OVERVIEW

William Kidd, also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd (c. 1655 – 23 May 1701),^[1] was a Scottish sailor who was tried and executed for piracy after returning from a voyage to the Indian Ocean. Some modern historians, for example Sir Cornelius Neale Dalton, deem his piratical reputation unjust.^[2]

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

Kidd was born in Dundee,^[3] Scotland prior to October 15, 1654. While claims have been made of alternate birthplaces including Greenock and even Belfast, Kidd himself claimed to be 41 years of age, and originally from “Dundee, in the Kingdom of Scotland” while testifying under oath at the High Court of the Admiralty about the former government of New York in October 1695.^[4] A local society supported the family financially after the death of the father.^[5] The myth that his “father was thought to have been a Church of Scotland minister” has been discounted, insofar as there is no mention of the name in comprehensive Church of Scotland records for the period. Others still hold the contrary view.^[6][7]

HUNTING FOR PIRATES

In September 1696, Kidd weighed anchor and set course for the Cape of Good Hope. A third of his crew died on the Comoros due to an outbreak of cholera, the brand-new ship developed many leaks, and he failed to find the pirates whom he expected to encounter off Madagascar.

As it became obvious that his ambitious enterprise was failing, Kidd became desperate to cover its costs. But, once again, he failed to attack several ships when given a chance, including a Dutchman and a New York privateer. Some of the crew deserted Kidd the next time that Adventure Galley anchored offshore, and those who decided to stay on made constant open threats of mutiny.

Kidd killed one of his own crewmen on 30 October 1697. Kidd’s gunner William Moore was on deck sharpening a chisel when a Dutch ship appeared. Moore urged Kidd to attack the Dutchman, an act not only piratical but also certain to anger Dutch-born King William. Kidd refused, calling Moore a lousy dog. Moore retorted, “If I am a lousy dog, you have made me so; you have brought me to ruin and many more.” Kidd snatched up and heaved an ironbound bucket at Moore. Moore fell to the deck with a fractured skull and died the following day.^[25]

Seventeenth-century English admiralty law allowed captains great leeway in using violence against their crew, but outright murder was not permitted. Yet Kidd seemed unconcerned, later explaining to his surgeon that he had “good friends in England, that will bring me off for that”.

ACCUSATIONS OF PIRACY

Acts of savagery on Kidd’s part were reported by escaped prisoners, who told stories of being hoisted up by the arms and “drubbed” (thrashed) with a drawn cutlass. On one occasion, crew members ransacked the trading ship Mary and tortured several of its crew members while Kidd and the other captain, Thomas Parker, conversed privately in Kidd’s cabin. When Kidd found out what had happened, he was outraged and forced his men to return most of the stolen property.^{[citation needed]}

Kidd was declared a pirate very early in his voyage by a Royal Navy officer, to whom he had promised “thirty men or so”.^[21] Kidd sailed away during the night to preserve his crew, rather than subject them to Royal Navy impressment.^[26]

On 30 January 1698, Kidd raised French colours and took his greatest prize, the 400-ton Quedagh Merchant,^[27][28] an Indian ship hired by Armenian merchants that was loaded with satins, muslins, gold, silver, an incredible variety of East Indian merchandise, as well as extremely valuable silks. The captain of Quedagh Merchant was an Englishman named Wright, who had purchased passes from the French East India Company promising him the protection of the French Crown. After realising the captain of the taken vessel was an Englishman, Kidd tried to persuade his crew to return the ship to its owners,^{[citation needed]} but they refused, claiming that their prey was perfectly legal, as Kidd was commissioned to take French ships, and that an Armenian ship counted as French if it had French passes. In an attempt to maintain his tenuous control over his crew, Kidd relented and kept the prize. When this news reached England, it confirmed Kidd’s reputation as a pirate, and various naval commanders were ordered to “pursue and seize the said Kidd and his accomplices” for the “notorious piracies” they had committed.^[29]

Kidd kept the French sea passes of the Quedagh Merchant, as well as the vessel itself. While the passes were at best a dubious defence of his capture, British admiralty and vice-admiralty courts (especially in North America) heretofore had often winked at privateers’ excesses into piracy, and Kidd may have been hoping that the passes would provide the legal fig leaf that would allow him to keep Quedagh Merchant and her cargo. Renaming the seized merchantman Adventure Prize, he set sail for Madagascar.^{[citation needed]}

