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Samuel Bellamy

October 21, 2023

For the English footballer, see Samuel Bellamy (footballer).

Captain Samuel Bellamy (c. 23 February 1689 – 26 April 1717), later known as "Black Sam" Bellamy, was an English sailor turned pirate during the early 18th century. He is best known as the wealthiest pirate in recorded history, and one of the faces of the Golden Age of Piracy. Though his known career as a pirate captain lasted little more than a year, he and his crew captured at least 53 ships.[3]

Samuel Bellamy
Bornc. (1689-02-23)23 February 1689
Hittisleigh, Devon, Kingdom of England
Died26 April 1717 (1717-04-27) (aged 28)
Wellfleet, Province of Massachusetts Bay, Thirteen Colonies
Piratical career
Nickname"Black Sam" Bellamy,
"Prince of Pirates",
"Black Bellamy",
"Robin Hood of the Sea"
TypeGolden Age Pirate
Years active1716 – 26 April 1717
RankElected Commodore of pirate fleet
Base of operationsBlanco Islet, Tortola B.V.I. (later re-named Bellamy Cay), Caribbean Sea
CommandsPostillion, Sloop Marianne, Pinque Mary Anne, Sultana Galley, Whydah Gally, Anne, Fisher
WealthEquiv. US$163.1 million in 2022;[1] #1 Forbes top-earning pirates[2]

Called "Black Sam" in Cape Cod folklore because he eschewed the fashionable powdered wig in favor of tying back his long black hair with a simple band, Bellamy became known for his mercy and generosity toward those he captured on his raids. This reputation earned him another nickname, the "Prince of Pirates". He likened himself to Robin Hood, with his crew calling themselves "Robin Hood's Men".[4][5]

Bellamy was born in Devon, England, in 1689, and began sailing for the British Royal Navy as a teenager. After traveling to Cape Cod around 1715, he then went south to the Florida coast in an effort to locate a sunken treasure fleet. From there he made his way to the Bahamas, sailing under Benjamin Hornigold and his second-in-command, Edward "Blackbeard" Teach. After Hornigold and Teach were voted out of command, Bellamy took a captured vessel as his own, before capturing a state-of-the-art slave trade ship, the Whydah Gally, in the early spring of 1717. Two months later, the vessel was caught in a nor'easter storm off the coast of Massachusetts and sank, taking Bellamy and most of his crew down with it. The remains of the Whydah Gally were discovered in 1984, making it the first fully authenticated Golden Age pirate ship discovered in North America.[citation needed]

Early life Edit

Bellamy was born in 1689 in the parish of Hittisleigh on Dartmoor in Devon, Kingdom of England, the youngest of six known children of Stephen and Elizabeth Bellamy.[6] Elizabeth died soon after, and was buried on 23 February 1689, three weeks before Samuel's baptism on 18 March. The future pirate became a sailor at a young age; in his late teens, he joined the Royal Navy and fought in several battles. Though it has been speculated that he may have had a wife and child, there is no definite historical proof of this.

Bellamy traveled to Cape Cod around 1715, allegedly to seek some of his relatives there. According to an abundance of local lore on the subject, it is believed that he took up an affair with a local beauty, Goody Hallett — the "Witch of Wellfleet".[7] Professor Elizabeth Reynard, in her 1934 book The Narrow Land, gave her the name "Maria", and though there is no evidence of her bearing that name, it has nevertheless become a popular name for her. Other modern authors have called her "Mariah" and "Mary". Her age and marital status remain subjects of much debate. Some stories depict her as a young lady between 16 and 25, while others depict her as a very old woman.[8][9][10] In some stories, her parents liked Bellamy, but did not think a poor self-confident sailor was husband material;[5] circumstantial evidence indicates that she may have already been married, confirming some stories that it was Bellamy's intent to seek his fortune and then return, not to marry her, but to take her away.

 
"...they spread a large black flag, with a Death's Head and Bones across, and gave chase to Cap't. Prince under the same colours." – Thomas Baker (Bellamy's crew)[11]

For whatever reason, he left Cape Cod in early 1716 with a group of men to seek the vast treasures of the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet, which had wrecked the previous summer in a hurricane off the east coast of Florida. Wealthy jeweler Palgraves Williams,[12] son of Rhode Island Attorney General John Williams, joined Bellamy and funded their expedition. After Bellamy left the Cape, Hallett was found to be pregnant by Bellamy. It is said that she gave birth to a son and hid the child in a barn for warmth while she foraged for food, and when she returned she found that the child had choked to death on the straw. Some legends say that it was the barn of the notable Knowles family; others claim it was that of Justice Joseph Doane, who had banished Hallett. In either case, she was arrested for the child's murder and imprisoned in the Old Jail of Barnstable, Massachusetts (the oldest wooden jail house in the United States; said to be haunted by her). Her sentence was relatively short, but she was exiled from the town. Afterwards, she waited for Bellamy in Eastham.[5]

