Francis Spriggs
Francis Farrington Spriggs | |
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Francis Spriggs (died 1725?) was a British
Early career
Although much of his early life is unknown, Francis Spriggs was first recorded serving as a quartermaster for Captain Edward Low[1] (possibly as part of the original crew members who left the service of Captain George Lowther). However, after being given command of the recently captured the 12-gun British man of war Squirel (renamed Delight shortly thereafter), he and Low apparently had a falling out over the disciplining of one of the crew around Christmas 1724, resulting in Spriggs and Lowther deserting Low in the night.
Fisherman
Spriggs & Delight
After leaving Low, Spriggs and the crew began flying a black flag similar to Captain Low's and set sail for the
Upon their arrival in the West Indies, Spriggs and his crew captured a
In the Bay of Honduras
By early-April, Spriggs anchored off Roatan near the
Refitting their ship on a nearby island west of Roatan, Spriggs and Delight sailed for Saint Kitts with the intentions of encountering a Captain Moor of Eagle, a sloop that had earlier attacked George Lowther near Blanco.
However, they were soon met by a French man of war and forced to flee. After their escape, they captured a schooner near Bermuda and then, as they neared Saint Kitts, they captured a sloop on July 4, 1724. During this latest capture, the crew were tortured by Spriggs and his crew by hoisting the prisoners as high as the main or top sails and dropping them against the deck.
Shortly after this, a ship out of Rhode Island was captured; the pirates were riding several of the horses it had been carrying on the deck (after several accidents, however, the captives were blamed for not bringing along boots and spurs).
Return to the Bay of Honduras
Here Spriggs rejoined forces with
Briefly staying in South Carolina, Spriggs again sailed to the Bay of Honduras where he captured sixteen more vessels before fleeing from the same British warship he had previously encountered. He again managed to avoid capture, although his fleet broke up when he became separated from Shipton. It may have been around this time that Spriggs' quartermaster Philip Lyne took the prize ship Sea Nymph and left Spriggs to sail for Newfoundland.[4] Little is known of his later career; according to newspaper accounts, he was still active in the region and, as of April 1725, had captured several more ships.
One newspaper account does suggest Spriggs was still active as late as 1726 when he was marooned on an island with Shipton and another famous pirate, Edward Low. The report comes from the Post-Boy dated June 25, 1726. The only known original of the Post-Boy newspaper still in existence is owned by Eric Bjotvedt and states, in a front-page report, that a sloop from the Bay of Honduras was taken by a Spanish vessel, but that later the Spaniards were captured and "...put on board the " Diamond Man of War, who had taken a Pyrate, commanded by one Cooper, and had a great many Prisoners on board, and was bound to Jamaica with them ... [and] that Lowe and Spriggs were both maroon'd, and were got among the Musketoo Indians." According to another source, Spriggs and Shipton were still being pursued by HMS Diamond and Spence; Spriggs' men were captured alongside a sleeping Shipton, while both Spriggs and Low himself escaped again,[5] and Cooper blew up his ship with gunpowder rather than be captured.[6]
See also
- List of pirates
- George Lowther
- Captain Shipton
References
- ISBN 978-88-99914-40-0.
- ISBN 9781611685626. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ Elizabeth Donnan (1932), Documents Illustrative of the History of the Slave Trade to America, vol. III, p. 118.
- ISBN 9780486290645. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
- ISBN 9781466849075. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
- ^ "Greg Flemming - America's Worst Pirates". Retrieved 22 June 2017.
External links
- Flemming, Gregory. At the Point of a Cutlass: The Pirate Capture, Bold Escape, and Lonely Exile of Philip Ashton. (http://gregflemming.com), ForeEdge (2014) ISBN 978-1611685152
- "America's Worst Pirates" from gregflemming.com
- Rob Ossian's Pirate Cove: Francis Spriggs