose A noose is a loop at the end of a rope in which the knot tightens under load and can be loosened without untying the knot. The knot can be used to secure a rope to a post, pole, or animal but only where the end is in a position that the loop can ...

and placing it about his neck with his own two hands. His last words were, roughly, a warning to captains to treat their sailors well and pay them on time – "Our Captain and his Mate used us Barbarously. We poor Men can’t have Justice done us. There is nothing said to our Commanders, let them never so much abuse us, and use us like Dogs." Fly urged that "all Masters of Vessels might take Warning of the Fate of the Captain that he had murder'd, and to pay Sailors their Wages when due." Pastor Benjamin Colman of Boston also preached to Fly and the condemned pirates. He described Fly's unrepentant trip to the gallows: "Fly briskly and in a way of bravery jumpt up into the Cart, with a nose gay in his hand, bowing with much unconcern to the Spectators as he pass'd along, and at the Gallows he behaved still obstinately and boldly till his face was covered for death." Following Fly's execution, his body was hung in chains (

gibbet Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of criminals were hanged on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. Occasionally, the gibbet () was also used as a method of public ex ...

ed) on Nixes Mate Island in Boston Harbor as a warning to others not to turn to piracy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fly, William English pirates Year of birth missing 1726 deaths People executed by the Province of Massachusetts Bay by hanging Executed English people People executed for piracy 18th-century English people 18th-century pirates