Career Edit

The treasure hunters apparently met with little success, as they soon turned to piracy in the crew of pirate captain Benjamin Hornigold, who commanded the Marianne with his first mate, Edward Teach, who would soon gain fame as the pirate "Blackbeard".[12]

In the summer of 1716, the crew became irritated by Hornigold's unwillingness to attack ships of England, his home country. By a majority vote of the crew, Hornigold was deposed as captain of the Marianne and left the vessel with his loyal followers, including Teach. The remaining 90-man crew then elected Bellamy as captain.

Upon capturing a second ship, the Sultana, it was made into a galley, and with approval of the crew, Bellamy took it as his own and assigned his friend Palsgrave Williams as commander of the Marianne.[12] They sailed briefly alongside Olivier Levasseur, who left early in 1717 to raid South America.[13]

Bellamy's greatest capture came in the spring of 1717, when he spotted the Whydah Gally (pronounced WHID-uh) sailing through the Windward Passage between Hispaniola and Cuba.[12] Built in England in 1715 as a state-of-the-art, 300-ton, 102-foot-long (31 m) English slave ship with 18 guns, and with speeds of up to 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph), the Whydah was on its maiden voyage in 1716 and had just finished the second (Africa to Caribbean) leg of the Atlantic slave trade, loaded with a fortune in gold, indigo, Jesuit's bark, ivory and other precious trade goods from the sale of 312 slaves.[12][14][15] Bellamy chased the Whydah for three days before getting close enough to fire. After a single shot, Captain Lawrence Prince surrendered the Whydah by lowering its flag. True to his reputation for generosity, Bellamy rewarded Prince's lack of resistance by trading the Sultana for the Whydah.[12] Removing the captain's quarters and upgrading the ship to 28 guns, Bellamy turned his new flagship northwards along the eastern coast of the Carolinas and on to New England.

Captain Charles Johnson (possibly a pseudonym) wrote what became the first standard historical text on pirates, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates. That source relates the story of the Whydah overtaking a sloop commanded by Captain Beer. Bellamy had wanted to let the captain keep his ship, but his crew had just voted to burn it, and the captain of the merchant vessel had just declined an invitation to join the pirates. Bellamy is attributed with making this now-famous speech:

 
Silver recovered from the wreck of the Whydah. Forbes Magazine ranked Bellamy #1 in its list of "Top-Earning Pirates".[2]

I am sorry they won't let you have your sloop again, for I scorn to do any one a mischief, when it is not to my advantage; damn the sloop, we must sink her, and she might be of use to you. Though you are a sneaking puppy, and so are all those who will submit to be governed by laws which rich men have made for their own security; for the cowardly whelps have not the courage otherwise to defend what they get by knavery; but damn ye altogether: damn them for a pack of crafty rascals, and you, who serve them, for a parcel of hen-hearted numbskulls. They vilify us, the scoundrels do, when there is only this difference, they rob the poor under the cover of law, forsooth, and we plunder the rich under the protection of our own courage. Had you not better make then one of us, than sneak after these villains for employment?

     [Beer replied that his conscience would not let him break the laws of God and man, and Bellamy continued]

You are a devilish conscience rascal! I am a free prince, and I have as much authority to make war on the whole world as he who has a hundred sail of ships at sea and an army of 100,000 men in the field; and this my conscience tells me! But there is no arguing with such snivelling puppies, who allow superiors to kick them about deck at pleasure.

— Captain Bellamy, quoted by Captain Charles Johnson (1724), A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates

Johnson attributes these speeches to "Captain Bellamy" without naming Samuel Bellamy specifically; other writers like Philip Gosse attribute the speeches to Charles Bellamy, a separate pirate unrelated to Samuel Bellamy.[16] They operated at the same time in the same areas and their exploits are often conflated.[17]

Reputation Edit

Captain Samuel Bellamy, now known as Black Bellamy, was well known to his contemporaries and chroniclers as a distinctive figure, a tall, strong, well-mannered and very tidy man. He liked expensive clothes, especially black coats. His favorite weapons were four duelling pistols that he always carried in his sash:

He made a dashing figure in his long deep-cuffed velvet coat, knee breeches, silk stockings, and silver-buckled shoes; with a sword slung on his left hip and four pistols on his sash. Unlike some of his fellows, Bellamy never wore the fashionable powdered wig, but grew his dark hair long and tied it back with a black satin bow.[18]

As captain, his leadership style was almost democratic. His crew was very fond of him, sometimes even referring to him as "Robin Hood of the Sea" and themselves as "Robin Hood's Men".[5] Captain Bellamy was also a good tactician. Usually, he had two ships under his control. His flagship was powerful with many cannons and the second one was light but fast, which made a good balance. With coordinated attacks, they managed to capture ships easily without harming them.

