Lewis Ferdinando
Lewis Ferdinando | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Lodowick |
| Occupation | Pirate |
| Years active | 1699–1700 |
| Era | Golden Age of Piracy |
| Piratical career | |
| Base of operations | Bermuda |
| Commands | Samuel's Adventure |
Lewis Ferdinando (first name also Lodowick, fl. 1699–1700) was a pirate active near Bermuda during the Golden Age of Piracy.
History
[edit]Ferdinando in his ship Samuel's Adventure was prolific enough to inspire Bermudan merchant Samuel Saltus to grant power of attorney to a friend in Charles Towne, South Carolina, allowing him to sue for possession of Saltus’ stolen ship on the off chance that it turned up there.[1] Saltus’ sloop had been taken by Ferdinando in 1699; Matthew Tryer (or Tyrer) was tried for piracy for the capture but was acquitted.[2] Carolina Governor Joseph Blake ordered that Tryer not be tried again for any of Ferdinando's piracies.[1] Ferdinando had taken nine ships in 1700 alone, making him a particular target for privateers commissioned by Bermuda's governor Benjamin Bennett.[3] At least one of the ships he took belonged to John Trimingham, among Bermuda's wealthiest citizens.[3]
In April 1700 Ferdinando had the captains of two captured ships aboard his own. While there he had them witness a letter he wrote absolving of piracy a sailor named Briggs whom he'd forced into serving the pirates. He released the sailor with other prisoners; arrested for piracy some years later, Briggs produced the letter, and Governor Bennett had him formally acquitted.[4]
See also
[edit]- Admiralty court - the venue in which Tyrer was tried and acquitted.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Vincent, John Martin (1894). The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 45–46. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ^ Gosse, Philip (1924). The Pirates' Who's Who by Philip Gosse. New York: Burt Franklin. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ^ a b Jarvis, Michael J. (2012). In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783. Chapel Hill NC: UNC Press Books. pp. 241, 271. ISBN 9780807895887. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ^ Fox, E. T. (2014). Pirates in Their Own Words. Raleigh NC: Lulu.com. pp. 78–79. ISBN 9781291943993. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
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