5 Infamous Pirates That You’ve Never Heard Of

Blackbeard may be the world’s most famous pirate, but throughout history there have been many legendary buccaneers who also deserve recognition for their rebellious, criminal antics. Most of what we know about pirates comes from a book written during the Golden Age of piracy (c. 1690-1730) “A General History of Pyrates by Captain Charles Johnson” (assumed to be a pen name). It is largely responsible for spreading stories of “peg leg” villains and buried treasure. But what were the pirates of the Golden Age really like? Meet five infamous pirates feared and respected by their contemporaries.

Before the pirate Golden Age, Gráinne Ní Mháille, better known as Grace O’Malley, was the chieftain of the Ó Máille Clan in west Ireland. She took to the seas to protect her land against invaders from England and Ireland alike. She was born around 1530 into the noble Ó Máille Clan at a time when the English occupation of Ireland was accelerating under Henry VIII.

Legend has it that Gráinne was always fascinated by the sea and dressed as a boy to sneak onto her father’s ships. The Ó Máille Clan had a long history of successful naval trade and fortified their lands against sea attacks. After her first husband, of the O’Flaherty Clan, was killed in battle, she inherited his land and military power and began leading both clans at sea.

Gráinne engaged in coastal raids from Donegal to Waterford. She was married again, to Richard-an-Iarainn Bourke, and gave birth to the couple’s only child at sea amid a battle against pirates. After divorcing her second husband she gained ownership of yet more territory and military power, which she used to back Irish rebellions against England and plunder Irish coastal settlements. A short internment in Dublin castle did not appear to slow Gráinne down. Upon her release in 1579, she resumed her piracy and joined a rebellion in Munster.

However, the appointment of Sir Richard Bingham as provincial president of Connacht in 1584 did cause her trouble. Bingham focussed on Gráinne as a beacon of Irish resistance. The ensuing battles resulted in the death of one of her sons and the capture of another. Open warfare between the two continued for years, which caused Gráinne to lose everything.

Consequently, the pirate sailed to meet with Queen Elizabeth, and the two reached a truce, enraging Bingham. Her once-imprisoned son was eventually awarded £200 for his service to the crown, and that of his mother. Gráinne passed away in 1603 (the same year as Elizabeth), and despite attempts by Irish contemporaries to write her out of history, her legacy remains a strong symbol of Irish resistance.

Despite having a relatively short pirate career, Henry Every was already a legend by the time Blackbeard was sailing the high seas. He was among the most notable pirates of the late 17th century and may have inspired others to take up the profession.

Every’s birth is a mystery to historians, but many believe he was born in Plymouth, England around 1653. He probably had a brief tenure in the Royal Navy and then served aboard a slave-trading vessel. The first official record of Every is as a privateer and first mate aboard the Charles II Man-of-War. In 1694, Every led a mutiny as the crew had not been paid for months. He encouraged the crew to join him to find their fortunes through piracy.

Every changed the ship’s name to the Fancy and set a course for South Africa, plundering ships and coastlines on his journey. In 1695, the Fancy arrived in Madagascar with an impressive group of ragtag ships and an estimated 150 men.

Here, Every and his crew learned that the Mughal Empire’s large fleet of merchant ships was setting sail from a port in the Red Sea to return  to India. Every and his band of pirates found the fleet of 25 ships and immediately took a slower ship named the Fateh Muhammad. The Fancy then chased after what was known as the largest ship in all of India, the Grand Mughal flagship Ganj-i-Sawai, which was more than capable of protecting itself. Luckily for Every, a cannon malfunctioned onboard the Indian vessel and damaged the deck extensively, allowing the pirates to jump aboard and engage in hand-to-hand combat.

Those aboard the ship, including around 600 unarmed passengers, were treated mercilessly. Men were tortured to reveal the locations of hidden treasure, women were brutalized, and many were killed at random over eight days of barbarity. Subsequently, the spoils, worth an estimated £325,000-600,000 (the equivalent of tens of millions today) were divided and the Fancy made off to the Bahamas, where Every bribed the island’s governor to let them make port.

The British government had to compensate the Mughal Empire for what the pirates had stolen. Consequently, a large bounty was placed on those known to be involved in the heist. The crew of the Fancy dispersed and little is known about what happened to Every afterwards. Some suggest he created a pirate community back in Madagascar where he was king. Others claim he retired to Ireland. It has also been suggested that he died penniless in England.

The story of Samuel Bellamy is often described as a tragic romance. He set sail from America to win the approval of his love interest’s parents only to die at sea. Yet, Bellamy was born in Devon, England, and is thought to have had a wife and child before turning to piracy. He is often regarded as a Robin Hood figure among pirates, recognized for his compassion towards those he captured as well as letting slaves join his crew and treating them as equal men.

Bellamy’s career in piracy began after he joined the Royal Navy and sailed to Cape Cod, supposedly to meet with family. Whilst there, he is believed to have fallen in love with a Miss Hallett, who is known as Maria in popular culture. Sources differ on the story. Either Hallett’s parents did not believe that a poor sailor was good enough for their daughter, or she was already married. Whatever the case, Bellamy turned to piracy to make his fortune and vowed to return to make Hallett his bride.