On 1 April 1698, Kidd reached Madagascar. After meeting privately with trader Tempest Rogers (who would later be accused of trading and selling Kidd’s looted East India goods),^[30] he found the first pirate of his voyage, Robert Culliford (the same man who had stolen Kidd’s ship years before) and his crew aboard Mocha Frigate. Two contradictory accounts exist of how Kidd reacted to his encounter with Culliford. According to The General History of the Pirates, published more than 25 years after the event by an author whose identity remains in dispute, Kidd made peaceful overtures to Culliford: he “drank their Captain’s health”, swearing that “he was in every respect their Brother”, and gave Culliford “a Present of an Anchor and some Guns”.^[31] This account appears to be based on the testimony of Kidd’s crewmen Joseph Palmer and Robert Bradinham at his trial. The other version was presented by Richard Zacks in his 2002 book The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd. According to Zacks, Kidd was unaware that Culliford had only about 20 crew with him, and felt ill-manned and ill-equipped to take Mocha Frigate until his two prize ships and crews arrived, so he decided not to molest Culliford until these reinforcements came. After Adventure Prize and Rouparelle came in, Kidd ordered his crew to attack Culliford’s Mocha Frigate. However, his crew, despite their previous eagerness to seize any available prize, refused to attack Culliford and threatened instead to shoot Kidd. Zacks does not refer to any source for his version of events.^[32]

Both accounts agree that most of Kidd’s men now abandoned him for Culliford. Only 13 remained with Adventure Galley. Deciding to return home, Kidd left the Adventure Galley behind, ordering her to be burnt because she had become worm-eaten and leaky. Before burning the ship, he was able to salvage every last scrap of metal, such as hinges. With the loyal remnant of his crew, he returned to the Caribbean aboard the Adventure Prize.^{[citation needed]} Some of his crew later returned to America on their own as passengers aboard Giles Shelley‘s ship Nassau.^[33]

TRIAL AND EXECUTION

Prior to returning to New York City, Kidd knew that he was a wanted pirate and that several English men-of-war were searching for him. Realizing that Adventure Prize was a marked vessel, he cached it in the Caribbean Sea, sold off his remaining plundered goods through pirate and fence William Burke,^[34] and continued toward New York aboard a sloop. He deposited some of his treasure on Gardiners Island, hoping to use his knowledge of its location as a bargaining tool.^[35] Kidd found himself in Oyster Bay, as a way of avoiding his mutinous crew who gathered in New York. In order to avoid them, Kidd sailed 120 nautical miles (220 km; 140 mi) around the eastern tip of Long Island, and then doubled back 90 nautical miles (170 km; 100 mi) along the Sound to Oyster Bay. He felt this was a safer passage than the highly trafficked Narrows between Staten Island and Brooklyn.^[36]

Bellomont (an investor) was away in Boston, Massachusetts. Aware of the accusations against Kidd, Bellomont was justifiably afraid of being implicated in piracy himself and knew that presenting Kidd to England in chains was his best chance to save himself. He lured Kidd into Boston with false promises of clemency,^[37] then ordered him arrested on 6 July 1699. Kidd was placed in Stone Prison, spending most of the time in solitary confinement. His wife, Sarah, was also imprisoned. The conditions of Kidd’s imprisonment were extremely harsh, and appear to have driven him at least temporarily insane.^{[citation needed]} By then, Bellomont had turned against Kidd and other pirates, writing that the inhabitants of Long Island were “a lawless and unruly people” protecting pirates who had “settled among them”.^[38]

After over a year, Kidd was sent to England for questioning by the Parliament of England.^{[citation needed]} The new Tory ministry hoped to use Kidd as a tool to discredit the Whigs who had backed him, but Kidd refused to name names, naively confident his patrons would reward his loyalty by interceding on his behalf. There is speculation that he probably would have been spared had he talked. Finding Kidd politically useless, the Tory leaders sent him to stand trial before the High Court of Admiralty in London, for the charges of piracy on high seas and the murder of William Moore. Whilst awaiting trial, Kidd was confined in the infamous Newgate Prison, and wrote several letters to King William requesting clemency.^{[citation needed]}

Kidd had two lawyers to assist in his defence.^[39] He was shocked to learn at his trial that he was charged with murder. He was found guilty on all charges (murder and five counts of piracy) and sentenced to death. He was hanged in a public execution on 23 May 1701, at Execution Dock, Wapping, in London.^[15] He was hanged twice. On the first attempt, the hangman’s rope broke and Kidd survived. Although some in the crowd called for Kidd’s release, claiming the breaking of the rope was a sign from God, Kidd was hanged again minutes later, this time successfully. His body was gibbeted over the River Thames at Tilbury Point – as a warning to future would-be pirates – for three years.^[40]

