Plot
Jack Holborn is a 13-year-old boy living in an orphanage in late 18th-century Bristol. Jack was found on the steps of a convent in Holborn in London when he was a toddler. He was wearing a leather armband with the name "Jack" on it. The nuns therefore called him Jack Holborn.
Jack wants to go to sea, but is put in a foster home instead. He runs away in order to join the crew of the "Charming Molly", a privateering vessel commanded by Captain Sheringham. At the sight of Jack's armband, the Captain unwittingly reveals that it looks familiar, but he won't tell Jack what he knows and refuses to keep him aboard.
Jack is desperately seeking answers to the mystery of his origins, and is not about to let the Captain off the hook. Meanwhile, the judge Lord Sheringham, who hates his twin brother the privateer for the dishonour that his side dealings with pirates have brought on their family, plans to bring the Captain to justice. Jack eventually manages to stow himself away on board the "Charming Molly," and the journey begins. A journey that will feature piracy, traveling through swamps and slavery.
William Kidd also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd, was a Scottish privateer. Conflicting accounts exist regarding his early life, but he was likely born in Dundee and later settled in New York City. By 1690, Kidd had become a highly successful privateer, commissioned to protect English interests in North America and the West Indies.
Sir Henry Morgan was a Welsh privateer, plantation owner, and, later, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he raided settlements and shipping on the Spanish Main, becoming wealthy as he did so. With the prize money from the raids, he purchased three large sugar plantations on the island.
Robert Surcouf was a French privateer, businessman and slave trader who operated in the Indian Ocean from 1789 to 1808 during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Capturing over 40 prizes, he later amassed a large fortune from a variety of commercial activities, such as ship-owning, privateering, slave trading and owning land.
Captain Hector Barbossa is a fictional character of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, appearing in all five films in the series. Starting out as a villainous undead skeleton in The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Barbossa dies at the end of the film. However, the character is revealed to have been resurrected and brought back from the dead by Tia Dalma by the end of Dead Man's Chest, and has since appeared in anti-heroic roles. Captain Hector Barbossa was one of the nine Pirate Lords in At World's End (2007), a privateer in service to King George II and the British Navy while also seeking revenge against Blackbeard in On Stranger Tides (2011), as well as a rich rogue and influential leader of a prosperous pirate empire and fleet in Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). Throughout the series, Barbossa has been conceptualized as a "dark trickster" and the evil counterpart of Captain Jack Sparrow.
Robert Culliford was a pirate from Cornwall who is best remembered for repeatedly checking the designs of Captain William Kidd.
The Wine-Dark Sea is the sixteenth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by British author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1993. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.
Thomas Tew, also known as the Rhode Island Pirate, was a 17th-century English privateer-turned-pirate. He embarked on two major pirate voyages and met a bloody death on the second, and he pioneered the route which became known as the Pirate Round. Other infamous pirates in his path included Henry Avery and William Kidd.
John Ward or Birdy, also known as Jack Ward or later as Yusuf Reis, was an English pirate who later became a Corsair for the Ottoman Empire operating out of Tunis during the early 17th century.
USS Saratoga was a sloop in the Continental Navy. She was the first ship to honor the historic Battle of Saratoga. Having disappeared in 1781, her fate remains a mystery.
The Molly Maguires is a 1970 American historical drama film directed by Martin Ritt, starring Sean Connery and Richard Harris. It is based on the 1964 book Lament for the Molly Maguires by Arthur H. Lewis.
Joshamee Gibbs is a fictional character in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. Gibbs was originally portrayed by Kevin R. McNally. Alongside Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa, Gibbs is one of the few characters to appear in every film.
Henry Jennings was an English privateer-turned-pirate. Jennings' first recorded act of piracy took place in early 1716 when, with three vessels and 150–300 men, Jennings' fleet ambushed the Spanish salvage camp from the 1715 Treasure Fleet. After the Florida raid, Jennings and his crew also linked up with Benjamin Hornigold's "three sets of pirates" from New Providence Island.
The Battle of Delaware Bay, or the Battle of Cape May, was a naval engagement fought between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States during the American Revolutionary War. A British squadron of three vessels attacked three American privateers that were escorting a fleet of merchantmen. The ensuing combat in Delaware Bay near Cape May ended with an American victory over a superior British force.
The capture of John "Calico Jack" Rackham was a single-ship action fought between English pirate Calico Jack and British privateer Jonathan Barnet. The battle was fought in the vicinity of Negril, Jamaica and ended with the capture of Rackham and his crew.
Sorrell and Son is a 1934 British drama film directed by Jack Raymond and written by Lydia Hayward. The film stars H. B. Warner, Margot Grahame, Peter Penrose, Hugh Williams and Winifred Shotter. It was made by the producer Herbert Wilcox at British and Dominion Elstree Studios. It is based on the 1925 novel of the same title by Warwick Deeping. A silent version had previously been released in 1927, also starring Warner.
Sir Henry Morgan was a Welsh pirate, privateer and buccaneer. He made himself famous during activities in the Caribbean, primarily raiding Spanish settlements. He earned a reputation as one of the most notorious and successful privateers in history, and one of the most ruthless among those active along the Spanish Main.
John Ireland was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean. He is best known for sailing with Thomas Tew.
Richard Glover was a pirate and slave-trader active in the Caribbean and the Red Sea in the late 1690s.
The Flying Gang was an 18th-century group of pirates who established themselves in Nassau, New Providence in the Bahamas after the destruction of Port Royal in Jamaica. The gang consisted of the most notorious and cunning pirates of the time, and they terrorized and pillaged the Caribbean until the Royal Navy and infighting brought them to justice. They achieved great fame and wealth by raiding salvagers attempting to recover gold from the sunken Spanish treasure fleet. They established their own codes and governed themselves independent from any of the colonial powers of the time. Nassau was deemed the Republic of Pirates as it attracted many former privateers looking for work to its shores. The Governor of Bermuda stated that there were over 1,000 pirates in Nassau at that time and that they outnumbered the mere hundred inhabitants in the town.
