Robert Culliford
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (August 2017) |
Robert Culliford (c. 1666 – unknown; last name occasionally reported as Collover) was a
Early career and capture
Culliford and Kidd first met as shipmates aboard the French privateer Sainte Rose in 1689; there were only six other Britons aboard. After the
Culliford sailed with the pirates through the Caribbean, sacking ships and attacking a town. They went to New York to sell their booty.[2] Mason was granted a letter of marque by Jacob Leisler, then acting governor of New York, and Culliford accompanied the pirates as they ransacked and laid waste two French Canadian towns. The pirates also captured a French frigate named L'Esperance. Mason granted this ship to Culliford, who renamed it the Horne Frigate, Culliford's first pirate command.[3] However, the pirates lost most of their booty when the two ketches they sent to bring their wealth to New York fell into the hands of French privateers. The disappointed Culliford returned to New York with Mason, where they returned aboard a single ship, the Jacob, another captured French vessel, and set sail in December 1690. Culliford served as captain's quartermaster, one of two quartermasters aboard the Jacob.[4]
Culliford and his fellow pirates eventually made their way to India, landing at
Escape and new adventures
In the spring of 1696, Culliford and some of his comrades escaped and made their way to
Near the
Meanwhile, William Kidd, hunting pirates, found Culliford at St. Mary's Island. While plotting to capture Culliford's ship most of Kidd's crew (who had grown angry with their captain) abandoned Kidd and signed on with Culliford. Culliford and his new crew then set off in late June 1698, leaving Kidd and his ransacked ship to fend for themselves on St. Mary's Island.
Shortly after departing Saint Mary's Island, Culliford met up with Dirk Chivers. They joined forces with Joseph Wheeler and captured the Great Mohammed in the Red Sea in September 1698. The Great Mohammed carried £130,000 in cash. While returning to Saint Mary's Island they plundered another ship in February 1699.
In June 1699 Culliford was living at
At St. Mary's a number of his sailors elected to return to America, paying
Notes
- ^ ISBN 9781401398187. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ^ Richard Zacks (2003), The Pirate Hunter, p. 73–74.
- ^ Zacks, p. 74-76.
- ^ Zacks, p. 76-77.
- ^ Richard Zacks (2003), The Pirate Hunter, p. 41–42.
- ^ Zacks, p. 42, 47–48.
- ^ Office, Great Britain Public Record (1908). Calendar of State Papers: Colonial Series ... London: Longman. p. 289. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
- ISBN 9780814738429. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
- ISBN 9780752488271. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
- ^ Jameson, John Franklin (1923). Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period by J. Franklin Jameson. New York: Macmillan. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
- ^ Grey, Charles (1933). Pirates of the Eastern Seas. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd. p. 148.
- ^ Zacks 2002, p. 332.
References
- Zacks, Richard (2002). The Pirate Hunter : The True Story of Captain Kidd. Hyperion Books (ISBN 0-7868-8451-7)