William Kidd

This article is about the 17th-century pirate. For the 15th-century pirate, see William Kyd. For the outlaw in the American West, see Billy the Kid. For other people with the same birth name, see William Kidd (disambiguation).

"Captain Kidd" redirects here. For other uses, see Captain Kidd (disambiguation).

William Kidd (c. 1654 – 23 May 1701), also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd, was a Scottish privateer. Conflicting accounts exist regarding his early life, but he was likely born in Dundee and later settled in New York City. By 1690, Kidd had become a highly successful privateer, commissioned to protect English interests in North America and the West Indies.

William Kidd
Portrait by James Thornhill
Born	c. 1654 Dundee, Scotland^[1]^[2]
Died	23 May 1701(1701-05-23) (aged 47) Wapping, England
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Nationality	Scottish
Relatives	Shea Dauphinée, Michael Dauphinée, James Dauphinée
Piratical career
Type	Pirate / Privateer
Allegiance	Kingdom of England, Province of New York
Commands	Blessed William Adventure Galley

In 1695, Kidd received a royal commission from the Earl of Bellomont, the governor of New York, Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire, to hunt down pirates and enemy French ships in the Indian Ocean. He received a letter of marque and set sail on a new ship, Adventure Galley, the following year. On his voyage he failed to find many targets, lost much of his crew and faced threats of mutiny. In 1698, Kidd captured his greatest prize, the 400-ton Quedagh Merchant, a ship hired by Armenian merchants and captained by an Englishman. The political climate in England had turned against him, however, and he was denounced as a pirate. Bellomont engineered Kidd's arrest upon his return to Boston and sent him to stand trial in London. He was found guilty and hanged in 1701.

Kidd was romanticized after his death and his exploits became a popular subject of pirate-themed works of fiction. The belief that he had left buried treasure contributed significantly to his legend, which inspired numerous treasure hunts in the following centuries.

Life and career

Early life and education

Kidd was born in Dundee, Scotland^[1][2][3] prior to 15 October 1654. While claims have been made of alternate birthplaces, including Greenock and even Belfast, he said himself he came from Dundee in a testimony given by Kidd to the High Court of Admiralty in 1695. There have also been records of his baptism taking place in Dundee. A local society supported the family financially after the death of the father.^{[4][better source needed]} 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.^[5][6]

Early voyages

As a young man, Kidd settled in New York City, which the English had taken over from the Dutch.^[7] There he befriended many prominent colonial citizens, including three governors.^[8] Some accounts suggest that he served as a seaman's apprentice on a pirate ship during this time, before beginning his more famous seagoing exploits as a privateer.

By 1689, Kidd was a member of a French–English pirate crew sailing the Caribbean under Captain Jean Fantin.^[9] During one of their voyages, Kidd and other crew members mutinied, ousting the captain and sailing to the British colony of Nevis.^[10] There they renamed the ship Blessed William, and Kidd became captain either as a result of election by the ship's crew, or by appointment of Christopher Codrington, governor of the island of Nevis.^[11]

Kidd was an experienced leader and sailor by that time, and the Blessed William became part of Codrington's small fleet assembled to defend Nevis from the French, with whom the English were at war.^[12][13] The governor did not pay the sailors for their defensive service, telling them instead to take their pay from the French. Kidd and his men attacked the French island of Marie-Galante, destroying its only town and looting the area, and gathering around 2,000 pounds sterling.

Later, during the War of the Grand Alliance, on commissions from the provinces of New York and Massachusetts Bay, Kidd captured an enemy privateer off the New England coast.^[14] Shortly afterwards, he was awarded £150 for successful privateering in the Caribbean. One year later, Captain Robert Culliford, a notorious pirate, stole Kidd's ship while he was ashore at Antigua in the West Indies.