Death Edit

 
Samuel Bellamy, Wreck of the Whydah, from the Pirates of the Spanish Main series (N19) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes MET DP835027
 
The location of the wrecked Whydah Gally in Cape Cod

Just two months after acquiring the Whydah, as she and the Marianne approached Cape Cod, Williams told Bellamy that he wished to visit his family in Rhode Island, and the two agreed to meet up again near Maine. Bellamy and the Whydah captured several other small vessels in the area, including the Anne Galley, to which he appointed his quartermaster Richard Noland as captain.[19]

If Bellamy intended to revisit his lover Maria Hallett, he failed.[5] The Whydah was swept up in a violent nor'easter storm off Cape Cod at midnight, on 26 April 1717, and was driven onto the sand bar shoals in 16 feet (4.9 m) of water some 500 feet (150 m) from the coast of what is now Wellfleet, Massachusetts. At 15 minutes past midnight, the masts snapped and drew the heavily loaded ship into 30 feet of water, where she capsized and quickly sank, taking Bellamy and all but two of the Whydah's 146-man crew with her.[20]

104 bodies were known to have washed ashore and were buried by the town coroner, leaving 42 bodies unaccounted for. The Mary Anne was also wrecked that night several miles south of the Whydah, leaving seven more survivors. All nine survivors from the two ships were captured and prosecuted for piracy in Boston, and six were convicted on 22 October 1717 and hanged on 15 November 1717.[21] (King George's pardon of all pirates, issued on 5 September, supposedly arrived in Boston three weeks too late). Two were set free, the court believing their testimony that they had been forced into piracy. The last, a 16-year-old Miskito Indian from Central America, John Julian, was believed to have been sold into slavery to John Quincy, the great-grandfather of U.S. President John Quincy Adams.[22]

Williams waited for Bellamy to rendezvous; when Bellamy never appeared, Williams realized what had happened, and sailed south to Nassau in the Marianne.[23] Noland also searched for Bellamy off Maine; failing to find him, he took the Anne Galley south, raiding ships along the way before accepting a pardon in the Bahamas.[19]

Legacy Edit

Further information: Whydah Gally
 
The bell, inscribed, "THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716".

In July 1984, Bellamy became famous again when the discovery of the wreckage of his flagship Whydah was announced, and would soon become the first authenticated pirate shipwreck ever discovered in North America. At the time of its sinking, the Whydah was the largest pirate prize ever captured, and the treasure in its hold amassed roughly 4.5 to 5 tons, including huge quantities of indigo, ivory, gold, and 20,000 to 30,000 pounds sterling, divided into 180 sacks of 50-pound (23 kg) each.[24] The discovery of the wreck was made in 1982 by a diving crew led and funded by underwater explorer Barry Clifford.[25]

The vessel was under just 14 feet (4.3 m) of water and 5 feet (1.5 m) of sand.[25]

In 1985, Clifford recovered the ship's bell, upon which were the words "THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716", the first incontrovertible evidence of his find. He subsequently founded The Whydah Pirate Museum on MacMillan Wharf in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts, dedicated to Bellamy and the Whydah. It houses many artifacts which were brought from the actual wreck, including a cannon found to be stuffed with precious stones, gold and artifacts. A portion of the some 200,000 artifacts so far recovered went on a six-year tour around the United States under the sponsorship of the National Geographic Society. From May 2017 through 30 July 2017, it was at the Portland Science Center in Portland, Maine.[26] In 2022, Real Pirates opened in Salem, Massachusetts, also displaying information about Bellamy, the Whydah, and artifacts from the wreck.[27]

Suspected remains of Bellamy were found near the wreck of his ship, in February 2018. The bones were near a pistol identified as his, and DNA tests were carried out with a living relative to confirm.[28] In May 2018, tests confirmed that the bones were of an Eastern European man, though not Bellamy.[29]

In February 2021, Clifford announced six more pirates' bones were discovered in concretements of debris, and will be tested for DNA matches once they are extracted.[30]

