Thomas White (died 1708) was an English pirate active in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean. He was only briefly a captain on his own, but served under several more prominent captains such as George Booth, John Bowen, Thomas Howard, John Halsey, and Nathaniel North.
Originally a Royal Navy sailor, White made his way from Plymouth to Barbados where he captained the merchant trading vessel Marigold. [1] Off of Guinea in 1698 his ship was captured by French pirates. [2] They killed a number of English crewmen but a sympathetic French pirate spared him. [2] The French pirates kept the Marigold and burned their own ship, then burned the Marigold when they took another vessel. [1]
Some sources say the French pirates had been captured by John Bowen and George Booth. [3] White refused to join them as a pirate and they made him a slave instead. [4] White escaped when Booth and Bowen wrecked their ship near Madagascar in 1701. After a number of adventures in captured ships, he then signed on as quartermaster with Thomas Howard’s ship Prosperous until Howard shared out the voyage’s loot and retired in 1703. [4]
Other sources say Booth and Bowen were aboard the ship but the French were still in control when the drunken French sailors wrecked the ship in 1701. [1] White escaped, cared for by a local chieftain whose tribesmen killed the French pirates who came ashore. When pirate William Read stopped by, White joined him willingly. [1] Read died at sea, replaced by a Captain James, and after trading their vessel for a captured prize ship near Mayotte they took several vessels before returning to port. [1]
White then sailed with Nathaniel North. When White and thirty of the crew went ashore on Madagascar to resupply, North sailed away without them. [4] White and his men located an abandoned ship in 1704 and sailed it into the Red Sea, plundering several vessels. [3] They continued through August 1706, capturing British ships, and divided their plunder. [4]
He briefly settled on Madagascar and married a native, but in 1707 signed on as quartermaster to John Halsey. [2] White retired to Madagascar when Halsey returned there in 1708, where White died that March of illness [2] and alcoholism. [3] At his funeral he was buried with much ceremony. In his will he asked that his son be returned to England for his education, which was done. [2]
Robert Culliford was a pirate from Cornwall who is best remembered for repeatedly checking the designs of Captain William Kidd.
Captain Samuel Burgess was a member of Captain William Kidd's crew in 1690 when the Blessed William was seized by Robert Culliford and some of the crew, with William May named as captain.
Jeremiah Cocklyn, better known by the name Thomas Cocklyn, was an English pirate known primarily for his association with Howell Davis, Olivier Levasseur, Richard Taylor, and William Moody.
George Booth was an English pirate who was active in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Counted among his crew were several pirates who would later become prominent captains including Nathaniel North, Thomas Howard and Booth's eventual successor, John Bowen.
John Halsey was a British privateer and a later pirate who was active in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans during the early 18th century. Although much of his life and career is unknown, he is recorded in A General History of the Pyrates which states "He was brave in his Person, courteous to all his Prisoners, lived beloved, and died regretted by his own People. His Grave was made in a garden of watermelons, and fenced in with Palisades to prevent his being rooted up by wild Hogs."
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.
The Pirate Round was a sailing route followed by certain, mainly English, pirates, during the late 17th century and early 18th century. The course led from the western Atlantic, parallel to the Cape Route around the southern tip of Africa, stopping at Madagascar, then on to targets such as the coast of Yemen and India. The Pirate Round was briefly used again during the early 1720s. Pirates who followed the route are sometimes referred to as Roundsmen. The Pirate Round was largely co-extensive with the routes of the East India Company ships, of Britain and other nations.
John Bowen was a pirate of Créole origin active during the Golden Age of Piracy. He sailed with other famous contemporaries, including Nathaniel North and George Booth, who was his captain when he was a crewman aboard the Speaker. Over a four-year period, Bowen took about £170,000 in goods and coinage and retired to Bourbon for a brief period of time before his death in 1704.
See also 1718 in piracy, 1720 in piracy, 1719 and Timeline of piracy.
Nathaniel North was a Bermuda-born pirate during the Golden Age of Piracy, operating in the Indian Ocean under John Bowen and then as captain of the Defiant following Bowen's retirement in 1704. After losing the Defiant he ruled a pirate colony at Ambonaivo made up of his former crew before returning to sea. Retiring with great wealth in 1709, North settled in Madagascar and married a local woman, but was murdered by her family.
Thomas Howard was a pirate primarily active in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea during the Golden Age of Piracy. He served under other pirates of the time, including George Booth and John Bowen. He also commanded the 36-gun Prosperous. He later retired to Rajapur, in India, where he married a local woman. He was later murdered by her relatives.
Abraham Samuel, also known as "Tolinar Rex," born in Martinique, was a mulatto pirate of the Indian Ocean in the days of the Pirate Round in the late-1690s. Being shipwrecked on his way back to New York, he briefly led a combined pirate-Antanosy kingdom from Fort Dauphin, Madagascar, from 1697 until he died there in 1705.
Robert Colley was an English pirate and privateer active near Newfoundland and the Indian Ocean.
Samuel Inless was a pirate captain in the Indian Ocean, best known for serving as Captain over Nathaniel North and George Booth.
John James was a Welsh pirate active near Madagascar, Nassau, and the American east coast.
William Read was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar. He is best known for rescuing fellow pirate captains John Bowen and Thomas White.
Joseph Wheeler was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. He is best known for sailing alongside Dirk Chivers and Robert Culliford.
William Lewis was a pirate supposedly active in the Caribbean, off the American east coast, and off the west coast of Africa in the 18th century. He was known for sparing his victims and for being killed after announcing he had made a pact with the Devil. He is likely the fictional creation of "Captain Charles Johnson" who presented his story among those of real historical pirates.
David Williams was a Welsh sailor who turned pirate after being abandoned on Madagascar. He was only briefly a captain, and is best known for sailing under a number of more prominent pirate captains.
Thomas Collins was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean. He is best known for leading a pirate settlement and trading post on Madagascar.