In New York City, Kidd was active in financially supporting the construction of Trinity Church, New York.^[15][16]

On 16 May 1691, Kidd married Sarah Bradley Cox Oort,^[17] who was still in her early twenties. She had already been twice widowed and was one of the wealthiest women in New York, based on an inheritance from her first husband.^[18]

Preparing his expedition

 

Captain Kidd in New York Harbor, in a c. 1920 painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

On 11 December 1695, Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont, who was governing New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, asked the "trusty and well beloved Captain Kidd"^[19] to attack Thomas Tew, John Ireland, Thomas Wake, William Maze, and all others who associated themselves with pirates, along with any enemy French ships. His request had the weight of the Crown behind it, and Kidd would have been considered disloyal, carrying much social stigma, to refuse Bellomont. This request preceded the voyage that contributed to Kidd's reputation as a pirate and marked his image in history and folklore.

Four-fifths of the cost for the 1696 venture was paid by noble lords, who were among the most powerful men in England: the Earl of Orford, the Baron of Romney, the Duke of Shrewsbury, and Sir John Somers. Kidd was presented with a letter of marque, signed personally by King William III of England, which authorized him as a privateer. This letter reserved 10% of the loot for the Crown, and Henry Gilbert's The Book of Pirates suggests that the King fronted some of the money for the voyage himself. Kidd and his acquaintance Colonel Robert Livingston orchestrated the whole plan; they sought additional funding from merchant Sir Richard Blackham.^[20] Kidd also had to sell his ship Antigua to raise funds.

The new ship, Adventure Galley,^[21] was well suited to the task of catching pirates, weighing over 284 tons burthen and equipped with 34 cannon, oars, and 150 men. The oars were a key advantage, as they enabled Adventure Galley to manoeuvre in a battle when the winds had calmed and other ships were dead in the water. Kidd took pride in personally selecting the crew, choosing only those whom he deemed to be the best and most loyal officers.

As the Adventure Galley sailed down the Thames, Kidd unaccountably failed to salute a Navy yacht at Greenwich, as custom dictated. The Navy yacht then fired a shot to make him show respect, and Kidd's crew responded with an astounding display of impudence – by turning and slapping their backsides in [disdain].^[22]

Because of Kidd's refusal to salute, the Navy vessel's captain retaliated by pressing much of Kidd's crew into naval service, despite the captain's strong protests and the general exclusion of privateer crew from such action. Short-handed, Kidd sailed for New York City, capturing a French vessel en route (which was legal under the terms of his commission). To make up for the lack of officers, Kidd picked up replacement crew in New York, the vast majority of whom were known and hardened criminals, some likely former pirates.

Among Kidd's officers was quartermaster Hendrick van der Heul. The quartermaster was considered "second in command" to the captain in pirate culture of this era. It is not clear, however, if Van der Heul exercised this degree of responsibility because Kidd was authorised as a privateer. Van der Heul is notable because he might have been African or of Dutch descent. A contemporary source describes him as a "small black Man". If Van der Heul was of African ancestry, he would be considered the highest-ranking black pirate or privateer so far identified. Van der Heul later became a master's mate on a merchant vessel and was never convicted of piracy.

Hunting for pirates

In September 1696, Kidd weighed anchor and set course for the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. 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.

With his ambitious enterprise failing, Kidd became desperate to cover its costs. Yet he failed to attack several ships when given a chance, including a Dutchman and a New York privateer. Both were out of bounds of his commission. The latter would have been considered out of bounds because New York was part of the territories of the Crown, and Kidd was authorised in part by the New York governor. Some of the crew deserted Kidd the next time that Adventure Galley anchored offshore. Those who decided to stay on made constant open threats of mutiny.

