Samuel Bellamy

Samuel Bellamy
Bornc. (1689-02-23)23 February 1689
Died26 April 1717 (1717-04-27) (aged 28)
Piratical career
Nickname"Black Sam" Bellamy,
"Prince of Pirates",
"Black Bellamy",
"Robin Hood of the Sea"
TypeGolden Age of Piracy
Years active1716 – 26 April 1717
RankElected Commodore of pirate fleet
Base of operationsBlanco Islet, Tortola B.V.I. (later re-named Bellamy Cay), Caribbean Sea
CommandsPostillion, Sloop Marianne, Pinque Mary Anne, Sultana Galley, Whydah Gally, Anne, Fisher
WealthEquiv. US$169.8 million in 2023;[1] #1 Forbes top-earning pirates[2]

Captain Samuel Bellamy (c. 23 February 1689 – 26 April 1717), later known as "Black Sam" Bellamy, was an English sailor turned pirate during the early 18th century. He is best known as the wealthiest pirate in recorded history, and one of the faces of the Golden Age of Piracy. Though his known career as a pirate captain lasted little more than a year, he and his crew captured at least 53 ships.[3]

Called "Black Sam" in Cape Cod folklore because he eschewed the fashionable powdered wig in favor of tying back his long black hair with a simple band, Bellamy became known for his mercy and generosity toward those he captured on his raids. This reputation earned him another nickname, the "Prince of Pirates". He likened himself to Robin Hood, with his crew calling themselves "Robin Hood's Men".[4][5]

Bellamy was born in Devon, England, in 1689, and began sailing for the British Royal Navy as a teenager. After traveling to Cape Cod around 1715, he then went south to the Florida coast in an effort to locate a sunken treasure fleet. From there he made his way to the Bahamas, sailing under Benjamin Hornigold and his second-in-command, Edward "Blackbeard" Teach. After Hornigold and Teach were voted out of command, Bellamy took a captured vessel as his own, before capturing a state-of-the-art slave trade ship, the Whydah Gally, in the early spring of 1717. Two months later, the vessel was caught in a nor'easter storm off the coast of Massachusetts and sank, taking Bellamy and most of his crew down with it. The remains of the Whydah Gally were discovered in 1984, making it the first fully authenticated Golden Age pirate ship discovered in North America.[citation needed]

  1. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  2. ^ Woolsey, Matt (19 September 2008). "Top-Earning Pirates". Forbes.com. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  3. ^ "Top-Earning Pirates". Forbes. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference NatGeo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).