George Dew, George Hout or George d'Hout (c. 1666–1703) was a pirate,

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. He once sailed alongside

William 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 N ...

and

Thomas Tew Thomas Tew (died September 1695), also known as the Rhode Island Pirate, was a 17th-century English privateer-turned- pirate. He embarked on two major pirate voyages and met a bloody death on the second, and he pioneered the route which became ...

, and his career took him from

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

to 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 ...

and the coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Biography

Starting as a sailor aboard slave ships bound for west Africa, Dew took part in buccaneer raids on

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

in 1686. Alongside

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 Pierre Le Picard in 1687 he sacked the city of

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 ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, leading the English contingent after their commander Townley had been killed off Panama. By 1691 he had been granted a privateering commission from

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

to attack French shipping, which he pursued up the eastern seaboard of the American colonies, as far north as

Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...

. That year he and William Kidd sailed in concert, turning away a militia sloop in the

Piscataqua River The Piscataqua River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Pskehtekwis'') is a tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River to the Atlant ...

and menacing a nearby fort. As a privateer he sailed alongside Thomas Griffin, using their commission as pretense to loot non-French ships. Dew and Griffin were chased by Christopher Goffe (himself a former pirate turned pirate-hunter) in the ''Swan'' out of

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 ...

on suspicion of piracy, but their fast sloops outraced Goffe: “they could sail two feet to his one.” Back in Bermuda in 1693, he married and started a family but soon left to sail again. When Thomas Tew sailed for Africa in his sloop ''Amity'' to attack French slave ports in

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

in 1693, Dew joined him aboard his own sloop ''Amy''. Shortly after leaving port they were caught in a storm and separated. Tew then ignored his commission to attack the French and sailed instead for

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, pioneering the

Pirate Round The Pirate Round was a sailing route followed by certain, mainly English, pirates, during the late 17th century and early 18th century. The course led from the western Atlantic, parallel to the Cape Route around the southern tip of Africa, stopp ...

route. Dew's ''Amy'' lost its mast and struggled to reach

Saldanha Bay Saldanha Bay () is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa. The town that developed on the northern shore of the bay, also called Saldanha, Western Cape, Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay ...

in southern Africa. There he was arrested by the Dutch and accused of piracy and his ship was impounded. Sent to

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

for trial, he was released for lack of evidence and filed suit against the Dutch in turn. By 1695 he was back in the Caribbean aboard the

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Ol ...

''Marigold'' attempting to sail from

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

to Africa. With his ship again damaged by a storm, the crew refused Dew's request to sail on to Africa and he was forced to return to Barbados empty handed. He returned to his family in Bermuda and in 1699 built a home now known as the Old Rectory, which still stands. Unknown to Dew, the Dutch in Saldanha Bay still had his old ship ''Amy'': it was stripped for parts by pirates that same year. Dew began a law practice on Bermuda and was elected to a seat in the General Assembly before his death in 1703. Local legend holds that the Old Rectory is haunted by Dew's ghost, who can occasionally be heard playing a

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dew, George English pirates 17th-century pirates Caribbean pirates 1660s births 1703 deaths

Biography

See also

Notes

References