Edward Woodman

Last updated

Edward Woodman
Occupation Pirate
Years active1694-1706
Piratical career
Base of operations Indian Ocean and Caribbean

Edward Woodman (fl. 1694-1706) was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean.

Contents

History

Thomas Tew sailed from Rhode Island in 1692 on his first “pirate round” voyage, which took him around the coast of Africa, to Madagascar, and into the Red Sea. There they captured a Muslim pilgrim ship carrying fantastic wealth, which they looted and shared. They returned to New England in 1694 with their riches, where Tew prepared to make a second voyage. Edward Woodman appears as a signatory to Tew’s Articles, or pirate code. [1] [2]

The 200-ton, 40-gun slave ship Prophet Daniel sailed from England to Madagascar in 1698; the voyage’s cargo master was John Cruger, future New York alderman and mayor. [3] They put into Abraham Samuel’s pirate trading post at Fort Dauphin on Madagascar in early 1699 to collect slaves and were soon drinking with the crew of another ship at anchor in the harbour. [4] The second ship was the Beckford Galley of pirate Evan Jones; that night his men seized the Prophet Daniel after conspiring with some of its disgruntled crew. Cruger tried to retake the ship but was prevented by Samuel after Jones promised to give the Prophet and its slaves to Samuel. [5]

Jones sailed away, and Cruger took passage back to New York aboard a visiting merchantman. Samuel then sold the looted Prophet Daniel to Woodman and three other pirates who had been ashore at Madagascar (Isaac Ruff, Thomas Wells, and Edmond Conklin). He gave the four pirates a written bill of sale for the Prophet, which he sold for 1400 pieces of eight. They returned to America the year after: Conklin’s name appears on a Rhode Island will in 1700, stating that he owned one-quarter of a captured ship called Greyhound. This might have been the Prophet with a new name, [6] and Woodman and the others might have jointly owned the ship. [7]

In a letter to Secretary of State Charles Hedges in January 1706, Woodman was named as one of several pirates based out of the Dutch colony at St. Thomas. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Tew</span> 17th-century English pirate

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 Every and William Kidd.

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.

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.

Joseph Faro was a pirate from Newport active during the Golden Age of Piracy, primarily in the Indian Ocean. He is best known for sailing alongside Thomas Tew to join Henry Every’s pirate fleet which captured and looted the fabulously rich Mughal ship Gunsway.

Thomas Wake was a pirate from Newport. Active during the Golden Age of Piracy, he is best known for sailing alongside Thomas Tew to join Henry Every in the Indian Ocean, hunting the Moghul treasure fleet.

John Ireland was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean. He is best known for sailing with Thomas Tew.

Richard Want was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean. He is best known for sailing alongside Thomas Tew and Henry Avery.

Robert Colley was an English pirate and privateer active near Newfoundland and the Indian Ocean.

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.

Richard Bobbington was a pirate active in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf 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.

Josiah Raynor (1665–1743) was a pirate active in the Red Sea. Before he was briefly a pirate captain, he was a sailor on the Batchelor’s Delight on which he sailed alongside William Dampier.

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.

Evan Jones was a Welsh-born pirate from New York active in the Indian Ocean, best known for his indirect connection to Robert Culliford and for capturing a future Mayor of New York.

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.

John Pro was a Dutch pirate best known for leading a pirate trading post near Madagascar.

References

  1. Vallar, Cindy. "Pirates & Privateers: the History of Maritime Piracy - The Youngest Pirates". www.cindyvallar.com. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  2. "Pirate Thomas Tew - the agreement between Captain Tew and the other owners of his sloop Amity". thomastew.steventew.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  3. McDonald, Kevin P. (2015). Pirates, Merchants, Settlers, and Slaves: Colonial America and the Indo-Atlantic World. Oakland CA: Univ of California Press. pp. 52–53. ISBN   9780520282902 . Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  4. Zacks, Richard (2003). The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd. New York: Hachette Books. ISBN   9781401398187 . Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  5. Ritchie, Robert C. (1986). Captain Kidd and the War Against the Pirates . Harvard MA: Harvard University Press. pp.  84–85. ISBN   9780674095021 . Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  6. "Conklin Estate" (PDF). Long Island Genealogy. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  7. "RootsWeb: CONKLIN-L Re: [CONKLIN] 1701 Will for Edmund Conklin b abt 1670 ListsParents!!". archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  8. Headlam, Cecil (1916). Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies: Volume 23, 1706-1708 (Vol 23 ed.). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. pp. 24–25. Retrieved 2 September 2017.