Bellamy befriended Paulsgrave Williams, a man who would also become an infamous pirate. The two joined Benjamin Hornigold’s pirate crew, where Blackbeard (still known as Edward Teach at this point) was first mate.

Hornigold’s crew were fed up with his reluctance to attack English ships and a mutiny ensued. Bellamy emerged as captain due to his strong disdain for wealthy merchants regardless of nationality. In 1717, Bellamy captured the English slaving ship, the Whydah, carrying goods it had just traded for slaves in the Caribbean. He swiftly fitted the ship with 28 guns. True to his fair nature, he swapped the vessel for his current ship, the Sultana, and let the captain and crew of the Whydah leave unharmed.

Bellamy frequently used his large Whydah flagship paired with a smaller, more nimble vessel in tactical raids. His men appeared to be very fond of him, likely because he let every man vote on important decisions. Moreover, it was the crew that took to calling Bellamy “Robin Hood of the Sea” and themselves “Robin Hood’s men.”

Bellamy’s success was short-lived. He arranged to meet with his friend Williams in Maine in Spring 1717, but his ship was caught in a huge storm and capsized off the coast of Massachusetts on the 26th of April, just two months after he acquired it. Another of his ships, the Mary Anne, also sank a few miles south. Between the two ships, there were only nine survivors out of over 160 men. Bellamy was not among them. Six of the nine were hanged on the 15th of November in Boston, with a pardon for all pirates issued by King George yet to arrive. A native American among the remaining three was sold into slavery.

Bellamy’s wreckage and treasure were rediscovered in 1984 and around 200,000 artifacts have been painstakingly recovered since.

A lesser-known Irish pirate, who was also renowned for his kindness, was Edward England. He sailed under many notorious pirates before becoming the captain of his ship. Born around 1685, England served as a privateer before the ship he was on in the Caribbean was taken over by Christopher Winter, and England was forced to join his pirate crew.

Allegedly, England took to piracy and after alighting in Nassau, he participated in an attack led by Henry Jennings on a Spanish settlement in Florida. This was Jenning’s own first attempt at piracy before he began his legendary career. Next, England served as quartermaster in the crew of Charles Vane, an infamously cruel pirate. When the ship was taken prisoner by the Royal Navy, England was released with the rest of the crew.

As governor of the Bahamas, Woodes Rogers began attacking pirates in the Caribbean in the name of the English crown. This led to the departure of several pirates from the area including England and Vane. England was made captain of his own ship and set sail to Africa. On their journey, England and his crew were able to take an English vessel called the Cadogan. Some of the pirates recognized the ship’s captain as a man who had previously paid them unfairly. The man was killed, while the rest of the crew were left unscathed but encouraged to join the pirates. A Welshman named Howell Davis refused to join them and England respected his perseverance so much that he gave him command of the captured ship. Davis went on to have a successful pirate career of his own.

Soon, England would take over another ship named the Pearl, which he renamed the Royal James after James Stuart, suggesting he held Jacobite views. Sailing down the coast of Africa, England pillaged ships and shoreside towns, and captured a Dutch ship that he renamed the Fancy in honor of Henry Every.

England’s downfall came soon after when he attacked the Cassandra, captained by James Macrae. Unfortunately for England, the battle was brutal and he lost over 90 men in the skirmish. Despite this, he would not allow his crew to kill Macrae, which proved to be an extremely unpopular decision. Consequently, England and a couple of loyal followers were marooned in Mauritius. While they managed to sail to Madagascar, it is said England soon succumbed to tropical diseases but there is no concrete evidence for his death.

Bartholomew Roberts is one of the few pirates who modern historians know a lot about. Roberts was born on the 17th of May in 1682 in Casnewydd Bach, Wales. As a teenager, he began work at sea. Whilst working on a slaving vessel off the coast of West Africa, the ship was captured by pirates led by Howell Davis. Roberts was forced to join the crew.

Davis was impressed by Roberts’s skills as a navigator and the two spoke to each other in Welsh. However, after just six weeks at sea, Davis was killed in an ambush orchestrated by the Portuguese officials on the island of Príncipe. Roberts was elected the new captain. His first order of business was to avenge the death of Davis, which he did by ransacking the port at night and then sailing on for Brazil.

After weeks of no action, Roberts’ crew eventually came across a fleet of 42 Portuguese ships waiting for two Man-of-War ships for protection. Roberts seized the opportunity. The pirates were able to conquer the Sagrada Familia, a ship laden with gold coins and jewelry made specifically for the Portuguese king.

Roberts then hung the governor of Martinique and then he traveled to Africa to continue his offensive. Once there, Roberts and his crew began a series of ruthless onslaughts. For example, burning a whole slave vessel with all 80 slaves still onboard because did not want to waste time to free them.

The HMS Swallow encountered Roberts’ ship, the Royal Fortune, on the 5th of February 1722 at Cape Lopez. However, the commander chose to chase down the Ranger, a ship that Roberts had given to his friend, Scottish pirate Thomas Sutton. The Swallow defeated the Ranger with relative ease and a few days later made port in Cape Lopez. There they found the Royal Fortune anchored. A battle ensued, but most of Roberts’ men were drunk and Roberts himself was killed by a grapeshot to the throat. So that his body could not be taken by the navy, his men wrapped it in his flag along with his arms and personal items and threw it overboard. It has not been found to this day.