Richard Ingle ( – ) was an English sea captain, tobacco trader, and

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

in colonial

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Along with

William Claiborne William Claiborne (also spelled "Clayborne", – ) was an English surveyor and early settler in the colonies/provinces of Virginia and Maryland and around the Chesapeake Bay. Claiborne became a wealthy merchant and planter, as well as ...

, Ingle revolted against Maryland Catholic leaders in the name of English Parliament and Puritans in a period known as the Plundering Time. Ingle and his men attacked ships and captured the colonial capital of the proprietary government in St. Mary's City.

Early life

Richard Ingle was born in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, possibly in London, into a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

family that schooled him. He became a trader and ship captain, transporting the goods of Maryland colonial traders from England and back, and later became a prominent trader of

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

around Virginia. Ingle's name appears in records in 1642, when he arrived in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

captaining the ''Eleanor'' with a shipment of tobacco from Virginia.

Ingle's Revolt

When the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

broke out in the early 1640s, Ingle sided with the

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

. He fell out with the Catholic leaders of the province of Maryland.

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

proprietary governor

Leonard Calvert Leonard Calvert ( – ) was the first Lord proprietor, proprietary governor of the Province of Maryland. He was the second son of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, The 1st Baron Baltimore (1579–1632), the first proprietor of Maryland. His e ...

seized his ship, but Ingle escaped. In January 1643/4, Ingle was reported as part owner and master of the trading ship, ''Reformation''. A warrant for his arrest from William Hardrige was made to be carried out by

Thomas Cornwallis Thomas Cornwallis ( – ) was an Kingdom of England, English politician and colonial administrator. Cornwallis served as one of the first Commissioners of the Province of Maryland (Proprietary Colony of Maryland), and Captain of the colony's mil ...

. With Captain and Councilor James Neale, Cornwallis arrested Richard Ingle but then switched to allow Ingle to sail away. Both Neale and Cornwallis were only fined and suspended for their transgression. Ingle returned in February 1645/46 with the ship ''Reformation'' and assailed the Maryland colony in the name of

English Parliament The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised th ...

. Ingle attacked the settlement of St. Mary's City, the colonial capital, and imprisoned leaders of the colony. Governor Calvert fled to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Ingle's men built a

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...

around Leonard Calvert's property and named it "Pope's Fort" in tribute to Colonel Nathaniel Pope, the owner of the Calvert property.

Plundering Time

Captain Richard Ingle took control of the Maryland colonial government and along with fellow Protestant

, an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church adherent, ushered in a period of unrest and lawlessness from 1644 to 1646 known as the "Claiborne and Ingle's rebellion", or " Plundering Time". Under Ingle's leadership, his men looted property of wealthy

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

settlers. Ingle claimed that he had a

letter of marque A letter of marque and reprisal () was a Sovereign state, government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or French corsairs, corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with t ...

to cruise the waters of ''Shesapeake'' (

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

) by permission of the new

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

in England. Local settlers regarded him as a pirate. Ingle had a council mimicking the previous governing body, called the Assembly of Protestants. He put two Jesuit priests, Andrew White and Thomas Copley, in chains and transported them back to England. Governor Calvert returned in August 1646 with a military force and re-established his control of the colony. Calvert died in June 1647 due to illness. In 1648, Richard Ingle was called a "notorious and ungrateful villain" by Maryland leaders.Council Proceedings from 1636 to 1657, pp 205

Death

Though most of his men were granted

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

, Richard Ingle, according to some sources, was specifically exempted from being released, made an example of, and executed as a pirate in 1653.

References

External links

Ingle, Edward. ''Captain Richard Ingle: The Maryland 'Pirate and Rebel' 1642-1653'' 1884.
at

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