In popular culture Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b Woolsey, Matt (19 September 2008). "Top-Earning Pirates". Forbes.com. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  3. ^ "Top-Earning Pirates". Forbes. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  4. ^ Johnson, Charles (1724). The history of the pyrates: containing the lives of Captain Mission. Captain Bowen. Captain Kidd ... and their several crews. London: T. Woodward. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d e . National Geographic. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  6. ^ Woodard, Colin (2007). . New York: Harcourt. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-0-15-603462-3. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
  7. ^ . The Whydah Museum Official Site. Historic Shipwrecks, Inc. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  8. ^ Brunelle, Kathleen (2011). Bellamy's Bride. The History Press.
  9. ^ Fitzgerald, Michael (1912). 1812: A tale of Cape Cod. The Register Press.
  10. ^ Kincor, Kenneth J. Whydah source book. Whydah Pirate Museum.
  11. ^ "The Pirate Ship Whydah: Pirate strategy". "Real Pirates" museum exhibit website. Chicago, Illinois: The Field Museum. 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Dow, George Francis; Edmonds, John Henry (1923). The pirates of the New England coast, 1630–1730. Argosy-Antiquarian. pp. 116–131. ISBN 9780486290645. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  13. ^ Humanity, History of. "Infamous Pirates | Olivier Levasseur". www.goldenageofpiracy.org. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  14. ^ Woodard (2008), pp. 156–158.
  15. ^ "The Slave Ship Whydah: A Slave-Based Economy". "Real Pirates" museum exhibit website. Chicago, Illinois: The Field Museum. 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  16. ^ Gosse, Philip (1924). The Pirates' Who's Who by Philip Gosse. New York: Burt Franklin. pp. 47–49. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  17. ^ Horwood, Harold (2011). Plunder & Pillage: Atlantic Canada's Brutal and Bloodthirsty Pirates and Privateers. Halifax NS: Formac Publishing Company Limited. pp. 92–96. ISBN 9780887809491. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  18. ^ Tattersall, Jill. . British Virgin Islands Welcome. British Virgin Islands: BVI Welcome Tourist Guide. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2013. Alt URL
  19. ^ a b Sandler, Martin W. (2017). The Whydah: a Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found. Somerville MA: Candlewick Press. pp. 44–79. ISBN 9780763680336. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  20. ^ Snow, Edward R. (1946). Great Storms and Famous Shipwrecks of the New England Coast.
  21. ^ Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period: Illustrative Documents, ed. by John Franklin Jameson (Macmillan, 1923) p.303
  22. ^ Dow, George Francis (1988) [1935]. Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Courier Dover Publications. p. 221. ISBN 0-486-25565-4.
  23. ^ "Early American Criminals: Samuel Bellamy's Treasure". Early American Crime. 21 December 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  24. ^ "The Whydah's Loss: The Pirate's Trial". "Real Pirates" museum exhibit website. Chicago, Illinois: The Field Museum. 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  25. ^ a b Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Maritime Underwater Surveys, Inc., 403 Mass. 501 (Mass. Supreme Court 1988).
  26. ^ Sun, The Conway Daily. . The Conway Daily Sun. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  27. ^ "Real Pirates Museum Brings Authentic Pirate Treasure and Stories to Salem claim". Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  28. ^ Sabur, Rozina (19 February 2018). "Possible remains of world's 'richest pirate' Captain Black Sam Bellamy to be compared to English descendant's DNA". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  29. ^ "Bones found in shipwreck don't belong to infamous pirate". New York Post. Associated Press. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  30. ^ Travis, Anderson (10 February 2021). "Six skeletons unearthed from wreck of pirate ship Whydah off Cape Cod coast". Boston Globe. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  31. ^ Silverman, Rebecca (5 February 2016). "The Real Pirates of One Piece". Anime News Network. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  32. ^ Martin, Liam (25 November 2013). "'Assassin's Creed Pirates' release date announced for December". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  33. ^ Clover, Juli (10 July 2014). "'Assassin's Creed Pirates' Named App of the Week, Available for Free". MacRumors. MacRumors.com, LLC. Retrieved 13 March 2018.

Further reading Edit

  • Clifford, Barry; Perry, Paul (1999). Expedition Whydah : the story of the world's first excavation of a pirate treasure ship and the man who found her (1st ed.). New York, NY: Cliff Street Books. p. 261. ISBN 978-0-06-092971-8.
  • Clifford, Barry; Turchi, Peter (1993). The pirate prince : discovering the priceless treasures of the sunken ship Whydah : an adventure (1993 Hardcover ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-76824-9.
  • Woodard, Colin (2008). (1st Harvest ed.). Orlando, Fla.: Harcourt, Inc. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-0-15-603462-3. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
  • The Way of the Pirates, "Famous Pirate: Samuel Bellamy, The Romantic Pirate"