 

Howard Pyle's fanciful painting of Kidd and his ship, Adventure Galley, in New York Harbor

 

Howard Pyle's fanciful painting of Kidd burying treasure

 

The Charles Galley, a contemporary vessel of a comparable design to Adventure Galley

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 that would have been considered piratical, since the nation was not at war with England, 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 reportedly dropped an ironbound bucket on Moore, fracturing his skull. Moore died the following day.^[23]

Seventeenth-century English admiralty law allowed captains great leeway in using violence against their crew, but killing was not permitted. Kidd said to his ship's surgeon that he had "good friends in England, that will bring me off for that".^[24]

Accusations of piracy

Escaped prisoners told stories of being hoisted up by the arms and "drubbed" (thrashed) with a drawn cutlass by Kidd. On one occasion, crew members sacked 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.

Kidd was declared a pirate very early in his voyage by a Royal Navy officer, to whom he had promised "thirty men or so".^[19] Kidd sailed away during the night to preserve his crew, rather than subject them to Royal Navy impressment.^[25] The letter of marque was intended to protect a privateer's crew from such impressment.

On 30 January 1698, Kidd raised French colours and took his greatest prize, the 400-ton Quedagh Merchant,^[26][27] an Indian ship hired by Armenian merchants. It was loaded with satins, muslins, gold, silver, and a 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.^[28]

When news of his capture of this ship reached England, however, officials classified Kidd as a pirate. Various naval commanders were ordered to "pursue and seize the said Kidd and his accomplices" for the "notorious piracies" they had committed.^[28]

Kidd kept the French sea passes of the Quedagh Merchant, as well as the vessel itself. British admiralty and vice-admiralty courts (especially in North America) previously had often winked at privateers' excesses amounting to piracy. Kidd might have hoped that the passes would provide the legal fig leaf that would allow him to keep Quedagh Merchant and her cargo. Renaming the seized merchantman as Adventure Prize, he set sail for Madagascar.^[29]

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 at Antigua years before) and his crew aboard Mocha Frigate.

Two contradictory accounts exist of how Kidd proceeded. According to A General History of the Pyrates, published more than 25 years after the event by an author whose identity is disputed by historians, 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. He decided to leave Culliford alone until these reinforcements arrived. After Adventure Prize and Rouparelle reached port, Kidd ordered his crew to attack Culliford's Mocha Frigate. However, his crew 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 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 salvaged every last scrap of metal, such as hinges. With the loyal remnant of his crew, he returned to the Caribbean aboard the Adventure Prize,^[33] stopping first at St. Augustine's Bay for repairs.^[34] Some of his crew later returned to North America on their own as passengers aboard Giles Shelley's ship Nassau.^[33]

The 1698 Act of Grace, which offered a royal pardon to pirates in the Indian Ocean, specifically exempted Kidd (and Henry Every) from receiving a pardon,^[35][31] in Kidd's case due to his association with prominent Whig statesmen.^[36] Kidd became aware both that he was wanted and that he could not make use of the Act of Grace upon his arrival in Anguilla, his first port of call since St. Augustine's Bay.^[34]

Trial and execution

Prior to returning to New York City, Kidd knew that he was wanted as a 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,^[37] and continued towards 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.^[38] Kidd landed in Oyster Bay to avoid mutinous crew who had gathered in New York City. To avoid them, Kidd sailed 120 nautical miles (220 km; 140 mi) around the eastern tip of Long Island, and 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.^{[39][page needed]}

New York Governor Bellomont, also an investor, was away in Boston, Massachusetts. Aware of the accusations against Kidd, Bellomont was afraid of being implicated in piracy himself and believed that presenting Kidd to England in chains was his best chance to survive. He lured Kidd into Boston with false promises of clemency,^[40] and 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 arrested and imprisoned.

The conditions of Kidd's imprisonment were extremely harsh, and were said to have driven him at least temporarily insane.^[41] 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".^[41]

The civil government had changed and 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 could 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.

 

Captain Kidd, gibbeted near Tilbury in Essex, following his execution in 1701.

