Laurens de Graaf

Laurens de Graaf
Born	Laurens Cornelis Boudewijn de Graaf c. 1653 Dordrecht, Holland, Dutch Republic
Died	24 May 1704 (aged c. 51) possibly Santo Domingo
Nationality	Dutch
Occupation(s)	Pirate, mercenary
Spouses	Francois Petronilla de Guzman ​ ​ (m. 1674)​ Anne Dieu-le-Veut ​ (m. 1693)​
Children	2 (with Dieu-le-Veut)

Laurens Cornelis Boudewijn de Graaf (c. 1653 – 24 May 1704) was a Dutch

De Graaf was also known as Laurencillo or Lorencillo or simply El Griffe (Spanish), Sieur de Baldran or simply Laurent de Graff (French) and Gesel van de West (Dutch; "Scourge of the West"). Henry Morgan, the governor of Jamaica, characterized him as "a great and mischievous pirate". De Graaf was described as tall, blond, mustached and handsome.^[1] Some Spanish thought he was the Devil in person.

Early life

He was reportedly enslaved by Spanish slave traders when captured in what is now the Netherlands and transported to the Canary Islands to work on a plantation, prior to 1674.

During the early 1670s, de Graaf either escaped or was freed, and French historian Vassiere recorded that he married his first wife (Francois) Petronilla de Guzmán in 1674 in the

De Graaf began his pirate career not long after marrying de Guzmán, though no records of his activity were made until 1682 when Sieur de Pouancay, the governor of Saint-Domingue, recorded that de Graaf had been sailing "on the account" since approximately 1675 or 1676 as the captain of a French privateer crew.[note 1]

There are some later records of his involvement, in March 1672, in a raid on Campeche by a band of pirates who attacked and torched a partially built frigate and captured the town.^[3] The next day, the same pirates captured a merchant ship loaded with over 120,000 pesos in silver and cargo, when it sailed unknowingly into the harbor.^{[note 2]}

During the late 1670s, de Graaf is reported to have captured a number of vessels, converting each in turn to piracy. Starting with a small vessel he would capture a larger one, then use that vessel to capture a larger one again. Finally, in the autumn of 1679, de Graaf attacked the

After 1682, records of de Graaf's activities are far more substantial. De Graaf had become so successful that Henry Morgan, governor of Jamaica, sent the frigate Norwich pirate-hunting, under command of Peter Haywood, with de Graaf as its primary quarry.^{[note 3]}

The Armada de Barlovento

At the same time, the Spanish saw their chance to get revenge for the loss of their frigate and the Armada de Barlovento was also sent to hunt de Graaf down. During a brief stop in Cuba, de Graaf was made aware of the plan to seek him out. Rather than waiting for the Armada, de Graaf sailed immediately in search of it. After a running gun battle that lasted several hours, the Princesa struck her colors (surrendered), having lost 50 men to de Graaf's eight or nine. In an act of kindness, de Graaf put the seriously wounded captain of the Princesa ashore with his own surgeon and a servant.^[1]

The Princesa itself carried the payroll for Puerto Rico and Santo Domingo; about 120,000 pesos in silver. After sharing out the prize, the buccaneers retired to Petit-Goâve to celebrate and refit. De Graaf made the Princesa his new flagship, renaming it the Francesca.

Van Hoorn and Veracruz

De Graaf's next foray was a trip to

The Fortune

In late November 1683, de Graaf, his compatriots and their fleet of seven ships arrived off Cartagena and held for almost a month. Local governor, Juan de Pando Estrada,

De Graaf was next seen on

At some undetermined date in the seventeenth century, it is said that he was taken prisoner at the Convento de San Bernardino de Siena in Valladolid, in the present Mexican state of Yucatán.^[9]

Later career

In 1687, de Graaf engaged in a battle off southern Cuba with a Biscayan frigate and the Cuban Guarda del Costa (Coast Guard). He sank several piraguas and took a small ship as prize. De Graaf returned to Saint Domingue, where he defended the harbor at Petit-Goâve against Cuban invaders. In December 1689, he took ships off Jamaica. He went on to blockade the Jamaican coast for more than six months before leaving. Proceeding to the Cayman Islands, de Graaf there captured an English sloop.

In January 1691, de Graaf attacked near Santo Domingo but was soundly defeated by a Spanish force three times the size of his French forces. He narrowly escaped with his life.

In March 1693, de Graaf met and married his second wife, Anne Dieu-le-Veut. He agreed to marry her after she threatened to shoot him for insulting her.^{[6][note 5]} De Graaf spent the summer of 1693 leading buccaneers against Jamaica in several raids; fellow buccaneer Captain Francois Le Sage, who had sailed alongside de Graaf since before Veracruz, was killed in one of the attacks on Jamaica. The English retaliated in May 1695 with an attack on Port-de-Paix at Saint Domingue, where they sacked the town and captured de Graaf's family.^[7]

Disappearance and death

Laurens de Graaf was last known to be near

• List of people who disappeared
• Nicolas Brigaut - French buccaneer, present at Campeche; at first quartermaster to Andrieszoon, he later became a Captain and sailed alongside Grammont.

Notes

References