October 21, 2023
samuel, bellamy, english, footballer, footballer, captain, february, 1689, april, 1717, later, known, black, bellamy, english, sailor, turned, pirate, during, early, 18th, century, best, known, wealthiest, pirate, recorded, history, faces, golden, piracy, thou. For the English footballer see Samuel Bellamy footballer Captain Samuel Bellamy c 23 February 1689 26 April 1717 later known as Black Sam Bellamy was an English sailor turned pirate during the early 18th century He is best known as the wealthiest pirate in recorded history and one of the faces of the Golden Age of Piracy Though his known career as a pirate captain lasted little more than a year he and his crew captured at least 53 ships 3 Samuel BellamyBornc 1689 02 23 23 February 1689Hittisleigh Devon Kingdom of EnglandDied26 April 1717 1717 04 27 aged 28 Wellfleet Province of Massachusetts Bay Thirteen ColoniesPiratical careerNickname Black Sam Bellamy Prince of Pirates Black Bellamy Robin Hood of the Sea TypeGolden Age PirateYears active1716 26 April 1717RankElected Commodore of pirate fleetBase of operationsBlanco Islet Tortola B V I later re named Bellamy Cay Caribbean SeaCommandsPostillion Sloop Marianne Pinque Mary Anne Sultana Galley Whydah Gally Anne FisherWealthEquiv US 163 1 million in 2022 1 1 Forbes top earning pirates 2 Called Black Sam in Cape Cod folklore because he eschewed the fashionable powdered wig in favor of tying back his long black hair with a simple band Bellamy became known for his mercy and generosity toward those he captured on his raids This reputation earned him another nickname the Prince of Pirates He likened himself to Robin Hood with his crew calling themselves Robin Hood s Men 4 5 Bellamy was born in Devon England in 1689 and began sailing for the British Royal Navy as a teenager After traveling to Cape Cod around 1715 he then went south to the Florida coast in an effort to locate a sunken treasure fleet From there he made his way to the Bahamas sailing under Benjamin Hornigold and his second in command Edward Blackbeard Teach After Hornigold and Teach were voted out of command Bellamy took a captured vessel as his own before capturing a state of the art slave trade ship the Whydah Gally in the early spring of 1717 Two months later the vessel was caught in a nor easter storm off the coast of Massachusetts and sank taking Bellamy and most of his crew down with it The remains of the Whydah Gally were discovered in 1984 making it the first fully authenticated Golden Age pirate ship discovered in North America citation needed Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Reputation 4 Death 5 Legacy 6 In popular culture 7 References 8 Further readingEarly life EditBellamy was born in 1689 in the parish of Hittisleigh on Dartmoor in Devon Kingdom of England the youngest of six known children of Stephen and Elizabeth Bellamy 6 Elizabeth died soon after and was buried on 23 February 1689 three weeks before Samuel s baptism on 18 March The future pirate became a sailor at a young age in his late teens he joined the Royal Navy and fought in several battles Though it has been speculated that he may have had a wife and child there is no definite historical proof of this Bellamy traveled to Cape Cod around 1715 allegedly to seek some of his relatives there According to an abundance of local lore on the subject it is believed that he took up an affair with a local beauty Goody Hallett the Witch of Wellfleet 7 Professor Elizabeth Reynard in her 1934 book The Narrow Land gave her the name Maria and though there is no evidence of her bearing that name it has nevertheless become a popular name for her Other modern authors have called her Mariah and Mary Her age and marital status remain subjects of much debate Some stories depict her as a young lady between 16 and 25 while others depict her as a very old woman 8 9 10 In some stories her parents liked Bellamy but did not think a poor self confident sailor was husband material 5 circumstantial evidence indicates that she may have already been married confirming some stories that it was Bellamy s intent to seek his fortune and then return not to marry her but to take her away nbsp they spread a large black flag with a Death s Head and Bones across and gave chase to Cap t Prince under the same colours Thomas Baker Bellamy s crew 11 For whatever reason he left Cape Cod in early 1716 with a group of men to seek the vast treasures of the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet which had wrecked the previous summer in a hurricane off the east coast of Florida Wealthy jeweler Palgraves Williams 12 son of Rhode Island Attorney General John Williams joined Bellamy and funded their expedition After Bellamy left the Cape Hallett was found to be pregnant by Bellamy It is said that she gave birth to a son and hid the child in a barn for warmth while she foraged for food and when she returned she found that the child had choked to death on the straw Some legends say that it was the barn of the notable Knowles family others claim it was that of Justice Joseph Doane who had banished Hallett In either case she was arrested for the child s murder and imprisoned in the Old Jail of Barnstable