John Pro
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John Pro (died 1719) was a Dutch pirate best known for leading a pirate trading post near
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 ...
.


History

Pro made his fortune as a pirate cruising the
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against
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shipping, possibly alongside David Williams or Thomas Collins. They returned to the pirate trading post at Ile Ste Marie off the Madagascar coast to divide their treasure.
Adam Baldridge Adam Baldridge () was an English pirate and one of the early founders of the pirate settlements in Madagascar. History After fleeing from Jamaica to escape murder charges, Baldridge sailed to Madagascar and, by 1690, had established a base of op ...
had abandoned the settlement in 1697 after a Malagasy uprising, but Pro remained behind to rebuild. In 1703 Williams and Collins were captured by fellow ex-pirate Aert Van Tuyl after they and the crew of Thomas Howard’s ship ''Prosperous'' got into a fight with Van Tuyl and his native allies. Escaping six months later, Williams made his way to Pro’s outpost. The following year the
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warships ''Severn'' and ''Scarborough'' sailed the region on a mission to eliminate piracy. Williams and Pro were captured but escaped shortly afterward, sailing canoes to Mohilla,
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,
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, and finally back to Methelage (Messelege) on Madagascar. Afterwards Williams (and possibly Pro) sailed with Thomas White for a time, but they were not among the crew who disembarked at Don Mascarenas to retire from piracy. By 1707 Pro had returned to Ile Ste Marie, leading the settlement with support of the Malagasy natives. With support from other pirates such as Samuel Burgess he made a business of slave trading. Pro charged trading fees to pirates and merchants who came looking to buy slaves cheaper than they could from the
Royal African Company The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English trading company established in 1660 by the House of Stuart and City of London merchants to trade along the West African coast. It was overseen by the Duke of York, the brother of Charles II of Eng ...
. Collins left to run a similar pirate outpost at Port Dauphin, which he took over after the death of its previous leader, former pirate
Abraham Samuel Abraham Samuel (died 1705), also known as "Deaan Tuley-Noro" or "Tolinar Rex", was a mulatto pirate of the Indian Ocean in the days of the Pirate Round in the late 1690s. He was said to be born in Martinique or Jamaica, or possibly in Anosy, Mad ...
. In 1717 Pro was visited by Robert Drury, a castaway sailor who survived the wreck of the ''Degrave'' in 1701 and had been living among the Malagasy ever since. Drury later write a memoir of his time on Madagascar and described Pro and his lifestyle in detail:
One was a Dutchman, named John Pro, who spoke good English. He was dressed in a short coat with broad plate buttons, and other things agreeable, but without shoes or stockings. In his sash stuck a brace of pistols, and one in his hand. … John Pro lived in a very handsome manner. His house was furnished with pewter dishes, &c., a standing bed with curtains, and other things of that nature except chairs, but a chest or two served for that use well enough. He had one house on purpose for his cook-room and cook-slave's lodging, storehouse, and summer-house; all these enclosed in a palisade, as the great men's houses are in this country, for he was rich, and had many cattle and slaves. … I being interpreter, we settled the manner of trade, and then the captain made presents of a gun or two, &c., and the king presented him with a slave, &c. He also gave me a girl of twelve years old, which I sold immediately to John Pro.
Pro, Collins, and
John Rivers Sir John Rivers (died 27 February 1584) was a Tudor-era businessman who became Lord Mayor of London. He was born to Richard Rivers, steward of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham's lands. Alternate spelling includes John Ryvers. He was a ...
(another ex-pirate who led the settlement at
St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
starting in 1686) all died in 1719. They were among the last pirates on Madagascar, the remainder of which left or were ousted within a few years.


See also

*
James Plaintain James Plaintain (fl. 1720–1728, John or James, last name also Plantain) was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean. He is best known for using his pirate wealth to found a short-lived kingdom in Madagascar. History Plantain was English, born in ...
– another ex-pirate who established a similar pirate outpost on Madagascar.


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pro, John 18th-century pirates Year of birth missing Pirates from the Dutch Republic 1719 deaths Piracy in the Indian Ocean