John Read (pirate)
John Read[a] (fl. 1683-1688) was an English buccaneer, privateer, and pirate active from South America to the East Indies to the Indian Ocean.
History
Along with navigator and chronicler William Dampier, Read was a crewman aboard John Cook's 1683 privateering expedition which captured a prize ship they renamed Bachelor's Delight.[3] Cook took them around Cape Horn to raid Spain's Pacific territories, joining a flotilla of other buccaneers including Charles Swan's Cygnet. Cook died in 1684, replaced by Edward Davis; Read, Dampier, and others soon transferred to Cygnet.[4] After some unproductive raids Swan headed west across the Pacific in early 1686, his lack of success causing the crew to grow unruly. After a stop at Guam they arrived at Mindanao in the Philippines in June 1686. The crew soon mutinied, ejecting Swan and electing Josiah Teat[b] as Captain, who was himself soon replaced as Captain by Read, setting sail in early 1687.[5]
Read sailed Cygnet through the East Indies with little treasure to show for the voyage. In early 1688 they landed on
See also
- Basil Ringrose - A chronicler like Dampier, he also sailed aboard Cygnet but was killed in a 1683 raid.
Notes
- ^ John Read should not be confused with pirate William Read, who was also active in the Madagascar area around 1701.[1] There was also an unrelated pirate named John Read who died on Madagascar some time prior to 1698, known mainly because a letter from his wife has survived.[2]
- ship’s tender for Cygnet.[3]
References
- ^ Gosse, Philip (1924). The Pirates' Who's Who by Philip Gosse. New York: Burt Franklin. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ISBN 9781291943993. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ ISBN 9781416504160. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ ISBN 9781853263842. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ ISBN 9780752423043. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
- ^ Dampier, William (1703). A New Voyage Round the World. London: Printed for James Knapton at the Crown in St. Paul Churchyard. Retrieved 19 July 2019.