Kidd had two lawyers to assist in his defence.^[42] 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.^[14] He had to be 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, and died. His body was gibbeted over the River Thames at Tilbury Point, as a warning to future would-be pirates, for three years.^[43]

Of Kidd's associates, Gabriel Loffe, Able Owens, and Hugh Parrot were also convicted of piracy. They were pardoned just prior to hanging at Execution Dock. Robert Lamley, William Jenkins and Richard Barleycorn were released.^[34]

 

The French pass from the "Quedagh Merchant"

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 20th century, misfiled with other government papers in a London building.^[44] These passes confirm Kidd's version of events, and call the extent of his guilt as a pirate into question.

A broadside song, "Captain Kidd's Farewell to the Seas, or, the Famous Pirate's Lament", was printed shortly after his execution. It popularised the common belief that Kidd had confessed to the charges.^[45]

 

Captain Kidd, Burying Treasure, from the Pirates of the Spanish Main series (N19) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes MET DP835020.

Mythology and legend

The belief that Kidd had left buried treasure contributed greatly to the growth of his legend. The 1701 broadside song "Captain Kid's Farewell to the Seas, or, the Famous Pirate's Lament" lists "Two hundred bars of gold, and rix dollars manifold, we seized uncontrolled".^[45][46]

It also inspired numerous treasure hunts conducted on Oak Island in Nova Scotia; in Suffolk County, Long Island in New York where Gardiner's Island is located; Charles Island in Milford, Connecticut; the Thimble Islands in Connecticut and Cockenoe Island in Westport, Connecticut.^[47]

Kidd was also alleged to have buried treasure on the Rahway River in New Jersey across the Arthur Kill from Staten Island.^[48]

Captain Kidd did bury a small cache of treasure on Gardiners Island off the eastern coast of Long Island, New York, in a spot known as Cherry Tree Field. Governor Bellomont reportedly had it found and sent to England to be used as evidence against Kidd in his trial.^[49][50]

Some time in the 1690s, Kidd visited Block Island where he was supplied with provisions by Mrs. Mercy (Sands) Raymond, daughter of the mariner James Sands. It was said that before he departed, Kidd asked Mrs. Raymond to hold out her apron, which he then filled with gold and jewels as payment for her hospitality. After her husband Joshua Raymond died, Mercy moved with her family to northern New London, Connecticut (later Montville), where she purchased much land. The Raymond family was said by family acquaintances to have been "enriched by the apron".^[51]

On Grand Manan in the Bay of Fundy, as early as 1875, there were searches on the west side of the island for treasure allegedly buried by Kidd during his time as a privateer.^[52] For nearly 200 years, this remote area of the island has been called "Money Cove".

In 1983, Cork Graham and Richard Knight searched for Captain Kidd's buried treasure off the Vietnamese island of Phú Quốc. Knight and Graham were caught, convicted of illegally landing on Vietnamese territory, and each assessed a $10,000 fine. They were imprisoned for 11 months until they paid the fine.^[53]

Quedagh Merchant found

For years, people and treasure hunters tried to locate the Quedagh Merchant.^[54] It was reported on 13 December 2007 that "wreckage of a pirate ship abandoned by Captain Kidd in the 17th century has been found by divers in shallow waters off the Dominican Republic".^[55] The waters in which the ship was found were less than ten feet deep and were only 70 feet (21 m) off Catalina Island, just to the south of La Romana on the Dominican coast. The ship is believed to be "the remains of the Quedagh Merchant".^[55][56] Charles Beeker, the director of Academic Diving and Underwater Science Programs in Indiana University (Bloomington)'s School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, was one of the experts leading the Indiana University diving team. He said that it was "remarkable that the wreck has remained undiscovered all these years given its location", and that the ship had been the subject of so many prior failed searches.^[57] Captain Kidd's cannon, an artifact from the shipwreck, was added to a permanent exhibit at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis in 2011.^[58]