Massachusetts the oldest wooden jail house in the United States said to be haunted by her Her sentence was relatively short but she was exiled from the town Afterwards she waited for Bellamy in Eastham 5 Career EditThe treasure hunters apparently met with little success as they soon turned to piracy in the crew of pirate captain Benjamin Hornigold who commanded the Marianne with his first mate Edward Teach who would soon gain fame as the pirate Blackbeard 12 In the summer of 1716 the crew became irritated by Hornigold s unwillingness to attack ships of England his home country By a majority vote of the crew Hornigold was deposed as captain of the Marianne and left the vessel with his loyal followers including Teach The remaining 90 man crew then elected Bellamy as captain Upon capturing a second ship the Sultana it was made into a galley and with approval of the crew Bellamy took it as his own and assigned his friend Palsgrave Williams as commander of the Marianne 12 They sailed briefly alongside Olivier Levasseur who left early in 1717 to raid South America 13 Bellamy s greatest capture came in the spring of 1717 when he spotted the Whydah Gally pronounced WHID uh sailing through the Windward Passage between Hispaniola and Cuba 12 Built in England in 1715 as a state of the art 300 ton 102 foot long 31 m English slave ship with 18 guns and with speeds of up to 13 knots 24 km h 15 mph the Whydah was on its maiden voyage in 1716 and had just finished the second Africa to Caribbean leg of the Atlantic slave trade loaded with a fortune in gold indigo Jesuit s bark ivory and other precious trade goods from the sale of 312 slaves 12 14 15 Bellamy chased the Whydah for three days before getting close enough to fire After a single shot Captain Lawrence Prince surrendered the Whydah by lowering its flag True to his reputation for generosity Bellamy rewarded Prince s lack of resistance by trading the Sultana for the Whydah 12 Removing the captain s quarters and upgrading the ship to 28 guns Bellamy turned his new flagship northwards along the eastern coast of the Carolinas and on to New England Captain Charles Johnson possibly a pseudonym wrote what became the first standard historical text on pirates A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates That source relates the story of the Whydah overtaking a sloop commanded by Captain Beer Bellamy had wanted to let the captain keep his ship but his crew had just voted to burn it and the captain of the merchant vessel had just declined an invitation to join the pirates Bellamy is attributed with making this now famous speech nbsp Silver recovered from the wreck of the Whydah Forbes Magazine ranked Bellamy 1 in its list of Top Earning Pirates 2 I am sorry they won t let you have your sloop again for I scorn to do any one a mischief when it is not to my advantage damn the sloop we must sink her and she might be of use to you Though you are a sneaking puppy and so are all those who will submit to be governed by laws which rich men have made for their own security for the cowardly whelps have not the courage otherwise to defend what they get by knavery but damn ye altogether damn them for a pack of crafty rascals and you who serve them for a parcel of hen hearted numbskulls They vilify us the scoundrels do when there is only this difference they rob the poor under the cover of law forsooth and we plunder the rich under the protection of our own courage Had you not better make then one of us than sneak after these villains for employment Beer replied that his conscience would not let him break the laws of God and man and Bellamy continued You are a devilish conscience rascal I am a free prince and I have as much authority to make war on the whole world as he who has a hundred sail of ships at sea and an army of 100 000 men in the field and this my conscience tells me But there is no arguing with such snivelling puppies who allow superiors to kick them about deck at pleasure Captain Bellamy quoted by Captain Charles Johnson 1724 A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates Johnson attributes these speeches to Captain Bellamy without naming Samuel Bellamy specifically other writers like Philip Gosse attribute the speeches to Charles Bellamy a separate pirate unrelated to Samuel Bellamy 16 They operated at the same time in the same areas and their exploits are often conflated 17 Reputation EditCaptain Samuel Bellamy now known as Black Bellamy was well known to his contemporaries and chroniclers as a distinctive figure a tall strong well mannered and very tidy man He liked expensive clothes especially black coats His favorite weapons were four duelling pistols that he always carried in his sash He made a dashing figure in his long deep cuffed velvet coat knee breeches silk stockings and silver buckled shoes with a sword slung on his left hip and four pistols on his sash Unlike some of his fellows Bellamy never wore the fashionable powdered wig but grew his dark hair long and tied it back with a black satin bow 18 As captain his leadership style was almost democratic His crew was very fond of him sometimes even referring to him as Robin Hood of the Sea and themselves as Robin Hood s Men 5 Captain