Francis Fernando (

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 ...

1715–1716) was a Jamaican pirate and privateer active in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. He was one of the few confirmed mixed-race Captains in 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 ...

History

Francis Fernando, described as “a

mulatto ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...

commander” and “a tawny Moor,” owned an estate in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and was prosperous enough to post a security deposit for his voyages. He was granted a

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

commission in late 1715 from Lord Archibald Hamilton, Governor of Jamaica. He also sold Hamilton a share of ownership in his sloop ''Bennett'', which meant Hamilton would personally profit from any prize ships Fernando took. In early 1716, he captured the Spanish sloop ''Nuestra Señora de Belen''. His commission had been to sail against pirates; he justified taking the Spanish ship on the grounds that it had originally been an English vessel (the ''Kingston'' or ''Kensington''), unlawfully captured by the Spanish. He returned to Jamaica to have the prize confirmed, though he only left the bulk cargo aboard - he had removed all the jewels, coins, and other valuables, worth 250,000

pieces of eight The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight (, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content fine silver. It wa ...

. Shrewdly, Fernando kept the ''Bennett'' offshore while awaiting the

prize court A prize court is a court (or even a single individual, such as an ambassador or consul) authorized to consider whether prizes have been lawfully captured, typically whether a ship has been lawfully captured or seized in time of war or under the te ...

’s judgment. He captured another Spanish ship shortly afterwards, this time sailing to

New Providence New Providence is the most populous island in The Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. On the eastern side of the island is the national capital, national capital city of Nassau, Bahamas, Nassau; it had a population of 246 ...

in the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

to share out the loot with his crew. He sailed back to Jamaica to determine whether he would be allowed to keep his loot and go free, and “if he found he could not, he gave out that he would return to Providence and settle amongst the rovers.” Later in 1716, he was reported as sailing alongside Henry Jennings,

Benjamin Hornigold Benjamin Hornigold (c. 1680–1719) was an English pirate towards the end of the Golden Age of Piracy. Born in England in the late 17th century, Hornigold began his pirate career in 1713, attacking merchant ships in the Bahamas. He helped to e ...

, and

Olivier Levasseur __NOTOC__ Olivier Levasseur (1688, 1689, or 1690 – 7 July 1730), was a French pirate, nicknamed ''La Buse'' ("The Buzzard") or ''La Bouche'' ("The Mouth") or () in his early days for the speed and ruthlessness with which he always attacked ...

, using New Providence as his home port. That same year Hamilton issued a proclamation demanding that Jennings, Fernando, James Carnegie, Leigh Ashworth, and others surrender to authorities, but Hamilton was soon removed from power over corruption charges. Despite this, by 1717, Hamilton's successor,

Nicholas Lawes Sir Nicholas Lawes ( – 18 June 1731) was a British judge and colonial administrator who served as the List of governors of Jamaica, governor of Jamaica from 1718 to 1722. Early life Nicholas Lawes was born to Nicholas and Amy Lawes. ...

, declared that England would not make any restitution to the Spanish for various offenses, including Fernando's capture of the ''Nuestra Señora de Belen''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernando, Francis 18th-century pirates Year of birth missing Year of death missing British pirates Caribbean pirates

History

Further reading

See also

References