False find

In May 2015, a 50-kilogram (110 lb) ingot expected to be silver was found in a wreck off the coast of Île Sainte-Marie in Madagascar by a team led by marine archaeologist Barry Clifford. It was believed to be part of Captain Kidd's treasure.^[59][60][61] Clifford gave the booty to Hery Rajaonarimampianina, President of Madagascar.^[62][63] But, in July 2015, a UNESCO scientific and technical advisory body reported that testing showed the ingot consisted of 95% lead, and speculated that the wreck in question was a broken part of the Sainte-Marie port constructions.^[64]

Portrayals in popular culture

Literature

• Edgar Allan Poe uses the legend of Kidd's buried treasure in his story "The Gold Bug" (1843).
• The 1957 children's book Captain Kidd's Cat by Robert Lawson is a largely fictionalized account of Kidd's last voyage, trial and execution. It is told from the point of view of his loyal ship's cat. The book portrays Kidd as an innocent privateer who was framed by corrupt officials as a scapegoat for their own crimes.
• In the popular manga One Piece, "Captain" Eustass Kid is based on him.
• Bob Dylan used Captain Kidd in the lyrics to "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream".

Film and television

• Charles Laughton played Kidd twice on film: in Captain Kidd (1945), and in Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952).
• John Crawford played Kidd in the 1953 Columbia film serial The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd.
• Love Nystrom portrayed Kidd in the 2006 mini-series Blackbeard.
• Noah Robbins played William Benedict, a man who used the alias of Captain Kidd in the 11th episode of Season 8 of the TV series The Blacklist.^[65]

Music

• The traditional folk song "The Ballad of Captain Kidd" was popular from its publication at the time of Kidd's death, surviving in the oral tradition into the twentieth century^[66] and giving its melody to the hymn "What Wondrous Love Is This".
• The song "Ballad of William Kidd" by the heavy metal band Running Wild is based on Kidd's life, particularly the events surrounding his trial and execution.^{[citation needed]}

Canadian band "Great Big Sea" from Newfoundland wrote and recorded the ballad "Captain Kidd". It is a sea chanty with many historically accurate allusions to the life of William Kidd.^{[citation needed]}

Video games

• In Persona 5 and its related titles, Captain Kidd is the Persona of party member Ryuji Sakamoto, which appears as a skeleton dressed as a stylized pirate riding a ship.
• In Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, the character Mary Read, in order to facilitate her career as a pirate, poses as James Kidd, an illegitimate son of the late William Kidd.

See also

• Joseph Bradish, a pirate who sailed in Kidd's company^[67]
• George Dew, pirate, and privateer who briefly sailed with Kidd in 1691 near the Piscataqua River.^[68]
• Captain Kidd's Cannon
• Gardiners Island
• Oak Island
• Treasure Island
• Piracy in Scotland

