Stede Bonnet | |
|---|---|
 Engraving of Bonnet with a Jolly Roger flag from A General History of the Pyrates (1724) | |
| Born | c. 1688 |
| Died | (aged 30) Charles Town, South Carolina, British America |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Spouse |
Mary Allamby (m. 1709) |
| Children | Edward Bonnet, Allamby Bonnet, Stede Bonnet, Mary Bonnet |
| Piratical career | |
| Nickname | The Gentleman Pirate |
| Type | Pirate |
| Allegiance | None |
| Years active | 1717–1718 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Base of operations | Atlantic Ocean, along East Coast of the British Colonies, and Caribbean Sea |
| Commands | Revenge, later renamed Royal James |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Cape Fear River |
Stede Bonnet (c. 1688 – 10 December 1718)[a] was a Barbadian-born pirate and military officer, known as the Gentleman Pirate[1] because he was a moderately wealthy landowner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born into a wealthy English family on the island of Barbados, and inherited the family estate after his father's death in 1694. Despite his lack of sailing experience, Bonnet decided he should turn to piracy in the spring of 1717. He bought a sailing vessel, the Revenge, and travelled with his paid crew along the Eastern Seaboard of what is now the United States, capturing other vessels and burning other Barbadian ships.
Bonnet set sail for Nassau in the Bahamas, to the haven for pirates known as the "Republic of Pirates", but he was seriously wounded en route during an encounter with a Spanish warship. After arriving in Nassau, Bonnet met the infamous pirate Blackbeard. Incapable of leading his crew, Bonnet temporarily ceded his ship's command to Blackbeard. Before separating in December 1717, Blackbeard and Bonnet plundered and captured merchant ships along the East Coast. After Bonnet failed to capture the Protestant Caesar, his crew abandoned him to join Blackbeard aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge. Bonnet stayed on Blackbeard's ship as a guest, and did not command a crew again until summer 1718, when he was pardoned by North Carolina governor Charles Eden and received clearance to undertake privateering against Spanish shipping interests. Bonnet was tempted to resume his piracy but did not want to lose his pardon, so he adopted the alias "Captain Thomas" and changed his ship's name to Royal James. He had returned to piracy by July.
In August, Bonnet anchored Royal James on an estuary of the Cape Fear River to careen and repair the ship. In late August and September, Colonel William Rhett, with the authorization of South Carolina's governor Robert Johnson, led a naval expedition against pirates on the river. Rhett's and Bonnet's men engaged in combat for hours, but the outnumbered pirates ultimately surrendered. Rhett arrested the pirates and brought them to Charles Town (now Charleston, South Carolina) in early October. Bonnet escaped on 24 October, but was soon recaptured on Sullivan's Island. On 10 November, Bonnet was brought to trial and charged with two acts of piracy. Judge Nicholas Trott sentenced him to death. Bonnet wrote to Johnson to ask for clemency, but Johnson endorsed the judge's decision, and Bonnet was hanged in Charles Town on 10 December.
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- ^ Pringle 2001, p. 191.