Captain William Kidd was a Scottish Sailor born in 1645. When his father died he moved to New York. In 1689 he became a member of a English-french pirate crew that sailed in the Caribbean. Then Kidd and other crew members ousted the captain of that ship and renamed the ship "Blessed William" with Kidd as the new captain. Captain Kidd and the "Blessed William" became part of a small fleet to defend the English colony of Nevis from the French. The governor at the time did not want to pay them instead he told them to take their pay from the French. Kidd and his crew attacked the French island of Mariegalante, destroyed the town, and took about 2,000 pounds sterling. On orders from the province of New York,Massachusetts during the War of Grand Alliance, Kidd captured an enemy privateer. A privateer was a private person or private warship authorized by a country's government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping. Then while in the West Indies a notorious pirate stole Kidd's ship.
In 1695 Governor Bellomont asked Captain Kidd to attack enemy French ships and anyone else who associated themselves with pirates. Some of the voyage was paid for by the most powerful men in England.Captain Kidd was presented with a letter of marque and it was signed by King William III of England. The new ship Adventure Galley weighed over 284 tons,34 cannons,and 150 men. Then because of something Kidd had failed to do much of his crew ended up in the naval service. So on his way back to New York he captured a french vessel which was legal under his commission.The crew he picked in New York were former pirates and hardened criminals.
In 1696 Kidd sailed to Madagascar and to the strait of Bab-El-mandeb but found no pirates.Supposedly he then attacked a mughal convoy and was beaten off. If that was true then that was his first act of piracy.When Kidd's ship anchored most of his crew left and the ones that stayed threatened mutiny.In 1697 Kidd killed one of his crew members. They had an argument about whether to attack a dutch ship.If Kidd had it would have been an act of piracy and he refused.Kidd heaved an iron bound bucket at the crew member and he fell to the deck with a fractured skull.The crew member died the next day.In the seventeenth century murder was not allowed against crew members.Kidd was not concerned because he had friends in England that could get him off the hook.Many escaped prisoners reported that Captain Kidd used acts of savagery against them.Actually theses acts were committed by his crew members. One day while Captain Kidd and another captain were talking privately in Kidd's cabin the crew members ransacked the trading ship Mary and tortured some crew members. When Kidd found out he was angry and forced them to return the stolen goods.
A royal navy officer called Kidd a pirate because he refused to hand over 30 crew members to serve the navy. In 1698 he raised french colours and took a Armenian ship filled with gold,silver,silks.The captain was an Englishman named Wright who had purchased passes from the french east India company. The french east India company promised him the protection of the french crown. Once Kidd realized that the captain was English he tried to persuade his crew to return the ship but they refused.Their claim was that what they had done was legal since Kidd was commissioned to take french ships.That Armenian ship counted as french if it had french passes. So to keep control over his crew Kidd kept the ship and goods. When word of this reached England, Kidd then was confirmed a pirate. Many naval commanders were ordered to go after Kidd and his accomplices for piracy. Kidd kept the french passes and the Armenian ship as well.
Kidd set sail for Madagascar.Once he got there he ran into Culliford. The same pirate who stole his ship years before. There is some dispute as to how Kidd reacted to seeing this him.Some say he made peace with him and others say he tried to attack. Most of Kidd's men abandoned him for Culliford. With the rest of his crew he returned to the Caribbean aboard the Armenian ship.
Before he returned to New York City he learned that he was a wanted pirate and men-of-war were looking for him. Kidd realized that the Armenian ship he was using was a marked vessel. He switched to another boat before returning to New York City. It is rumored that he stopped by Gardiners Island and buried some of his treasure there. He did this hoping to use the knowledge of its whereabouts as a bargaining tool.Bellomont was afraid of being accused of piracy himself. Bellomont lured Kidd into Boston on false promises of clemency.Bellomont knew that the best chance of saving his own neck was to present Kidd to England in chains. On July 6,1699 Bellomont ordered him arrested. Kidd and his wife were both imprisoned. Kidd spent most of his time in solitary confinement in Stone Prison. Kidd's imprisonment was so harsh that it drove him temporarily insane. After a year, Kidd was sent to England for questioning. The new Tory minister hoped to use Kidd as a tool to discredit the Whigs who backed him. Kidd however refused to give any names hoping that by doing this they would intercede on his behalf. The Tory leaders sent him to stand trial before the High Court of Admiralty in London for charges of piracy and murder.While awaiting trial, Kidd sent letters to King William requesting clemency.
Kidd was shocked to learn that he was charged with murder. He had lawyers to assist him.The french passes could not be produced at the trial.The french passes mysteriously disappeared. If Kidd would have named his backers at the trial he would have saved his life. Once he received the death penalty, he made one last attempt to save his life by writing a letter to the speaker of the house of commons.In this letter he offered to take persons appointed by the house to the location of his buried treasure. On May 23rd 1701, the day of his execution,Kidd had drank so much brandy and rum until he could no longer stand by himself. A huge crowd gathered to see Kidd get hanged. The rope around his neck broke.A new rope was tied around his neck and he was hung.His body was hung on the gallows until three tides had washed over his body before being cut down and pronounced dead. This was the maritime law for convicted pirates.His body was tarred and placed inside a metal cage as a warning to all future pirates. His body was displayed like this for almost 2 yrs until the birds pecked his body to the bone.
Kidd's backers were embarrassed by his trial and participated in the effort to convict him. The two french passes that were missing at the trial were found in the twentieth century in London.
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