Roundabout Publications

Community magazines for local advertising in Monkseaton, Tynemouth, and Whitley Bay

  • Home
  • Advertising & Prices
    • About Advertising
    • Advertising Prices
    • Advertising Terms & Conditions
    • Deadlines & Distribution Dates
  • Articles
    • By Author
      • Angela Melvin
      • Anne Morrison
      • Carole Saville
      • Charlie Steel
      • David Tickner
      • Geoff Holland
      • Gill Crann
      • Helen Bowman
      • Jenny Foster
      • Katherine Wildman
      • Lesley Anne Collins
      • Terry Took
    • By Topic
      • Adventures of a North Sea Pilot
      • All at Sea
      • Art and Culture
      • Business
      • Entertainment
      • Family Life
      • Food and Drink
      • General Interest
      • Great Days Out
      • Health
      • Local History
      • Pirates
      • Shopping List Shorts
      • Sport and Leisure
      • Technology
      • Travel
      • Walks
      • Young Life
  • About Us
  • Contact
    • Advertising Enquiry
    • Community Entry Enquiry
    • General Enquiry

PIRATES: Captain Kidd

May 30, 2015

Captain Kidd in New York HarbourCaptain Kidd was born in Dundee in January 1645 and it is thought that he began his piratical career as a member of an English/French pirate crew. He and some of the members of the crew mutinied and sailed the ship to Nevis, a British colony. With his ship he joined a small fleet to defend the island against the French with whom England was now at war.

Then the powerful East India Company with its huge fleet of merchant ships claimed that it was being ‘jeopardised by pirates’ who were flourishing in the Red Sea areas.

Captain Kidd, although reluctant to agree, was chosen to command a ship named ‘Adventure’ as a privateer and was given 14 months to sail round the Cape of Good Hope to the Indian Ocean and capture freebooters and their ships to sail back to Boston.

He was disadvantaged from the outset as he was given a crew of misfits and society’s castoffs, not really fit for military life and discipline. The ‘Adventure’ was also unfit for service, being in very poor condition.

Kidd’s journey began on September 6th 1696 when he set sail for the Indian Ocean but, en route, a plague hit the ship and 30 of his men died, to be replaced by even more undesirable seamen.

Continuing up the Indian Ocean, Kidd managed to board a few small ships, gathering barely enough booty to satisfy his hungry and dissatisfied crew, who were sailing under the ‘no prey, no pay’ articles. But luck came in February 1698 when the ‘Quedah’ was captured. This ship was manned by Moors, owned by Indians but carried a French pass, thereby making it ‘legal’ for Kidd to attack.

As the ‘Adventure’ was now beyond repair he sailed the ‘Quedah’ with enough booty to satisfy all interested parties.

Meanwhile, stories of Kidd circulating in America and England claimed that he was a villainous and bloodthirsty pirate. As a result, when the ‘Quedah’ reached the Caribbean there was no sanctuary for Kidd. Not being of a criminal nature he did not know how to handle the situation, so moored his ship up a small river in Hispaniola and, taking a small amount of booty, purchased a sloop and sailed for home.

On the way he stopped at Gardiners Island off Long Island, New York to bury a chest of treasure, later dug up by John Gardiner who returned it to the authorities. The chest contained gold, coins, rings and precious stones amongst other valuable items, worth £4,500.

In England Kidd was arrested and imprisoned in Newgate with no access to counsel, no visitors and he was not even allowed to write letters. At trial he told the court that he was ‘the innnocentist person of them all’ but was convicted for murder on the evidence of deserters from his crew. No better or worse than most, he became one of history’s victims, the wrong man doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Captain Kidd was hanged.

by Terry Took © 2015

Terry Took was born in Yorkshire but has lived in Tynemouth for over 50 years. He spent 45 years in the Merchant Navy which included 27 years as North Sea Pilot. He then spent five years as a lecturer at the Marine Department of South Tyneside College.

He is now an Elder Brother in Trinity House and Marine Director.

If you have any comments or would like to contact Terry then please e-mail him at pilotone@pilotone.plus.com.

 

Filed Under: Features, Pirates, Terry Took

Small Business owner?

Want to advertise?

The deadlines for the 2020 issues are:

MonthDeadlineDistribution Dates
January 20205th December (2019)27th, 30th, 31st December (2019)
February 20209th January29th - 31st January
March 20206th February26th - 28th February
April 20205th March27th, 30th, 31st March
May 20209th April28th - 30th April
June 20207th May27th - 29th May
July 202011th June26th, 29th, 30th June
August 20209th July29th - 31st July
September 20206th August26th - 28th August
October 202010th September28th - 30th September
November 20208th October28th - 30th October
December 20205th November26th, 27th, 30th November
.

Copyright © 2021 · Roundabout Publications· Log in