Hezekiah Frith, Sr. (1763 – 1848) was a Bermudan shipowner, privateer and slave trader. One of the richest men in

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 ...

during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, he built the Spithead House in

Warwick, Bermuda Warwick Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named after Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick (1587-1658). It is located in the central south of the island chain, occupying part of the main island to the southeast of the Great Sou ...

Life

Born in Bermuda, he was one of seven children born to Captain William Frith and Sarah Lee. As a successful shipowner during the 1780s and 1790s, he became engaged in privateering and smuggling, from which he reportedly made his fortune. In August 1796 he slipped into the French port of

Cap Français A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

San Domingo Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

during the night and stole away a captured British transport ship. Participating in a number of privateering expeditions with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, he is supposed to have hoarded treasure from at least two captured ships in the store he operated next to the Spithead House on Granaway Deep; he supposedly used the water tank at Spithead to smuggle captured goods and other valuable items before filing claim at the Customs House. He apparently has multiple accounts of robbery of ships from Jamaica. Frith is also claimed to have rescued (or kidnapped) a Frenchwoman, whom he kept there as a

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...

: both are said to haunt the house, according to local lore. The house would later be owned successively by dramatist

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

, Sir

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

and

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

and his wife

Oona O'Neill Oona O'Neill, Lady Chaplin (14 May 1925 – 27 September 1991) was a British actress, the daughter of American playwright Eugene O'Neill and English-born writer Agnes Boulton, and the fourth and last wife of actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin. ...

(Lady Chaplin). The Granaway home on

Harbour Road Harbour Road () is a road in Wan Chai District, Hong Kong, located in the north of Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island. The western end of the road connects to the intersection of Fenwick Pier and Fenwick Road, the middle section is perpendicular to Flem ...

, which he had built for his daughter, was later bought by a family of free blacks descended from a slave named Caprice, who had originally been brought to Bermuda on a ship captured by Hezekiah Frith on one of his voyages.

Adele Tucker Adele Evelina Johnson Tucker MBE (8 August 1868 – 4 January 1971) was a Bermudian schoolteacher and trade unionist. She is best known as one of the founders of the Bermuda Union of Teachers, the first registered union on the island. Tucker wa ...

, a well-known Bermudian educator and co-founder of

Bermuda Union of Teachers The Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT) is a trade union representing education workers in Bermuda. The union was founded in 1919, the first to be established in the country. Its founders were Edith Crawford, Matilda Crawford, Rufus Stovell and Adele ...

, grew up in the home. He was married three times, his daughters all marrying

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

ministers; his son Hezekiah Frith, Jr. became a prominent religious figure.

Descendants

Brother and sister

Heather Nova Heather Nova (born Heather Allison Frith, 6 July 1967) is a Bermudian singer-songwriter and poet. , she has released eleven full-length albums, six EPs and twelve singles. Biography Heather Nova was born Heather Allison Frith on Bermuda, a Bri ...

and Mishka, two popular Bermudian singers and songwriters, and their uncle,

Michael K. Frith Michael Kingsbury Frith (born 8 July 1941) is a British artist and television producer. He is the former executive vice-president and creative director of The Jim Henson Company. His contributions to Muppet projects have been extensive and vari ...

, are descendants of Frith.

Slavery

Frith was a slave trader. He used both slaves and free men to crew his ships. As a privateer he recaptured several British

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting Slavery, slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea ( ...

s and sold the captives himself.Zuill, William S. ''The Story of Bermuda and Her People''. New York: Macmillan, 1973. (pg.108)

References

External links

WhoBegatWho.com – Hezekiah FrithRootsWeb: Frith-L Archives, Frith, Capt. Hezekiah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frith, Nathaniel 1763 births 1848 deaths 18th-century British slave traders British privateers Bermudian businesspeople People from Warwick Parish 19th-century British slave traders

Life

Descendants

Slavery

References

Further reading

External links