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Captain Avery

Page history last edited by PBworks 16 years, 1 month ago

Bold Captain Avery

Better known as the "Successful Pyrate"

also called Henry Avery, Henry Every, John Every, Long Ben, "Arch Pirate", or "King of the Pirates"

 

Captain Avery with his ship Fancy 

courtesy of Southport, NC Magazine

 

There were many rumors surrounding the life of pirate Henry Avery.  In Europe, tales of his vast fortune hidden in Madagascar were extremely popular.  There were also rumors that he had married a daughter of the Great Mogul and had come by great fortune and many children through this union.  It was even believed that he gave commissions to his men in his name and that because of this, his crew acknowledged him as their prince.  Because of these reports and his reign as a pirate going unhindered, it was supposed that England was having a hard time deciding if they should chase him down with a small fleet or if they should grant him pardon and welcome him back with all his riches.  However, all of these reports were greatly falsified.  As Daniel Defoe says in A General History of the Pyrates, "For, while it was said, he was aspiring at a Crown, he wanted a Shilling and at the same Time it was given out he was in Possession of such prodigious Wealth in Madagascar, he was starving in England" (Defoe 49).  Thus, the idea of Captain Avery being the most successful pirate of all time is less than true.  However, he did leave behind a small legacy.  He was successful in the sense that he was never captured and he did, for a time, have possession of a great fortune.  Also, his time as a pirate affected many pirates that followed him such as Captain Kidd because his pillaging of the East India Company caused England to reevaluate how they were dealing with pirates and to strengthen their efforts to stop pirating.


Early Life

 

Avery was always meant for the sea life.  He was born in England near Plymouth in Devonshire.  At an early age, he took on work on various merchant ships, quickly ascending through the ranks to the level of first mate.  There is some discrepancy over the specific year that Avery turned pirate, but it can be assumed that it was sometime in the late 1600s. 
 
 
Around this time, Spain was having issues with French vessels conducting trade along the coast of their country and various territories.  Lacking, sufficient ships to deal with the problem on their own, Spain started hiring vessels in groups of two armed with 30 guns to deal with the problem.  Avery was working as the mate aboard a vessel which set forth for Spain to work for the Spaniards.  He was under the command of Captain Gibson.  Avery got it into his head, being a "fellow of more cunning than courage" (Pirates Own Book 13), that he could make more money if he took command of the ship and left the Spanish shores.  He convinced several men to join in this mutiny with him. 
 
 
The accounts that follow of the mutiny appear to be romanticized and Defoe's account has dialogue that looks like it came out of a modern movie.  According to Defoe, the mutineers decided to wait until ten, the following evening.  Gibson, as was his routine, drank himself to sleep that night.  Avery and the mutineers from that boat waited until a long boat from the other ship containing the other mutineers called out the password, "Is your drunken boatswain on board?" (POB 13), to which Avery replied in the affirmative.  This password revealed the cockiness of the mutineers who knew they could pull off their goal with the captain aboard.  The men from the long boat boarded and they made the ship ready for sea.  After they were on the sea for awhile, Gibson awoke and rang a bell.  Avery came to his room and calmly told him what was happening, saying, "You must know, that I am Captain of this Ship now, and this is my Cabin, therefore you must walk out; I am bound to Madagascar, with a Design of making my own Fortune, and that of all the brave Fellows joined with me" (Defoe 51).  Bare in mind that this dialogue is most likely part of the legend of Avery and less a part of the truth of Avery.
 
 
Avery then gave Gibson the option of joining his crew or taking a long boat to shore with other men whom did not wish to turn pirate.  Gibson chose the latter option.  Avery, in his ship now called the Fancy, set forth for Madagascar and began his career as a pirate.

 


A Pirate's Life

 

Avery began sailing the coast of Western Africa.  Some accounts have Avery taking control of some Danish ships and other accounts have him just sailing for Madagascar without stopping.  What can be said with certainty is that he did stop at several coastal settlements where Avery and his crew pillaged and enslaved the people.  These stops can be assumed because at some point, Avery would have to stop for provisions.  Avery sailed around the Cape of Good Hope before he stopped for supplies and water at Madagascar.  Again, some accounts differ as to whether he stopped in southern Madagascar or northern Madagascar, but the south is more likely because Madagascar was unguarded in the south and the east, making it a popular safe haven for pirate vessels.  It was also a popular slave trade stop.  It is also possible, that Avery stopped in the southern portion first for his supplies and stopped again in the north.
 
