John Quelch (pirate)

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John Quelch
Captain
Base of operationsMarblehead
CommandsCharles
Wealth£10,000 sterling

John Quelch (1666 – 30 June 1704) was an English pirate who had a lucrative but very brief career of about one year. His chief claim to historical significance is that he was the first person to be tried for piracy outside England under Admiralty Law and thus without a jury. These Admiralty courts had been instituted to tackle the rise of piracy in colonial ports where civil and criminal courts had proved ineffective.

Pirate career

In July 1703, Governor

captain, who turned the Charles south. Plowman was thrown overboard, although it was never established whether he was dead or alive at that moment. The crew plundered nine Portuguese ships off the coast of Brazil and gained a large sum of money,[2] even though England and Portugal were at peace at the time.[3] The Charles contained large amounts of Brazilian sugar, hides, cloth, guns, gold dust and coins. The loot's total value is estimated at over £10,000 sterling (£1.69 million as of 2021).[4] Before their capture, legend says the crew buried some of the gold on Star Island off the coast of New Hampshire. In the 1800s some gold coins were found hidden in a stone wall there.[4]

Death

When the Charles returned to

Hanged for it."[2] Their bodies were buried in between the tide marks.[3]

Charles

The Charles was an eighty-ton vessel built in Boston between 1701 and 1703. It was owned by some of the most prominent people in Boston and was equipped to go privateering off the coast of Newfoundland and Arcadia.[2]

John Quelch's standard, the Flag of St. George

Crew

Here follows a list of all the known crewmembers aboard the Charles while Quelch was captain.[2]

  • Austin, James
  • Breck, John
  • Carter, Dennis
  • Carter, John
  • Chevalle, Daniel
  • Clifford, John
  • Chuley, Daniel
  • Davis, Gabriel
  • Dorothy, John
  • Dunbar, Nicholas
  • Farrington, Thomas
  • Giddens, Paul
  • Harwood, John
  • Holding, Anthony
  • Hutnot, Joseph
  • James, Charles
  • Johnson, Isaac
  • Jones, William
  • King, Charles
  • King, Francis
  • King, John
  • Lambert, John
  • Lawson, Nicholas
  • Lawrence, Richard
  • Miller, John
  • Norton, George
  • Pierse, George
  • Perkins, Benjamin
  • Parrot, James
  • Pattison, James
  • Perkins, Benjamin
  • Peterson, Erasmus
  • Pitman, John
  • Pimer, Matthew
  • Quelch, Captain John
  • Quittance, John
  • Rayner, William
  • Richardson, Nicholas
  • Roach, Peter
  • Scudamore, Christopher
  • Templeton, John
  • Thurbar, Richard
  • Whiting, William
  • Way, John
  • Wiles, William

Of the above, six including Quelch were hanged. More than half the crew escaped capture. Parrot, Clifford, and Pimer had turned Queen's evidence and escaped prosecution. John Templeton was found to be only a servant on the ship and was not even 14, so he was released.[2]

Old Roger

Old Roger

Popular myth has it that John Quelch flew a pirate flag referred to as Old Roger by his crew. It is sometimes considered to be the origin of the name

Ralph D. Paine
, a popular writer at the turn of the 20th century. None of the principals involved in the affair, not even the Governor or the prosecution, ever mentioned such colors being employed by Quelch.

References

  1. ^ New England Pirates -ThePiratesRealm.com
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Gosse, P: "The Pirates' Who's Who Giving Particulars Of The Lives and Deaths Of The Pirates And Buccaneers", page 253. Lenox Hill Pub, 1968
  3. ^ a b c d "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Jolly Roger". Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) -Blind Kat Publishers
  4. ^ a b c Quelch' Gold -Summary of the book Quelch's Gold

External links