Robert Deal | |
|---|---|
 Pirate Robert Deal, ship's mate under Charles Vane and later Captain | |
| Died | 1721 Port Royal |
| Occupation | Pirate |
| Known for | Association with Charles Vane |
| Piratical career | |
| Base of operations | Caribbean |
Robert Deal (died 1721) was a pirate active in the Caribbean. He is best known for his association with Charles Vane.
Charles Vane refused King George’s offer of pardon to all pirates who surrendered by September 1718, sailing away from Nassau aboard his brigantine with first mate (and former Royal Navy sailor [1] ) Robert Deal and quartermaster Calico Jack Rackham aboard. He tried to convince Blackbeard to join him in retaking Nassau from Governor Woodes Rogers; they met and caroused at Ocracoke Island in October 1718 but Blackbeard declined to join Vane. [2]
Vane’s company looted Eleuthera then captured another brigantine and a sloop, which he kept. [2] In November they spotted a large frigate and approached to capture it but were met with a full cannon broadside from what turned out to be a French man-of-war. Vane, with Deal’s support, ordered a retreat over the objections of Rackham and most of the crew. [3] Once they were clear of the battle, Rackham organized a vote and Vane was deposed. He and Deal were placed in the sloop while Rackham was elected captain of the brigantine. [3]
Vane and Deal fitted out the sloop for piracy, sailing toward Jamaica. They captured two periaguas and another sloop, which Deal took command of. [4] In December they looted three more sloops and sailed for the Bay of Honduras. There they careened their ships, resting and resupplying until February 1719. They put out to sea but were met with a hurricane, where Deal and Vane were separated. [5] Vane’s ship was smashed and he was shipwrecked until rescued by a passing ship; his rescuer recognized him, and hauled him back to Jamaica for trial. [5]
While awaiting his fate, Vane learned that a warship had captured Deal some months earlier. [4] Deal faced trial in January 1721, where he claimed he had accepted the King’s Pardon but it “had been taken from him and torn to pieces by the pirates.” Rogers’ successor Nicholas Lawes found Deal guilty on the testimony of several witnesses, and Deal was hanged at Port Royal. [1] Vane's own execution followed shortly after. [6]
Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known about his early life, but he may have been a sailor on privateer ships during Queen Anne's War before he settled on the Bahamian island of New Providence, a base for Captain Benjamin Hornigold, whose crew Teach joined around 1716. Hornigold placed him in command of a sloop that he had captured, and the two engaged in numerous acts of piracy. Their numbers were boosted by the addition to their fleet of two more ships, one of which was commanded by Stede Bonnet, but Hornigold retired from piracy toward the end of 1717, taking two vessels with him.
John Rackham, commonly known as Calico Jack, was an English pirate captain operating in the Bahamas and in Cuba during the early 18th century. His nickname was derived from the calico clothing that he wore, while Jack is a nickname for "John".
Captain Benjamin Hornigold (1680–1719) was an English pirate who operated during the tail end of the Golden Age of Piracy.
Stede Bonnet was a Barbadian-born pirate and military officer, known as the Gentleman Pirate for the reason that he was a moderately wealthy landowner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born into a wealthy English family on the island of Barbados, and inherited the family estate after his father's death in 1694. Despite his lack of sailing experience, Bonnet decided he should turn to piracy in the spring of 1717. He bought a sailing vessel, the Revenge, and travelled with his paid crew along the Eastern Seaboard of what is now the United States, capturing other vessels and burning other Barbadian ships.
Edward England was an Irish pirate. The ships he sailed on included the Pearl and later the Fancy, for which England exchanged the Pearl in 1720. His flag was the classic Jolly Roger — almost exactly as the one "Black Sam" Bellamy used — with a human skull above two crossed bones on a black background. Like Bellamy, England was known for his kindness and compassion as a leader, unlike many other pirates of the time.
Charles Vane was an English pirate who operated in the Bahamas during the end of the Golden Age of Piracy.
See also 1717 in piracy, 1719 in piracy, and Timeline of piracy.
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.
The Republic of Pirates was the base and stronghold of a loose confederacy run by privateers-turned-pirates in Nassau on New Providence island in the Bahamas during the Golden Age of Piracy for about twelve years from 1706 until 1718. While it was not a republic in a formal sense, it was governed by an informal pirate code, which dictated that the crews of the Republic would vote on the leadership of their ships and treat other pirate crews with civility. The term comes from Colin Woodard's book of the same name.
David Herriot was a ship’s master and pirate best known for serving under Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet.
John Auger was a pirate active in the Bahamas around 1718. He is primarily remembered for being captured by pirate turned pirate-hunter Benjamin Hornigold.
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.
Charles Yeats was a pirate active in the Caribbean. He is best known for sailing alongside and then abandoning Charles Vane.
Lieutenant Richards was a pirate active in the Caribbean and off the Carolinas. He is best known for sailing alongside Blackbeard.
Captain Napin was a pirate active in the Caribbean and off the American east coast. He is best known for sailing alongside Benjamin Hornigold.
Josiah Burgess (1689–1719) was an English pirate active in the Caribbean. He is best known as one of the heads of New Providence’s “Flying Gang.”
Jean Bonadvis was a French pirate active in the Caribbean. He is best known for his involvement with Benjamin Hornigold and "Calico Jack" Rackham.
Nicholas Woodall was a pirate and smuggler active in the Caribbean. He is best known for his involvement with Charles Vane and Benjamin Hornigold.
Daniel Porter was a pirate and trader active in the Caribbean. He is best known for his associations with Benjamin Hornigold and Bartholomew Roberts.
The Proclamation for Suppressing of Pirates was issued by George I of Great Britain on 5 September 1717. It promised a royal pardon for acts of piracy committed before the following 5 January to those pirates who surrendered themselves to the correct authority before a deadline. Originally, the surrender had to occur on or before 5 September 1718; this was later extended by a second proclamation to 1 July 1719.