Bellamy was also a good tactician Usually he had two ships under his control His flagship was powerful with many cannons and the second one was light but fast which made a good balance With coordinated attacks they managed to capture ships easily without harming them Death Edit nbsp Samuel Bellamy Wreck of the Whydah from the Pirates of the Spanish Main series N19 for Allen amp Ginter Cigarettes MET DP835027 nbsp The location of the wrecked Whydah Gally in Cape CodJust two months after acquiring the Whydah as she and the Marianne approached Cape Cod Williams told Bellamy that he wished to visit his family in Rhode Island and the two agreed to meet up again near Maine Bellamy and the Whydah captured several other small vessels in the area including the Anne Galley to which he appointed his quartermaster Richard Noland as captain 19 If Bellamy intended to revisit his lover Maria Hallett he failed 5 The Whydah was swept up in a violent nor easter storm off Cape Cod at midnight on 26 April 1717 and was driven onto the sand bar shoals in 16 feet 4 9 m of water some 500 feet 150 m from the coast of what is now Wellfleet Massachusetts At 15 minutes past midnight the masts snapped and drew the heavily loaded ship into 30 feet of water where she capsized and quickly sank taking Bellamy and all but two of the Whydah s 146 man crew with her 20 104 bodies were known to have washed ashore and were buried by the town coroner leaving 42 bodies unaccounted for The Mary Anne was also wrecked that night several miles south of the Whydah leaving seven more survivors All nine survivors from the two ships were captured and prosecuted for piracy in Boston and six were convicted on 22 October 1717 and hanged on 15 November 1717 21 King George s pardon of all pirates issued on 5 September supposedly arrived in Boston three weeks too late Two were set free the court believing their testimony that they had been forced into piracy The last a 16 year old Miskito Indian from Central America John Julian was believed to have been sold into slavery to John Quincy the great grandfather of U S President John Quincy Adams 22 Williams waited for Bellamy to rendezvous when Bellamy never appeared Williams realized what had happened and sailed south to Nassau in the Marianne 23 Noland also searched for Bellamy off Maine failing to find him he took the Anne Galley south raiding ships along the way before accepting a pardon in the Bahamas 19 Legacy EditFurther information Whydah Gally nbsp The bell inscribed THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716 In July 1984 Bellamy became famous again when the discovery of the wreckage of his flagship Whydah was announced and would soon become the first authenticated pirate shipwreck ever discovered in North America At the time of its sinking the Whydah was the largest pirate prize ever captured and the treasure in its hold amassed roughly 4 5 to 5 tons including huge quantities of indigo ivory gold and 20 000 to 30 000 pounds sterling divided into 180 sacks of 50 pound 23 kg each 24 The discovery of the wreck was made in 1982 by a diving crew led and funded by underwater explorer Barry Clifford 25 The vessel was under just 14 feet 4 3 m of water and 5 feet 1 5 m of sand 25 In 1985 Clifford recovered the ship s bell upon which were the words THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716 the first incontrovertible evidence of his find He subsequently founded The Whydah Pirate Museum on MacMillan Wharf in West Yarmouth Massachusetts dedicated to Bellamy and the Whydah It houses many artifacts which were brought from the actual wreck including a cannon found to be stuffed with precious stones gold and artifacts A portion of the some 200 000 artifacts so far recovered went on a six year tour around the United States under the sponsorship of the National Geographic Society From May 2017 through 30 July 2017 it was at the Portland Science Center in Portland Maine 26 In 2022 Real Pirates opened in Salem Massachusetts also displaying information about Bellamy the Whydah and artifacts from the wreck 27 Suspected remains of Bellamy were found near the wreck of his ship in February 2018 The bones were near a pistol identified as his and DNA tests were carried out with a living relative to confirm 28 In May 2018 tests confirmed that the bones were of an Eastern European man though not Bellamy 29 In February 2021 Clifford announced six more pirates bones were discovered in concretements of debris and will be tested for DNA matches once they are extracted 30 In popular culture EditIn the manga One Piece the pirate character Bellamy the Hyena is named after Samuel Bellamy 31 He appears in Assassin s Creed Pirates as one of the most notorious and colorful pirates of the era 32 33 The Netflix docudrama series The Lost Pirate Kingdom features his pirate career prominently though with some historical inaccuracies References Edit 1634 1699 McCusker J J 1997 How Much Is That in Real Money A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States Addenda et Corrigenda PDF American Antiquarian Society 1700 1799 McCusker J J 1992 How Much Is That in Real Money A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States PDF American