One of the world's most
notorious pirates alongside
bloodthirsty contemporaries
notorious pirates alongside
bloodthirsty contemporaries
LONDON (Reuters Life!) – Captain Kidd has gone down in history, rightly or wrongly, as one
of the world's most notorious pirates alongside bloodthirsty contemporaries Blackbeard
and the fictitious one-legged Long John Silver.
Now a new London show about his life and the "golden age" of piracy on the high seas in
the 17th century suggests there was more to the man and his gruesome demise than
meets the eye
Scottish-born Kidd was hung for piracy and the murder of a crew member at Execution
Dock at Wapping on London's River Thames in 1701.
His corpse was coated in pitch and squeezed into an iron cage to be dangled further
downriver at Tilbury for years as a warning to future brigands.
But until his dying day Kidd protested his innocence.
He claimed he was a privateer, not a pirate, and that all the ships he had attacked and
plundered in the Indian Ocean were legitimate targets, sanctioned by the Crown and his
rich and powerful backers in London.
A privateer was a mercenary licensed by the King and the government to hunt merchant
ships flying the colors of England's enemies -- then France and Spain.
Tom Wareham, curator of maritime history at the Museum of London in Docklands where
the exhibition is being held, says the show explores how the line between privateering
and piracy was often blurred.
It ultimately asks whether Kidd was framed to save the reputation of the mighty East India
Company and the Crown.
"The skull and crossbones may not have fluttered over ships in the Thames, but many of
the pirates themselves were here at one time or another," said Wareham, alluding to the
fact that many seamen and women went crooked and turned pirate.
An able and brave sea captain by all accounts, Kidd started his career in the Caribbean
where he fought successful actions against the French. His problems started when he
took a government-backed private commission to clear the Indian Ocean of piracy.
He left London in 1695 in the Adventure Galley, a 284-tonner with a crew of 150 and 34
cannon. Late in 1696, he attacked a British East India Company convoy and was branded a
pirate.
The Crown was supposed to get 10 percent of privateers' pickings, but Kidd was accused
of keeping most of the loot.
In 1698, he took his greatest prize, the Quedah Merchant, a Moorish trading vessel from
Armenia laden with gold, jewels, silver, silks, spices and guns.
The ship, which Kidd said was a legitimate prize because it was under French control, had
an English captain and a cargo owned by Indians. Her taking enraged the ruling Mogul who
threatened to close down trade routes for good and thus jeopardized the position of the
East India Company.
Museum of London curator Hillary Davidson says it was Kidd's ultimate undoing.
The exhibition displays papers which Kidd claimed were vital for his defense against
piracy charges but which mysteriously vanished before his trial and did not reappear until
they surfaced in the National Archives in 1911.
Kidd attempted to barter for his life by offering in a letter -- also in the exhibition -- to
reveal the location of a stash of treasure he had hidden away.
"Rumor of this letter got out within a couple of days and people started looking for (the
treasure) then -- and they are still looking for it," said Davidson, adding it is believed to lie
anywhere from Canada to the Philippines if it exists at all.
The treasure, which Kidd claimed was worth 100,000 pounds ($163,000) at the time, around
8-9 million pounds today, inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write "Treasure Island" and
has motivated treasure-hunters ever since.
"After Stevenson, 'X' has marked the spot for ever," Davidson told Reuters. "That whole
notion of burying your treasure on a remote island that can be dug up from a map and
fought for comes directly from Kidd."
Pirates: The Captain Kidd Story runs until October 30.
(Editing by Steve Addison) By Stefano Ambrogi Reuters
of the world's most notorious pirates alongside bloodthirsty contemporaries Blackbeard
and the fictitious one-legged Long John Silver.
Now a new London show about his life and the "golden age" of piracy on the high seas in
the 17th century suggests there was more to the man and his gruesome demise than
meets the eye
Scottish-born Kidd was hung for piracy and the murder of a crew member at Execution
Dock at Wapping on London's River Thames in 1701.
His corpse was coated in pitch and squeezed into an iron cage to be dangled further
downriver at Tilbury for years as a warning to future brigands.
But until his dying day Kidd protested his innocence.
He claimed he was a privateer, not a pirate, and that all the ships he had attacked and
plundered in the Indian Ocean were legitimate targets, sanctioned by the Crown and his
rich and powerful backers in London.
A privateer was a mercenary licensed by the King and the government to hunt merchant
ships flying the colors of England's enemies -- then France and Spain.
Tom Wareham, curator of maritime history at the Museum of London in Docklands where
the exhibition is being held, says the show explores how the line between privateering
and piracy was often blurred.
It ultimately asks whether Kidd was framed to save the reputation of the mighty East India
Company and the Crown.
"The skull and crossbones may not have fluttered over ships in the Thames, but many of
the pirates themselves were here at one time or another," said Wareham, alluding to the
fact that many seamen and women went crooked and turned pirate.
An able and brave sea captain by all accounts, Kidd started his career in the Caribbean
where he fought successful actions against the French. His problems started when he
took a government-backed private commission to clear the Indian Ocean of piracy.
He left London in 1695 in the Adventure Galley, a 284-tonner with a crew of 150 and 34
cannon. Late in 1696, he attacked a British East India Company convoy and was branded a
pirate.
The Crown was supposed to get 10 percent of privateers' pickings, but Kidd was accused
of keeping most of the loot.
In 1698, he took his greatest prize, the Quedah Merchant, a Moorish trading vessel from
Armenia laden with gold, jewels, silver, silks, spices and guns.
The ship, which Kidd said was a legitimate prize because it was under French control, had
an English captain and a cargo owned by Indians. Her taking enraged the ruling Mogul who
threatened to close down trade routes for good and thus jeopardized the position of the
East India Company.
Museum of London curator Hillary Davidson says it was Kidd's ultimate undoing.
The exhibition displays papers which Kidd claimed were vital for his defense against
piracy charges but which mysteriously vanished before his trial and did not reappear until
they surfaced in the National Archives in 1911.
Kidd attempted to barter for his life by offering in a letter -- also in the exhibition -- to
reveal the location of a stash of treasure he had hidden away.
"Rumor of this letter got out within a couple of days and people started looking for (the
treasure) then -- and they are still looking for it," said Davidson, adding it is believed to lie
anywhere from Canada to the Philippines if it exists at all.
The treasure, which Kidd claimed was worth 100,000 pounds ($163,000) at the time, around
8-9 million pounds today, inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write "Treasure Island" and
has motivated treasure-hunters ever since.
"After Stevenson, 'X' has marked the spot for ever," Davidson told Reuters. "That whole
notion of burying your treasure on a remote island that can be dug up from a map and
fought for comes directly from Kidd."
Pirates: The Captain Kidd Story runs until October 30.
(Editing by Steve Addison) By Stefano Ambrogi Reuters
Captain Kidd Pirate Hunter
Captain Kidd,
probably the most
famous of all
pirates, William
Kidd (1645?-1701)
He was hanged,
guilty or not, near
London Bridge on
May 23, 1701.
probably the most
famous of all
pirates, William
Kidd (1645?-1701)
He was hanged,
guilty or not, near
London Bridge on
May 23, 1701.
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