Kidd’s associates Richard Barleycorn, Robert Lamley, William Jenkins, Gabriel Loffe, Able Owens, and Hugh Parrot were also convicted, but pardoned just prior to hanging at Execution Dock.^{[citation needed]}

Kidd’s Whig backers were embarrassed by his trial. Far from rewarding his loyalty, they participated in the effort to convict him by depriving him of the money and information which might have provided him with some legal defence. In particular, the two sets of French passes he had kept were missing at his trial. These passes (and others dated 1700) resurfaced in the early twentieth century, misfiled with other government papers in a London building.^[41] These passes call the extent of Kidd’s guilt into question. Along with the papers, many goods were brought from the ships and soon auctioned off as “pirate plunder”. They were never mentioned in the trial.^{[citation needed]}

As to the accusations of murdering Moore, on this he was mostly sunk on the testimony of the two former crew members, Palmer and Bradinham, who testified against him in exchange for pardons. A deposition Palmer gave, when he was captured in Rhode Island two years earlier, contradicted his testimony and may have supported Kidd’s assertions, but Kidd was unable to obtain the deposition.^{[citation needed]}

A broadside song, “Captain Kidd’s Farewell to the Seas, or, the Famous Pirate’s Lament”, was printed shortly after his execution and popularised the common belief that Kidd had confessed to the charges.^[42]

Sourced from: Wikipedia

REFERENCES: 

1.  Johnson, Ben. “Captain William Kidd”. Historic UK. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
2. ^ “Execution of Captain Kidd | History Today”. www.historytoday.com. Retrieved 19 November2019.
3. ^ ““Yes, I was born in Dundee,” Kidd confirms in LATIN!”. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
4. ^ ““Yes, I was born in Dundee,” Kidd confirms in LATIN!”. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
5. ^ “Courtly Lives – The Kidd Family”. www.angelfire.com. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
6. ^ “Pirates: William Kidd”. Genealogy & Family History Achievements Heraldry and Research. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
7. ^ Hawkins, Paul (2002). “Captain William Kidd Web Site: History”. Archived from the original (self-published historical site) on 23 October 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
8.  Hamilton, (1961) p.?
9.  Cordingly (1995), p.183
10. ^ Harris, Graham (2002). Treasure and Intrigue The Legacy of Captain Kidd. Dundurn. pp. 114–115. ISBN 9781550024098. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
11.  Hamilton, (1961)
12. ^ Office, Great Britain Public Record (1908). Calendar of State Papers: Colonial Series …London: Longman. pp. 486–487. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
13. ^ Charles Johnson (1728). The History of the Pyrates, p. 75.
14. ^ Zacks, p. 185-86.
15. ^ Jameson, John Franklin (1923). Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period by J. Franklin Jameson. New York: Macmillan. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
16. ^ Westergaard, Waldemar (1917). The Danish West Indies Under Company Rule (1671–1754): With a Supplementary Chapter, 1755–1917. New York: Macmillan. pp. 115–118. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
17. ^ “Long Island Genealogy”. longislandgenealogy.com. Retrieved 29 October2019.
18. ^ Richard Zacks, The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd (Hyperion, 2003)
19. ^ “The Quest for the Armenian Vessel, Quedagh Merchant” (PDF). AYAS Nautical Research Club. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
20. ^ “Legend of Capt. Kidd”. Newsday. 12 April 2009. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
21. ^ Zacks, p. 364.
22.  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). “Kidd, William” . Encyclopædia Britannica. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 783–784.
23.  Armstrong, Catherine; Chmielewski, Laura M. (4 December 2013). The Atlantic Experience: Peoples, Places, Ideas. Macmillan International Higher Education. ISBN 978-1-137-40434-3.
24. ^ Ralph Delahaye Paine (1911). The Book of Buried Treasure: Being a True History of the Gold, Jewels, and Plate of Pirates, Galleons, Etc., which are Sought for to this Day. Heinemann. p. 124.
25. ^ Jump up to:^a b The complete words of the original broadside song “Captain Kid’s Farewel to the Seas, or, the Famous Pirate’s Lament, to the tune of Coming Down” are at davidkidd.net. “Captain Kidd Lyrics. The lyrics of Captain Kidd from 1701 to today”. 23 July 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011.