Thomas Anstis
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Thomas Anstis (d. 1723) was an early 18th century pirate, who served under Captain Howell Davis and then Captain Bartholomew Roberts, before setting up on his own account, raiding shipping on the eastern coast of the American colonies and in the Caribbean during what is referred often to as the "Golden Age of Piracy".
Anstis is first recorded as a member of the sloop Buck, which sailed from Providence, Rhode Island in 1718. Sometime during the course of the voyage, Anstis conspired with six other crew members to attempt a mutiny aboard the ship which, upon doing so, stated their intentions to sail southward as pirates. Howell Davis was elected captain. After Davis' death Bartholomew Roberts replaced him as captain, and eventually had several ships. Anstis commanded one of these, the Good Fortune. In May 1721 Roberts' ships headed for Africa, but Anstis and his crew in the Good Fortune slipped away in the night and continued to operate in the Caribbean.
Continuing onward towards Bermuda, Anstis spotted the HMS Morning Star, a treasure ship out from Guinea heading towards the Carolinas). After its capture, the ship was outfitted with 32 guns and placed in the command of ships gunner John Fenn. The two ships continued to sail along the southeastern coast of the colonies until fighting began to break out among much of the impressed crew members (including those from the Buck Sloop) and was decided among them to send a request for a pardon from George I of Great Britain claiming they had been impressed by Anstis and Roberts.
Sailing to an island off the coast of Cuba, the crew awaited a reply from the British government for nine months until August 1722, when they set sail once again as their pleas were ignored. After their arrival at the Grand Caymans, the Morning Star ran aground and, as the survivors were being rescued by the Buck Sloop, the pirates were sighted by the HMS Hector and the HMS Adventure and began pursuit. As Anstis ordered a retreat, outgunned and facing a gale, he was forced to abandon the ship and fled to a nearby island.
Followed by the Hector, forty of Anstis's crew were quickly captured (many of those claiming to have sent the petition) however Anstis was able to escape in a brigantine. After arriving at the Bay of Honduras with Fenn, Anstis refitted his ship and sailed for the Bahama Islands in December 1722. Capturing an Irish sloop, the Antelope, it was taken to Tortuga where it was outfitted as a privateer in April 1723.
While in port, Anstis was surprised by the British man-of-war HMS Winchelsea and was forced to burn his ship and fled with his crew into the islands interior. Although again escaping his pursuers, Anstis was killed as he slept in his hammock before he could resume his career of piracy. Although most of the crew who surrendered to Dutch authorities in Curaçao received amnesty, Fenn and the remaining crew were eventually captured and executed by British authorities.
[edit] Further reading
- Grosse. History of the Pirates
[edit] References
- Botting, Douglas. The Pirates (The Seafarers; v.1). Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1978. ISBN 0-8094-2652-8
- Burl, Aubrey (2006) Black Barty: Bartholomew Roberts and his pirate crew 1718-1723. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-4312-2