Antiquarian Society 1800 present Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Consumer Price Index estimate 1800 Retrieved 28 May 2023 a b Woolsey Matt 19 September 2008 Top Earning Pirates Forbes com Forbes Magazine Retrieved 5 February 2013 Top Earning Pirates Forbes 19 September 2008 Retrieved 14 October 2015 Johnson Charles 1724 The history of the pyrates containing the lives of Captain Mission Captain Bowen Captain Kidd and their several crews London T Woodward Retrieved 26 July 2017 a b c d e Capt Samuel Bellamy Rogue Romeo National Geographic Archived from the original on 19 June 2015 Retrieved 26 May 2015 Woodard Colin 2007 The Republic of Pirates Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down New York Harcourt pp 28 29 ISBN 978 0 15 603462 3 Archived from the original on 4 January 2020 Retrieved 6 December 2008 The Whydah Museum The Whydah Museum Official Site Historic Shipwrecks Inc Archived from the original on 8 October 2012 Retrieved 8 October 2012 Brunelle Kathleen 2011 Bellamy s Bride The History Press Fitzgerald Michael 1912 1812 A tale of Cape Cod The Register Press Kincor Kenneth J Whydahsource book Whydah Pirate Museum The Pirate Ship Whydah Pirate strategy Real Pirates museum exhibit website Chicago Illinois The Field Museum 2009 Retrieved 21 January 2013 a b c d e f Dow George Francis Edmonds John Henry 1923 The pirates of the New England coast 1630 1730 Argosy Antiquarian pp 116 131 ISBN 9780486290645 Retrieved 26 May 2015 Humanity History of Infamous Pirates Olivier Levasseur www goldenageofpiracy org Retrieved 1 June 2017 Woodard 2008 pp 156 158 The Slave Ship Whydah A Slave Based Economy Real Pirates museum exhibit website Chicago Illinois The Field Museum 2009 Retrieved 12 October 2012 Gosse Philip 1924 The Pirates Who s Who by Philip Gosse New York Burt Franklin pp 47 49 Retrieved 23 June 2017 Horwood Harold 2011 Plunder amp Pillage Atlantic Canada s Brutal and Bloodthirsty Pirates and Privateers Halifax NS Formac Publishing Company Limited pp 92 96 ISBN 9780887809491 Retrieved 12 October 2017 Tattersall Jill Black Sam Bellamy British Virgin Islands Welcome British Virgin Islands BVI Welcome Tourist Guide Archived from the original on 4 December 2012 Retrieved 20 January 2013 Alt URL a b Sandler Martin W 2017 The Whydah a Pirate Ship Feared Wrecked and Found Somerville MA Candlewick Press pp 44 79 ISBN 9780763680336 Retrieved 16 July 2017 Snow Edward R 1946 Great Storms and Famous Shipwrecks of the New England Coast Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period Illustrative Documents ed by John Franklin Jameson Macmillan 1923 p 303 Dow George Francis 1988 1935 Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Courier Dover Publications p 221 ISBN 0 486 25565 4 Early American Criminals Samuel Bellamy s Treasure Early American Crime 21 December 2011 Retrieved 16 July 2017 The Whydah s Loss The Pirate s Trial Real Pirates museum exhibit website Chicago Illinois The Field Museum 2009 Retrieved 21 January 2013 a b Commonwealth of Massachusetts v Maritime Underwater Surveys Inc 403 Mass 501 Mass Supreme Court 1988 Sun The Conway Daily The Portland Phoenix The Conway Daily Sun Archived from the original on 5 March 2016 Retrieved 8 March 2018 Real Pirates Museum Brings Authentic Pirate Treasure and Stories to Salem claim Retrieved 13 September 2023 Sabur Rozina 19 February 2018 Possible remains of world s richest pirate Captain Black Sam Bellamy to be compared to English descendant s DNA The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 Retrieved 28 July 2020 Bones found in shipwreck don t belong to infamous pirate New York Post Associated Press 25 May 2018 Retrieved 28 May 2018 Travis Anderson 10 February 2021 Six skeletons unearthed from wreck of pirate ship Whydah off Cape Cod coast Boston Globe Retrieved 21 March 2021 Silverman Rebecca 5 February 2016 The Real Pirates of One Piece Anime News Network Retrieved 13 March 2018 Martin Liam 25 November 2013 Assassin s Creed Pirates release date announced for December Digital Spy Hearst Magazines UK Retrieved 13 March 2018 Clover Juli 10 July 2014 Assassin s Creed Pirates Named App of the Week Available for Free MacRumors MacRumors com LLC Retrieved 13 March 2018 Further reading Edit nbsp Piracy portalClifford Barry Perry Paul 1999 Expedition Whydah the story of the world s first excavation of a pirate treasure ship and the man who found her 1st ed New York NY Cliff Street Books p 261 ISBN 978 0 06 092971 8 Clifford Barry Turchi Peter 1993 The pirate prince discovering the priceless treasures of the sunken ship Whydah an adventure 1993 Hardcover ed New York Simon amp Schuster ISBN 978 0 671 76824 9 Woodard Colin 2008 The republic of pirates being the true and surprising story of the Caribbean pirates and the man who brought them down 1st Harvest ed Orlando Fla Harcourt Inc pp 28 29 ISBN 978 0 15 603462 3 Archived from the original on 4 January 2020 Retrieved 6 December 2008 The Way of the Pirates Famous Pirate Samuel Bellamy The Romantic Pirate Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Samuel Bellamy amp oldid 1178837962, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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