William Knight (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1684–1689) was a 17th-century English

buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateer or free sailors, and pirates particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 u ...

and pirate known for joining

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

ing expeditions against Spanish colonies in Central and South America.

History

Knight may have lived in

Port Royal, Jamaica Port Royal () was a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the cent ...

since 1675, but by September 1684 he and 50 men set out to raid the Spanish, crossing the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama, historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North America, North and South America. The country of Panama is located on the i ...

, building canoes once they reached the Pacific coast. Some of his sailors became separated, joining with Francis Townley, Edward Davis, and Charles Swan, as well as French buccaneers under

Francois Grogniet Francois Groginet (died 1687) was a French buccaneer and pirate active against the Pacific coast of Spanish Central America. History Grogniet began his career as a (French buccaneer) in 1683, sailing a 70-man, 6-gun ship named ''St. Joseph'' ( ...

and Jean L’Escuyer. Knight and the rest of his crew cruised off El Salvador and Ecuador then joined the larger group in March 1685. The buccaneers engaged a Spanish fleet in June but were forced to retreat. The English and French contingents blamed each other and subsequently separated after a failed assault on

Remedios Remedios may refer to: Places * Remedios, Cuba, a municipality in the province of Villa Clara, Cuba * Remedios, Antioquia, a municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia * Remedios, Chiriquí, a corregimiento of Panama * Remedios District, distri ...

. Knight, Swan, Townley, and Peter Harris left in July to attack Nicaragua, sacking León and Realejo but with little to show for it. Davis and Knight left for Peru in September, raiding up and down the coast into 1686. That March they raided

Sana The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) () is a Syrian state-owned news agency, linked to the country's ministry of information. It was established in June 1965. SANA publishes more than 500 news stories and 150 photos on a daily basis and operate ...

, taking over 100,000 pesos (£25,000). This was one of the richest captures of the buccaneer era. A raid at

Paita Paita is a city in northwestern Peru. It is the capital of the Paita Province which is in the Piura Region. It is a leading seaport in the region. Paita is located 1,089 km northwest of the country's capital Lima, and 57 km northwest of ...

was less successful but they picked up additional crew when almost 40 freed slaves joined them. They continued their raids into the summer, collecting another £5,000 in July as a ransom to spare

Pisco Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber-colored spirit produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. Made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit, it was developed by 16th-century Spanish settlers as an alternativ ...

. After dividing their loot at the

Juan Fernandez Islands ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philipp ...

on November (where each man received 5000 pieces of eight, or £1,250), Knight returned to the Caribbean via

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

. Davis’ crew elected to stay in the Pacific and continue their raids, having lost much of treasure gambling; they looted

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the ca ...

in Chile then assisted a French contingent under Pierre Le Picard in taking

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

. Knight possibly settled in Virginia afterwards, though in 1688 he was called to give testimony in Jamaica against French buccaneers who had sailed with Townley. English explorer and buccaneer

William Dampier William Dampier (baptised 5 September 1651; died March 1715) was an English explorer, pirate, privateer, navigator, and naturalist who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnavig ...

(who had sailed with Davis) reported a “Captain Knight” active in the Indian Ocean in 1689, who consorted with some of Swan's crew from the ''Cygnet''. They cruised off Acheen and

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek Spiritus ...

before putting some crew off at

Coromandel Coromandel may refer to: Places India *Coromandel Coast, India ** Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements **Dutch Coromandel * Coromandel, KGF, Karnataka, India New Zealand *Coromandel, New Zealand, a town on the Coromandel Peninsula *Cor ...

. Given the dates and the association with Dampier, Davis, and Swan's crew, this may have been William Knight.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, William 17th-century pirates Year of birth missing Year of death missing English pirates Piracy in the Indian Ocean

History

See also

References