The famous pirate of Edward England.


Who was Edward England?

Edward England is known as one of the most generous and merciful pirates of his day. Edward England was born in Ireland as Edward Seegar. He began his pirating career when he was the first mate on a ship. A captain called Captain Winter conquered the ship. Not long after the conquer, Captain Winter had gained many of the crew’s respect and he became one of them.

Soon after, Woodes Rogers became governor of the Bahamas and offered a pardon to all Caribbean pirates. England refused to accept the pardon and was forced to leave the Caribbean and sail to Africa where he continued his pirating. It was while in Africa that England took over the “Cadogan”, which at the time was commanded by Captain Skinner. Skinner had many debts and was an enemy of several of the men in England’s crew. For this reason, he was tortured and killed. It was on this ship that England met Howell Davis, who would later become a very successful and famous pirate. Seeing the skill and ability that Davis possessed, England gave him command of the “Cadogan.”

Not long after that, England took command of the “Pearl.” England renamed the ship the “Royal James.” The decision turned out well for him as the crew became even more successful in this ship under the new name and soon afterwards, England built an entire fleet.

In the spring of 1719, England once again changed flagships and took the “Fancy” in exchange for the “Royal James.” The Dutch ship proved to be even more powerful than his old ship. It was with this ship that he travelled to Madagascar and made even more of a name for himself. The next year he sailed to Johanna where his crew attacked two English ships and one Dutch ship, all of which belonged to the East Indies Company. Two of these ships tried to flee and were successful in doing so but another ship stayed to battle. This ship was the “Cassandra”, captained by Captain James Macrae. After hours of fighting, Macrae fled to the shore to escape and the “Fancy” was completely demolished while many pirates were killed.

Captain Macrae spent several days in the woods starving before he surrendered to the pirates that were searching for him. England’s first mate, John Taylor, pleaded with England to let him kill Macrae to seek revenge for the demolished “Fancy” and for the men that were killed. However, England would not allow Macrae to be killed but he did take the “Cassandra” as consolation.

England’s crew was outraged that they were ordered to spare Macrae’s life. It was then that they raised mutiny against England and left him abandoned on Mauritius with three of England’s loyal followers.

Miraculously, England was able to build a boat and he took his three men and sailed to Madagascar. However, shortly after, Edward England died as a very poor man. It has been said that he did not deserve this unjust death due to the fact that he was such a merciful and generous pirate, not to mention the fact that he was virtually unknown at the time of his death, after an especially successful pirating caree.

Edward England.

 The famous pirate of Edward England.

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