John, or George, Watling (died 1681) was a 17th-century

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

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 ...

.Esquemeling, John. ''The Buccaneers of America''. Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1893, pp. 388-413. It was said that he would never plunder on the

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...

and refused to allow his crew to play cards on this holy day. John Watling is best known for making his headquarters on the island currently dubbed

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

and naming it

Watling Island San Salvador Island, previously Watling's Island, is an island and district of The Bahamas, famed for being the probable location of Christopher Columbus's first landing of the Americas on 12 October 1492 during his first voyage. This historic ...

. It is believed to be the island ''

Guanahani Guanahaní (meaning "small upper waters land") was the Taíno language, Taíno name of an island in the Bahamas that was the first land in the New World sighted and visited by Christopher Columbus' Voyages of Christopher Columbus#First voyage (14 ...

,'' as named by the

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

Lucayan people The Lucayan people ( ) were the original residents of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands before the European colonisation of the Americas. They were a branch of the Taínos who inhabited most of the Caribbean islands at the time. The ...

, which

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

first saw in 1492 and renamed San Salvador. This is disputed by some. In 1925, the Bahamas officially named the island San Salvador after several scholars had argued that its features best matched Columbus' description of the island he visited.

Mutiny and taking charge

In 1680–1681 John Watling sailed under Captain

Bartholomew Sharp Bartholomew Sharp (c. 1650 – 29 October 1702) was an English buccaneer and privateer. His career of piracy lasted seven years (1675–1682). In the Caribbean he took several ships, and raided the Gulf of Honduras and Portobelo. He took comman ...

aboard the ''Most Holy Trinity.'' Certain members of the crew were unhappy with Sharp. Each buccaneer had amassed a fortune under Sharp's leadership, but many had gambled all of their money away. Sharp had not gambled and wanted to retire with his fortune. On 6 January 1681 at Juan Fernandez, the crew mutinied and deposed Sharp, electing Watling as his successor. On 12 January, three armed Spanish vessels approached Juan Fernandez, and Watling and his crew fled the port. They left behind a Mosquito Indian named

Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

, whom they were unable to find before departure. The buccaneers waited just out to sea, but the Spanish did not leave and so Watling slipped away on the night of 13 January.

Arica

Several days later, the buccaneers decided to attack the rich Spanish settlement of

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the ca ...

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

. They had attacked Arica previously but had not found any of the rumoured riches. A captured Indian warned Watling that Arica was heavily fortified, but Watling thought he was trying to trick them and shot him. As it was four or five days' walk from the coast to Arica, and the 92 buccaneers had to carry their own water, they were exhausted when reaching the town. They tried to approach the settlement secretly, but were seen by the Spanish, who prepared their defense. On January 30 Watling split his men into two groups, one to attack the

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

with

hand grenades A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade g ...

and the rest to attack the town. Upon seeing how heavily outnumbered the men were in the town, Watling soon sent all his forces there. The buccaneers repeatedly forced the Spanish to retreat, but, as they were outnumbered, the Spanish quickly retook territory they left. Finally the buccaneers conquered the town, and Watling turned back to the fort. The Spanish regained the settlement and surrounded Watling's men. Completely overwhelmed, the buccaneers fled, losing several men, including Captain Watling, shot during the retreat.

Legacy

Watling is the namesake of John Watling's Distillery, a

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

in Nassau.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watling, John 1681 deaths 17th century in the Bahamas English pirates Year of birth unknown

Mutiny and taking charge

Arica

Legacy

See also

References