John Macferson (

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 ...

1731-1732, first name also Jonathan) was a minor English pirate active in the Atlantic. He is best known for a single incident involving a Portuguese ship, and for being one of the last pirates of the

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

History

In 1731 Macferson and four other English sailors booked passage aboard the Portuguese

pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

''John'' which had sailed from

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. Badly treated by the Portuguese, they took over the ship off of

Terceira Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, about a third of the way across the North Atlantic Ocean at a similar latitude to Portugal's capital Lisbon, with the island group forming an insular part of Portugal. It is one of the ...

near the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

. The Englishmen then met with the ship ''Joseph'' while at sea; despite the protests of some of the ''Joseph's'' other passengers, they came aboard after looting and sinking the Portuguese pink. When they arrived in America, they were arrested and the stolen goods confiscated. The ''Joseph's'' Captain, Thomas Williams, escaped capture. That October in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Macferson and his four co-conspirators were put on trial, convicted, and sentenced to

hang Hang or Hanging may refer to: People * Choe Hang (disambiguation), various people * Luciano Hang (born 1962/1963), Brazilian billionaire businessman * Ren Hang (disambiguation), various people *Hang (surname), Chinese surname (杭) Law * Hanging, ...

. Some sources report that they were indeed hanged, some of the last executions of the Golden Age of Piracy. In fact their sentence was never carried out: as they had only committed thievery and not murder, Pennsylvania Lt. Governor Gordon wrote to the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, Willi ...

asking whether they should be pardoned. In April of 1732 the Duke wrote back confirming that the five had been granted clemency by the King: "His Majesty approved your having respited the execution of the said criminals, and has been graciously pleased, upon some favourable circumstances that have been represented in their behalf, to extend His mercy to them."

References

18th-century pirates Year of birth missing Year of death missing English pirates {{Pirate-stub

History

See also

References