Captain Kidd

William Kidd (c. 1645 – 23 May 1701), also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd, was a Scottish-American privateer. Conflicting accounts exist regarding his early life, but he was likely born in Dundee and later settled in New York City. By 1690, Kidd had become a highly successful privateer, commissioned to protect English interests in the Thirteen Colonies in North America and the West Indies.

In 1695, Kidd received a royal commission from the Earl of Bellomont, the governor of New York, Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire, to hunt down pirates and enemy French ships in the Indian Ocean. He received a letter 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-ton '' Quedagh Merchant'', a ship hired by Armenian 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 to Boston and sent him to stand trial in London. He was found guilty and hanged in 1701.

Kidd was romanticized after his death and his exploits became a popular subject of pirate-themed works of fiction. The belief that he had left buried treasure contributed significantly to his legend, which inspired numerous treasure hunts in the following centuries.

Life and career

Early life and education

Kidd was born in Dundee, Scotland prior to 15 October 1654. While claims have been made of alternative birthplaces, including Greenock and Belfast, 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. The myth that his "father was thought to have been a Church 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.

Early voyages

As a young man, Kidd settled in New York City, which the English had taken over from the Dutch. There he befriended many prominent colonial citizens, including three governors. Some accounts suggest that he served as a seaman's apprentice on a pirate ship during this time, before beginning his more famous seagoing exploits as a privateer.

By 1689, Kidd was a member of a French–English pirate crew sailing the Caribbean under Captain Jean Fantin. During one of their voyages, Kidd and other crew members mutinied, ousting the captain and sailing to the British colony of Nevis. There they renamed the ship '' Blessed William'', and Kidd became captain either as a result of election by the ship's crew, or by appointment of Christopher Codrington, governor of the island of Nevis.

Kidd was an experienced leader and sailor by that time, and the ''Blessed William'' became part of Codrington's small fleet assembled to defend Nevis from the French, with whom the English were at war. 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 of Marie-Galante, destroying its only town and looting the area, and gathering around 2,000 pounds sterling.

Later, during the War of the Grand Alliance, on commissions from the provinces of New York and Massachusetts Bay, Kidd captured an enemy privateer off the New England coast. Shortly afterwards, he was awarded £150 for successful privateering in the Caribbean. One year later, Captain Robert Culliford, a notorious pirate, stole Kidd's ship while he was ashore at Antigua in the West Indies.

In New York City, Kidd was active in financially supporting the construction of Trinity Church, New York.

On 16 May 1691, Kidd married Sarah Bradley Cox Oort, 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.

Preparing his expedition

On 11 December 1695, Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont, who was governing New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, asked the "trusty and well beloved Captain Kidd"Hamilton, (1961) p. ? to attack Thomas 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 and folklore.

Four-fifths of the cost for the 1696 venture was paid by noble lords, who were among the most powerful men in England: the Earl of Orford, the Baron of Romney, the Duke of Shrewsbury, and Sir John Somers. Kidd was presented with a letter of marque, signed personally by King William III of England, which authorized him as a privateer. This letter reserved 10% of the loot for the Crown, and Henry Gilbert's ''The Book of Pirates'' suggests that the King fronted some of the money for the voyage himself. Kidd and his acquaintance Colonel Robert Livingston orchestrated the whole plan; they sought additional funding from merchant Sir Richard Blackham. Kidd also had to sell his ship ''Antigua'' to raise funds.

The new ship, '' Adventure Galley'', was well suited to the task of catching pirates, weighing over 284 tons burthen and equipped with 34 cannon, oars, and 150 men. The oars were a key advantage, as they enabled ''Adventure 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.

Because of Kidd's refusal to salute, the Navy vessel's captain retaliated by pressing much of Kidd's crew into naval 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 quartermaster Hendrick 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 a master's mate on a merchant vessel and was never convicted of piracy.

Hunting for Pirates

In September 1696, Kidd weighed anchor and set course for the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. A third of his crew died on the Comoros due to an outbreak of cholera, the brand-new ship developed many leaks, and he failed to find the pirates whom he expected to encounter off Madagascar.

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 that ''Adventure Galley'' anchored offshore. Those who decided to stay on made constant open threats of mutiny.

Kidd killed one of his own crewmen on 30 October 1697. Kidd's gunner William Moore was on deck sharpening a chisel 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.

Seventeenth-century English admiralty 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".

Accusations of piracy

Escaped prisoners told stories of being hoisted up by the arms and "drubbed" (thrashed) with a drawn cutlass by Kidd. On one occasion, crew members sacked the trading ship ''Mary'' 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". Kidd sailed away during the night to preserve his crew, rather than subject them to Royal Navy impressment. The letter of marque was intended to protect a privateer's crew from such impressment.

On 30 January 1698, Kidd raised French colours and took his greatest prize, the 400-ton '' Quedagh Merchant'', an Indian ship hired by Armenian merchants. It was loaded with satins, muslins, gold, silver, and a variety of East Indian merchandise, as well as extremely valuable silks. The captain of ''Quedagh Merchant'' was an Englishman named Wright, who had purchased passes from the French East India Company promising him the protection of the French Crown.Hamilton, (1961)

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.

Kidd kept the Frenc
sea passes
of the ''Quedagh 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 keep ''Quedagh Merchant'' and her cargo. Renaming the seized merchantman as ''Adventure Prize'', he set sail for Madagascar.

On 1 April 1698, Kidd reached Madagascar. After meeting privately with trader Tempest Rogers (who would later be accused of trading and selling Kidd's looted East India goods), 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 aboard ''Mocha Frigate''.

Two contradictory accounts exist of how Kidd proceeded. According to ''A General History of the Pyrates

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