Joseph Bradish (1672–1700) was a pirate best known for a single incident involving a mutiny.
Joseph Bradish was born in Sudbury, Massachusetts, on 28 November 1672. His parents, Joseph Bradish and Mary Frost Bradish, were children of English settlers who had arrived in Massachusetts in the 1630s.
Bradish signed on as a mate with the Borneo-bound 300-ton pink Adventure out of London in March 1698. [1] Adventure's captain, Thomas Gullock, was much disliked and Bradish organized a mutiny against him. [2] When Gullock and some officers went ashore in the Spice Islands, Bradish's men cut the anchor cables, put anyone who would not follow them off in a small boat, and stole the ship. Bradish was elected captain and shared the ship's treasure with his men. They sailed to Mauritius and Ascension to resupply and then headed to America. [1]
They arrived off Nassau Island in March 1699. There they hired local sloops to offload their cargo, after which they scuttled Adventure. [1] Most of the crew dispersed on horseback. [3] Bradish and a few others convinced a local officer, Colonel Pierson, to stash several bags of jewels and coins before heading to Boston. They had hoped to obtain a pardon under the 1698 Act of Grace, which offered a pardon to pirates who willingly surrendered. [2]
Massachusetts authorities were ready for them, arresting Bradish and his men. He was kept in the same jail which had held William Kidd [4] until recently. In June Bradish escaped with the help of the jailer, a relative of his. [5] He was recaptured in October north of Saco, Maine after New York's Governor Bellomont offered a reward for his capture. [6] Meanwhile Bellomont arranged for the recovery of Bradish's treasure, which Bradish and his men had secreted across New England with Pierson and others. [7]
Bellomont complained that he had no authority to put pirates to death, [8] so Bradish was sent to England in March 1700 aboard HMS Advice, along with fellow prisoners Kidd and James Gilliam and many of Kidd's former crew. [6] Bradish was tried, convicted, and hanged, gibbeted along with Kidd as a warning to other pirates. [3]
As late as 1720, his name was known to pirates. Sailors captured by Bartholomew Roberts reported that Roberts' men refused to believe offers of amnesty, saying, "they would have no dealings with Acts of Grace, by which to be sent to hang a-sundrying at Hope Point as were the companies of Kidd and Bradish, trepanned under lying promises." [2]
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.
Robert Culliford was a pirate from Cornwall who is best remembered for repeatedly checking the designs of Captain William Kidd.
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.
Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont, known as The Lord Coote between 1683–89, was an Irish nobleman and colonial administrator who represented Droitwich in the English Parliament from 1688 to 1695. He was a prominent Williamite, supporting William III and Mary II during the Glorious Revolution.
Edward Coates was a colonial American privateer in English service during King William's War and later a pirate operating in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
Adam Baldridge was an English pirate and one of the early founders of the pirate settlements in Madagascar.
Dirk Chivers was a Dutch pirate active in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
James Gilliam, or James Kelly was an English pirate and buccaneer active off the coasts of Spanish South and Central America and later in the Indian Ocean. He sailed under several different pirate captains but is best remembered for his brief association with William Kidd.
See also 1698 in piracy, 1700 in piracy, and Timeline of piracy.
Quedagh Merchant, also known as the Cara Merchant and the Adventure Prize, was an Armenian merchant vessel famously captured by Scottish privateer William Kidd on 30 January 1698.
John Ireland was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean. He is best known for sailing with Thomas Tew.
Robert Glover was an Irish-American pirate active in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean area in the late 1690s.
Richard Glover was a pirate and slave-trader active in the Caribbean and the Red Sea in the late 1690s.
William Mayes was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean. He was best known for taking over William Kidd’s ship Blessed William and sailing with Henry Avery. William Mayes is american, specifically from Rhode Island. Mayes was one of the original founders of Libertalia. A civil war came about and William was poisoned by Henry Avery and Thomas Tew.
George Raynor (1665–1743) was a pirate and privateer active in the Red Sea. As a pirate he captained the Batchelor’s Delight .
Paulsgrave Williams, first name occasionally Paul, Palsgrave, or Palgrave, was a pirate who was active 1716–1723 and sailed in the Caribbean, American eastern seaboard, and off West Africa. He is best known for sailing alongside Samuel Bellamy.
Tempest Rogers was a pirate trader active in the Caribbean and off Madagascar. He is best known for his association with William Kidd.
William Coward was a minor pirate active off the coast of Massachusetts. He is known for a single incident involving the seizure of one small vessel, largely thanks to events surrounding his trial.
Acts of grace, in the context of piracy, were state proclamations offering pardons for acts of piracy. General pardons for piracy were offered on numerous occasions and by multiple states, for instance by the Kingdom of England and its successor, the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Edward Welch was best known for leading a pirate settlement and trading post at Madagascar.