References

Citations

1. Laura Brown. "William Kidd". The Scots Magazine. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
2. Hall, Amy (9 June 2021). "Dundee pirate Captain Kidd: Was he a swashbuckling hero or a villain of the high seas?". The Courier. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
3. webmaster (8 December 2015). "Captain William Kidd". DD Tours. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
4. "Courtly Lives – The Kidd Family". www.angelfire.com. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
5. . Genealogy & Family History Achievements Heraldry and Research. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
6. Hawkins, Paul (2002). . Archived from the original (self-published historical site) on 23 October 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
7. "Captain Kidd in New York City | Boroughs of the Dead". Retrieved 19 November 2019.
8. Boys, Bowery (27 January 2010). "Captain Kidd and his swanky New York waterfront home". The Bowery Boys: New York City History. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
9. "Jean Fantin, St. Kitts, 1689 Limited Edition". Ferminiatures.com. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
10. Zacks, Richard (2003). The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd. New York: Hachette Books. ISBN 978-1401398187. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
11. Selwood, Dominic (23 May 2017). "On this day in 1701: Pirate of the Caribbean, William 'Captain' Kidd, meets his end at Execution Dock". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
12. Hubbard, Vincent (2002). A History of St. Kitts. Macmillan Caribbean. p. 52. ISBN 978-0333747605.
13. Hubbard, Vincent (2002). Swords, Ships & Sugar. Corvallis: Premiere Editions International, Inc. pp. 104–105. ISBN 978-1891519055.
14. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Kidd, William" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 783–784.
15. "History". trinitywallstreet.org. 26 March 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
16. . The Archivist's Mailbag. Trinity Church. 19 November 2008. Archived from the original on 26 December 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
17. Sterling, Bruce (2 February 2018). "Mrs. Captain Kidd, shore-side piratess". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
18. Zacks, pp. 82–83, 86.
19. Hamilton, (1961) p. ?
20. "A secret agreement between pirate hunters, 1696". Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
21. Frank R. Stockton. "Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts: 'The Real Captain Kidd'". The Baldwin Online Children's Literature Project. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
22. Botting (1978) p. 106
23. Cordingly (1995), p. 183
24. Clifford, p. 74
25. Harris, Graham (2002). Treasure and Intrigue The Legacy of Captain Kidd. Dundurn. pp. 114–115. ISBN 978-1550024098. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
26. . Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
27. ""Quedagh Merchant" (ship)". Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
28. Hamilton, (1961)
29. Bonner, Willard Hallam (January 1944). "The Ballad of Captain Kidd". American Literature. 15 (4): 363–380. doi:10.2307/2920762. JSTOR 2920762. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
30. Office, Great Britain Public Record (1908). Calendar of State Papers: Colonial Series ... London: Longman. pp. 486–487. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
31. Johnson, Charles (1726). A General History of the Pyrates, vol. 2 (4 ed.). London: T. Woodward. pp. 75–76.
32. Zacks, pp. 185–186.
33. Jameson, John Franklin (1923). Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period. New York: Macmillan. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
34. Grey, Charles (1933). Pirates of the Eastern Seas (1618–1723) A Lurid page of History. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd. pp. 204–205, 208.
35. Lloyd, Charles Edward (1899). State trials of Mary, Queen of Scots, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Captain William Kidd. Chicago: Callaghan and Company. pp. 129–130.
36. Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1919). Dutch and English on the Hudson. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 173.
37. 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.
38. "Long Island Genealogy". longislandgenealogy.com. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
39. Richard Zacks, The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd (Hyperion, 2003)
40. "The Quest for the Armenian Vessel, Quedagh Merchant" (PDF). AYAS Nautical Research Club. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
41. . Newsday. 12 April 2009. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
42. Zacks, p. 364.
43. Armstrong, Catherine; Chmielewski, Laura M. (2013). The Atlantic Experience: Peoples, Places, Ideas. Macmillan International Higher Education. ISBN 978-1-137-40434-3.
44. 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.
45. 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. . 23 July 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
46. The genealogy of the historic tune can also be found at davidkidd.net.
47. Kanaga, Matt (27 April 2011). "Cockenoe Island: Farm? Distillery? Power plant? Buried Treasure?". Retrieved 25 July 2013.
48. According to recently resurfaced 19th century lore, Kidd buried treasure in the Rahway area, alongside the body of one of his men he had just murdered. The location was said to on the southern banks of the Rahway River at a spot called Price's or Post's Woods, said to be midway between Rahway and the Arthur Kill. The murder and burial of treasure was witnessed secretly from a tree, allegedly, by a Lenape chieftain known as Ra-wa-rah who is the namesake of the city of Rahway, as Ra-wa-rah returned from a fishing journey.https://rennamedia.com/buried-treasure-on-the-banks-of-the-rahway-river/
49. Zacks, Richard (2002). The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd. Hyperion. pp. 241–243. ISBN 0786884517. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
50. 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. 304.
51. Caulkins, Frances Manwaring (1852). History of New London, Connecticut. p. 293.
52. "Grand Manan – Captain Kidd's Money Cove". pennystockjournal.blogspot.co.uk. Penny Stock Journal. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
53. Branigin, William (12 May 1984). "Tracking Captain Kidd's Treasure Puts Pair in Vietnamese Captivity". The Washington Post.
54. "Captain Kidd (1645–1701)". PortCities London. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
55. . Yahoo News. 13 December 2007. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
56. "Captain Kidd's Shipwreck Of 1699 Discovered". Science Daily. 13 December 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
57. . INDYSTAR.COM. 13 December 2007. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
58. Falkenstein, Jaclyn (16 March 2010). . The Children's Museum of Indianapolis Press Release. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
59. "Pirate Captain Kidd's 'treasure' found in Madagascar". BBC. 7 May 2015.
60. Elgot, Jessica (7 May 2015). "'Captain Kidd's treasure' found off Madagascar". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
61. Leopold, Todd (7 May 2015). "Capt. Kidd's treasure found off Madagascar, report says". CNN. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
62. "Captain Kidd's treasure 'found' in Madagascar". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
63. Omer Farooq Khan (9 May 2015). "2 envoys killed in Pak chopper crash". The Times of India (New Delhi edition). Retrieved 18 March 2023 – via PressReader.
64. "Mission to Madagascar". UNESCO Scientific and Technical Advisory Body assists Madagascar. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
65. "The Blacklist" Captain Kidd (No. 96) (TV Episode 2021), retrieved 25 March 2023 – via IMDb
66. "Search: RN1900 sound". www.vwml.org. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
67. Seitz, Don Carlos (1 March 2002). Under the Black Flag: Exploits of the Most Notorious Pirates. Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486421315.
68. Marley, David (2010). Pirates of the Americas. Santa Barbara CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598842012. Retrieved 30 July 2017.

