Edward Low

For other people with the same name, see Edward Lowe.

Edward Low
Capt Edward Low in ye Hurricane which He and All the Crew had Like to Perish'd by J Nicholls and James Basire, hanging in the National Maritime Museum in London
Born1690
Westminster, London
DiedDisputed (1724, or 1739+)
Place of death disputed
Piratical career
NicknameNed Low
TypePirate
Years activec.1721–c.1724 (possibly to 1739+)
RankCaptain
Base of operationsAtlantic
Caribbean
Commands
  • Rebecca
  • Fancy
  • Rose Pink
  • Ranger
  • Fancy
  • Merry Christmas

Edward Low (also spelled Lowe or Loe; c. 1690–1724) was a pirate of English origin during the latter days of the Golden Age of Piracy, in the early 18th century. Low was born into poverty in Westminster, London, and was a thief from an early age. He moved to Boston, Massachusetts, as a young man. His wife died in childbirth in late 1719. Two years later, he became a pirate, operating off the coasts of New England and the Azores, and in the Caribbean.

Low captained a number of ships, usually maintaining a small fleet of three or four. Low and his pirate crews captured at least a hundred ships during his short career, burning most of them.[1] Although he was active for only three years, Low remains notorious as one of the most vicious pirates of the age, with a reputation for violently torturing his victims before murdering them.[2]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described Low as "savage and desperate," and a man of "amazing and grotesque brutality."[3] The New York Times called him a torturer, whose methods would have "done credit to the ingenuity of the Spanish Inquisition in its darkest days."[4] The circumstances of Low's death, which took place around 1724, have been the subject of much speculation.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference guide was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "London and the Pirates". PortCities. 2004. Archived from the original on 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
  3. ^ Doyle, Arthur Conan (1900). "III". The Green Flag. Project Gutenberg.
  4. ^ "The "Great" Edward Low: The Most Merciless Pirate Known to Modern Times". The New York Times. 1892-08-14.