Thomas Howard (pirate)
Thomas Howard | |
---|---|
Pirate | |
Years active | 1698–1703 |
Base of operations | Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Red Sea |
Commands | Prosperous |
Thomas Howard was a pirate primarily active in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea during the Golden Age of Piracy. He served under other pirates of the time, including George Booth and John Bowen. He also commanded the 36-gun Prosperous. He later retired to Rajapur, in India, where he married a local woman. He was later murdered by her relatives.
Early life
While little about his early life is known, Howard arrived in Jamaica at some time prior to 1698 after spending his entire inheritance.[1] Howard began his career by, along with a small group of pirates, first stealing a canoe and then stealing further ships until they captured a 24-gun ship. Howard was elected quartermaster by the crew.
After attacking a number of ships off the east coast of North America during 1698, the ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean and began raiding the West Coast of Africa in 1699. Howard and the crew took a large prize from the Alexander of pirate John James which had run aground on a reef off Madagascar.[2] Shortly after this, Howard was marooned by the crew while hunting and was not rescued until George Booth arrived in early 1701. Serving alongside John Bowen aboard the Speaker, Howard remained with the crew following Booth's death and Bowen's subsequent election as captain. Following the loss of the Speaker after grounding on St. Augustine's Reef, Howard settled on the nearby island of Mauritius.
As captain of the Prosperous
After a short period of time he recruited a group of pirates and took the 36-gun Prosperous. Howard was elected captain at Christmas 1702 and again met with John Bowen, at the port of Mayotta. Together, the two attacked the
Retirement and death
Having received his share of the prize, Howard remained in Rajapura when Bowen left with the Dauntless. Retiring from piracy, he married a local woman. However, after a short period of time his ill-treatment of her led to his being murdered by the relatives of his wife. Captain Charles Johnson – commonly considered to be a pseudonym of Daniel Defoe – wrote about this event in A General History of the Pyrates, saying that he was "a most ill natur'd Fellow, and using her ill, he was murder'd by her Relations".[4]
References
- General
- Seitz, Don Carlos, Howard F. Gospel and Stephen Wood. Under the Black Flag: Exploits of the Most Notorious Pirates. Mineola, New York: Courier Dover Publications, 2002. ISBN 0-486-42131-7
- Specific
- ^ Thomas Howard. Thomas inherited a great deal of... www.vleonica.com/howard.htm V'léOnica Roberts
- ISBN 9781598842012. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ^ Johnson, Charles (1724). The history of the pyrates: containing the lives of Captain Mission. Captain Bowen. Captain Kidd ... and their several crews. London: T. Woodward. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
- ^ Rob Ossian. "Book Review:A General History of the Pyrates". The Pirate King. Retrieved 29 November 2007.