 
Defoe tells of Avery stopping in Madagascar where he came across two sloops with whom he proposed a union, which was readily accepted.  With the sloops under his command, Avery's growing fleet left the shore in search of rich, pilgrim vessels.  In Defoe's account, one of the first vessels Avery encounters and plunders was a pilgrim vessel that had one of the Great Mogul's daughters on board.  Rumors range from this ship simply being plundered and released to Avery marrying the Mogul's daughter and having many children by her.  Whatever happened aboard this ship is supposed to have upset the Mogul so much that he was set to send his army after all the English settlements along the Indian coast.  The East India Company was so alarmed that they promised to search for the pirates to protect the settlements.  This is assumed to be how the rumors of Avery's greatness were started.
 
 
The most likely account is that after stopping on the southern tip of Madagascar, Avery and his crew worked up to the island of Johanna to try to catch a rich Muslim pilgrim ship.  According to Defoe, "It is known that the Eastern people travel with them all their Slaves and Attendants, their rich Habits and Jewels, with Vessels of Gold and Silver, and great Sums of Money to defray the Charges of their Journey by Land" (Defoe 53).  What then occurred set the East India Company into an uproar.  Avery did two things that unnerved the company.  According Kris E. Lane in Pillaging the Empire, Avery first issued a letter saying he would only attack non-English ships, which led the trading partners of the East India Company to "believe that the English were all conspiring at piracy against them" (Lane 175).  Avery furthered the conspiracy theory by capturing two pilgrim vessels which paid 1,000 pounds per man in his crew.  One of the vessels, the Ganj-i-Sawai, would even be later attacked by Captain Kidd.  However, Captain Kidd would not be as successful because after Avery's successes, the pilgrim vessels started having war vessels accompany them on their journey.
 
 
After the success with the richly laden pilgrim vessels, Avery proposed retirement to his men.  Retirement would not be easy for Avery, however, and instead of just dropping off his treasures at Madagascar, Avery would become paranoid and travel some more before finally settling and ending his life as a pauper.
 

Retirement

 

In Defoe's account of Avery's actions, Avery told the two sloops that were with him that it would be a good idea to put the treasure into three chests with each of the captain's having a key.  The chests would be kept on Avery's ship until they could safely be taken to the shore of Madagascar.  Once on shore, all three captains would open the chests together and all the crew and captains could retire.  This sounded like a good plan so the other captains agreed.  That night, Avery and his crew aboard the Fancy set sail for America, taking all the treasure with them.  Here it was proposed that they divide the treasure amongst themselves, change their names and settle.
 
 
They first came to Providence, where they disposed of their vessel so they would not be taken as pirates.  Avery bought a smaller sloop and with a few of the men relocated to Boston.  Some of the men staid behind in Providence.  Avery, having concealed a greater part of the fortune and most of it being diamonds, became worried that he would be unable to use the diamonds in Boston without somebody realizing he was a pirate.  He decided to relocate to Ireland with a few of his men joining him.
 
 
Here in Ireland, some men were granted pardon.  Other men were caught and six, after much confusion in trial were eventually hanged in London.  The difficulty in their case arose from the fact that Avery and his crew did not do any of their pirating against English vessels and all their pirating was done abroad.  It was decided that the crew should be hanged as a peace offering to show the East India Company's Muslim allies that "in spite of Henry Avery's escape, not all Englishmen were rogues" (Lane 175).  This is the same reason that Kidd was executed.
 
