John Taylor (

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 ...

1718–1723), born Richard Taylor, was an English pirate active in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, best known for participating in two of the richest pirate captures of all time.

History

Taylor began his piratical career in 1718 as a crewman aboard the trading sloop ''Buck'' when

Howell Davis Howell Davis (19 June 1719), also known as Hywel and/or Davies, was a Welsh people, Welsh piracy, pirate. His piratical career lasted just 11 months, from 11 July 1718 to 19 June 1719, when he was ambushed and killed. His ships were the ''Cadogan ...

staged a

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military or a crew) to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term is commonly used for insubordination by members of the military against an officer or superior, ...

, took over the ship, and convinced the crew to take up piracy. After attempting to oust Davis from command, Taylor transferred to a

prize ship In admiralty law prizes (from the Old French ''prise'', "taken, seized") are Military equipment">equipment, vehicles, Marine vessel, vessels, and cargo captured during armed conflict. The most common use of ''prize'' in this sense is the capture ...

commanded by

Jeremiah Cocklyn Jeremiah Cocklyn, better known by the name Thomas Cocklyn (fl. 1717–1719), was an English pirate known primarily for his association with Howell Davis, Olivier Levasseur, Richard Taylor, and William Moody. History Cocklyn was among the hund ...

, who soon split with Davis to sail alongside

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 ...

. They captured ships off

Ouidah Ouidah (English: ; French: ) or Whydah (; ''Ouidah'', ''Juida'', and ''Juda'' by the French; ''Ajudá'' by the Portuguese; and ''Fida'' by the Dutch), and known locally as Glexwe, formerly the chief port of the Kingdom of Whydah, is a city on t ...

in 1720 after which Leveasseur left to raid the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...

. Cocklyn and his crew transferred to the captured vessel ''Victory'' and proceeded to one of several pirate outposts at

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 ...

. Taylor was elected Captain when Cocklyn died, partnering with

Edward England Edward England (–1721) was an Irish pirate. The ships he sailed on included the ''Pearl'' (which he renamed ''The Royal James'') and later the ''Fancy'', for which England exchanged the ''Pearl'' in 1720. His flag was the classic Jolly Rog ...

and

Jasper Seagar Jasper Seagar (died 1721) was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean, best known for sailing with Edward England, Olivier Levasseur, and Richard Taylor. Identity Some sources claim Edward England was born Edward Seegar, or that Jasper Seagar was En ...

aboard the ''Fancy''. England, meanwhile, had rescued Levasseur and his crew, who had been stranded after wrecking their ship. In July 1720 ''Fancy'' and ''Victory'' found the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

ship ''Cassandra'' at anchor off

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek Spiritus ...

. After a lengthy and brutal engagement, ''Cassandra's'' Captain

James Macrae James Macrae (1677 – July 1744) was a Scottish seaman and administrator who served as the President of Fort St George from 1725 to 1730. He is known for naval exploits against the pirate Edward England and for reforming the administration of ...

and his crew escaped inland. Macrae returned to negotiate with the pirates and was saved when some of the pirates, who had once served under Macrae, intervened on his behalf. England gave Macrae the badly damaged ''Fancy'' and let him keep some of the pirates’ less-valuable loot. Taylor was enraged at England's generosity and organized a vote to remove him from command and leave him

marooned Marooned may refer to: * Marooning, the intentional act of abandoning someone in an uninhabited area Film and television * ''Marooned'' (1933 film), a British drama film * ''Marooned'' (1969 film), an American science-fiction film * ''Marooned ...

. Levasseur, Seagar, and Taylor took the ''Victory'' and ''Cassandra'', with sources differing on who was in command of which ship. They captured some

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

ships then engaged a fleet from

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

but were driven off. Off Malabar in late 1720 they traded with Dutch agents at

Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernaku ...

before returning to Madagascar that December. There they encountered pirate trader John Plantain and fellow pirate

Edward Condon Edward Uhler Condon (March 2, 1902 – March 26, 1974) was an American nuclear physicist, a pioneer in quantum mechanics, and a participant during World War II in the development of radar and, very briefly, of nuclear weapons as part of the Ma ...

. The pirates spent Easter of 1721 at the

Mascarene Islands The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Their na ...

. At

Reunion Island Reunion may refer to: * Class reunion * Family reunion Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to: Places * Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean * Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, U ...

in April 1721 Taylor, Levasseur, and Seagar captured probably the most valuable prize in pirate history, the 700-ton Portuguese treasure ship ''Nossa Senhora do Cabo (Our Lady of the Cape)''. The ship carried gold, uncut diamonds and church regalia belonging to the retiring viceroy of

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

in Portuguese India. The Portuguese ship had been dismasted in a storm and proved to be an easy prize, captured after a brief boarding action. Levasseur, Seagar, and Taylor made off with treasure then maximum valued at approximately a million

pounds sterling Sterling (Currency symbol, symbol: Pound sign, £; ISO 4217, currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of account, unit of sterling, and the word ''Pound (cu ...

. The group returned to Madagascar where Seagar died. While there they intercepted letters detailing the ships of a

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 ...

squadron sent to hunt them down; Taylor had the letters read aloud at the ship's mast. Levasseur took ''Cabo'' and Taylor took ''Cassandra'', swapping ships after burning the decrepit ''Victory''. After capturing the fort at Delagoa the combined company split up in 1722. Taylor headed for the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, arriving there in 1723. The governor of Spanish Portobello pardoned Taylor and his crew in exchange for his ship the ''Cassandra''. Taylor thereafter sailed in Spanish service, hunting

logwood ''Haematoxylum campechianum'' (blackwood, bloodwood tree, bluewood, campeachy tree, campeachy wood, campeche logwood, campeche wood, Jamaica wood, logwood or logwood tree) is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is na ...

cutters in the Caribbean. Jacob de Bucquoy, who spent time as Taylor's prisoner, reported that Taylor eventually left Portobello, returning to his family at Jamaica before leaving again for Cuba, where he operated a plantation and a small trading vessel as late as 1744.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, John 18th-century pirates Year of birth missing Year of death missing English pirates Piracy in the Indian Ocean Pardoned pirates Spanish privateers

History

See also

Notes

References