Sources

• Botting, Douglas (1978). The Pirates. Boston: Little Brown & Company. ISBN 0316848948. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
• Cordingly, David (1995). Under The Black Flag : The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates. Harcourt Brace & Company.^{[full citation needed]}
• Hamilton, Cochran (1961). Pirates of the Spanish Main. American Heritage Junior Library. New York: American Heritage. ISBN 0060213469. Retrieved 7 January 2017.^{[full citation needed]}

Further reading

Books

• Campbell (1853). An Historical Sketch of Robin Hood and Captain Kid. New York.
• Dalton, Sir Cornelius Neale (1911). The Real Captain Kidd: A Vindication. New York: Duffield.
• Gilbert, H. (1986). The Book of Pirates. London: Bracken Books.
• Howell, T. B., ed. (1701). "The Trial of Captain William Kidd and Others, for Piracy and Robbery". A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors. Vol. XIV. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown (published 1816). pp. 147–234. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
• Konstam, Angus (2008). The Complete History of Piracy. (Osprey Publishing).
• Ritchie, Robert C. (1986). Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Various (2019) The Search for Captain Kidd’s Treasure: Early Newspaper Reports, 1836–1859 (self-published).
• Wilkins, Harold T. (1937). Captain Kidd and His Skeleton Island. New York: Liveright Publishing Corp.
• Zacks, Richard (2002). The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd. Hyperion Books. ISBN 0-7868-8451-7.

Articles

• Pirate's Treasure Buried in the Connecticut River
• The King's Commission to William Kidd for the Capture of Captain Thomas Tew and Others
• Biography at piratesinfo.com
• Dave's Blog Blog, observer with the Indiana University expedition to the Quedagh Merchant (ongoing)
• National Archives – Article listing Records held concerning Captain Kidd
• Pirates and the history of Lordship, Connecticut
• Arraignment, Tryal and Condemnation of Captain William Kidd The court documents of the trial of William Kidd, in Early Modern English.

External links

 

Wikisource has the text of a 1892 Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography article about William Kidd.

• Captain Kidd pub 13 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine, What's in Wapping? Local community website