 
Avery, in the mean time, remained uneasy.  He decided to return close to home and sent letters to some of his friends to meet him in Biddeford near Bristol.  Here, the "pretended friends" (POB 19), proposed investing the money in some merchants so no inquiry would be made as to the origins of the jewels.  This seemed like a good enough plan at the time and Avery agreed.  He quietly lived in Biddeford until what he had kept was spent.  He then wrote to the merchants to obtain the rest of his fortune, but the either ignored his request or sent him barely enough money to buy bread.  Greatly in debt, Avery became determined to visit the merchants.  However, they all blackmailed him and said they would reveal him as a pirate.  Avery tried to go to Ireland to get help from some friends, but it his begging was to no avail.  He then planned to return to visit and plead his case to the Bristol merchants yet again, but it is believed he fell ill and died along the way, "not being worth as much as would buy him a Coffin" (Defoe 57).
 
 
This is the end of the supposedly most successful of all the pirates.  He lost his fortune and died a beggar with no friends whom would help him.

Madagascar

 

 

photo courtesy of University of Texas libraries

 

Avery never settled on Madagascar and he never thought of it as his home.  Although, he does have a slight connection to it, so I will mention it briefly, here. 

 

The truth is that very few pirates considered the island as their home and most pirates had their market connections, hideouts and families elsewhere such as the Caribbean and North Atlantic colonies.  Therefore the idea of a pirate republic on Madagascar is exaggerated.  It was more of a forced stop than a choice stop because of the lack of authority around the island.

 

In Defoe's account of Avery, the two sloops that Avery cheated of treasure are said to have retired at Madagascar where they married the native women and made themselves into wild princes of sorts.  It is believed that the descendents of Captain George Dew and Captain Thomas Tew can be found on the island today.

 

Defoe describes the people of Madagascar saying, "It must be observed that the Natives of Madagascar are a kind of Negroes, they differ from those of Guiney in their Hair, which is long, and their Complexion is not so good a Jet; they have innumerable little Princes among them, who are continually making War upon one another; their Prisoners are their Slaves, and they either sell them, or put them to death, as they please" (Defoe 58).

 

For a greater description of Madagascar be sure to check out the wiki page devoted to the island.

 


Other Mentions

 

Avery's exploits left the following legacy:

  • He was considered successful because he was never captured by the Royal Navy even after its expansion and the English Act of Piracy of 1699 (allowed more courts to try pirates) was passed.
  • Rumors of his exploits provided some of the first tales of buried treasure/treasure chests, which would have a lasting impression on literature and film.
  • His career reflected Europe's shift to "absolute intolerance of pirates and their wild escapades" (Lane 172) because it inspired the pirate extermination campaigns of 1710 and 1720.
  • His crimes against the Mogul Empire created such a great uproar in the East India Company that the war on piracy became a worldwide business for the first time.
  • There are several descriptions of Avery's flag.  The one most commonly attributed to him (pictured below), actually has the most doubt as to whether or not it really was his because the date of the flag is uncertain.  Defoe's illustrations show simple crossbones as Avery's flag and several other flag illustrations have been mentioned as possibly belonging to Avery.  However, if the flag pictured below is in fact Avery's, that would make him the originator of the infamous skull and crossbones black flag (sometimes called the Jolly Roger), which is present in most pirate films.  If this is in fact his flag, this would be Avery's greatest legacy.

 

photo courtesy of the piratesrealm.com

 

  • Just for fun, here is a ballad written about Captain Avery:

 

 

 "Bold Captain Avery" is a ballad

from the piratesrealm.com

 


Bibliography

 

Defoe, Daniel.  A General History of the Pyrates.  Ed. Manuel Schonhorn.  Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1999.  49-62.
 
Lane, Kris E.  Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas 1500-1750.  Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1998.  172-180.
 
Marine Research Society.  The Pirates Own Book: Authentic Narratives of the Most Celebrated Sea Robbers.  Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1993.  12-27.
 
Pirates of the Carolinas (Part VI): Henry Avery, the Arch Pirate.  Southport NC and Greater Brunswick County. 16 February 2008. http://www.southportncmagazine.com/pirates_vi.html.
 
The Pirates Realm: The Adventures and Exploits of Captain Avery.  2007.  The Pirate's Realm.  16 February 2008.  http://www.thepiratesrealm.com/Captain%20Avery%20Ellms.html.
 
University of Texas Libraries.  7 November 2007.  University of Texas at Austin.  16 February 2008.  http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/madagascar_rel_2003.jpg.

 

 



 

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