Richard Bobbington (died 1697?, name occasionally Philip or Babbington) was a pirate active in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf in the late 1690s.

History

Adam Baldridge Adam Baldridge ( fl. 1690 – 1697) 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 establ ...

ran a trading post for pirates off Madagascar, and was willing to double-cross them. In December 1695 John Ireland sailed the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

''Amity'' into the settlement after the ''Amity’s'' previous captain Thomas Tew was killed raiding Moors alongside

Henry Every Henry Every, also known as Henry Avery (20 August 1659after 1696), sometimes erroneously given as Jack Avery or John Avery, was an English pirate who operated in the Atlantic and Indian oceans in the mid-1690s. He probably used several aliases ...

. Baldridge helped them quickly refit and tipped them off that he had traded with and resupplied the ''Charming Mary'' shortly before. The ''Amity'' sailed after the ''Charming Mary'' and captured it, giving its captain Richard Glover the ''Amity'' in exchange. Ireland had been the ship's master but was not formally captain; the pirates subsequently elected Irishman Richard Bobbington as captain of the ''Charming Mary''. Bobbington sailed back to Île Sainte-Marie in May 1696 to refit before heading into the Red Sea. In July they raided Tellicherry; Bobbington personally led the shore party to threaten the local East India Company officials into letting them repair and resupply at Company expense. Now with 90 men and 22 guns, in September of that year they took a Moorish ship off Rajapur, killing a great many of the crew in revenge for their stubborn resistance. In December 1696 they sailed into the Persian Gulf near Jask to raid local settlements for supplies, and again Bobbington joined the landing party. The Persians fought back, capturing Bobbington and the shore party. English officials wanted Bobbington extradited to Bombay to answer for crimes against

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

ships, while the Persians accused the English of robbery after Bobbington declared that he was English. He was never heard from again. The remainder of the crew sailed off in the ''Charming Mary'', possibly with Joseph Skinner as captain, or possibly with no captain at all, John Ireland still serving as master. They sailed alongside

Robert Culliford Robert Culliford (c. 1666 - ?, last name occasionally Collover) was a pirate from Cornwall who is best remembered for repeatedly ''checking the designs'' of Captain William Kidd. Early career and capture Culliford and Kidd first met as shipmates ...

and Ralph Stout in the ''Mocha'' for a time, returning to Barbados in 1697 to divide their loot. They appeared again off Madagascar in 1699 under captain William May (Mayes/Mues), who had captained the ''Pearl'' during Tew and Henry Every's attack on the treasure ship Gunsway.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bobbington, Richard Year of birth missing 17th-century pirates English pirates Piracy in the Indian Ocean

History

See also

References