Hendrick van der Heul
Hendrick van der Heul (14 May 1676 – c. 1762) was a Dutch privateer who served with Captain William Kidd as his quartermaster. He later purportedly led an attempt to traverse the Northwest Passage, though evidence seems lacking, during which he and his crew froze to death. Because of references to him as a "small black man", he has sometimes been identified as African, which would make him the highest-ranking known black pirate. However, his known ancestry is Dutch, and the description may simply mean that he had swarthy skin and/or black hair.
Early life and career
Van der Heul was born in 1676, in New Amsterdam, the site of present-day lower Manhattan, the son of Abraham Jansen van der Heul. His mother, Tryntjen Kip, was born in 1633 in Amsterdam and died in 1695. Hendrick married Marritje Meyer, with whom he had five children.
Privateer
In 1696, Scottish seafarer
Van der Heul moved to Montaukett territory, where he settled and built a family. He became a master's mate on a merchant vessel and in 1730, captained a ship north in search of the Northwest Passage, for which a prize of £20,000 was offered.[1][2]
Further reading
- Goldson, William (1793). Observations on the Passage Between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, in Two Memoirs on the Straits of Anian, and the Discoveries of De Fonte. Elucidated by a New and Original Map. Portsmouth: Rare Books Division.[clarification needed]
References
- The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Retrieved 23 June 2019 – via History.org.
- ^ "1701 Map of the Arctic, Davis Strait and Baffin Bay". Princeton University Library. Princeton University. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
External links
- The Straits of Anian Map
- http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/northwest-passage/imaginary-voyages.htm
- https://web.archive.org/web/20150923232603/http://www.easthamptonvillage.org/pdf/history.pdf
- https://web.archive.org/web/20150423052908/http://www.onmontauk.com/montauk-history.shtml