John Taylor (pirate)

John Taylor's flag.

John Taylor was a pirate who lived in the early 18th century. He was Edward England's quartermaster and popular with the crew due to his violent disposition.^[1] Taylor was responsible for the vote that removed Edward England from command. After that Taylor continued to cruise and captured Arabian and European prizes off the Indian coast.^[2]

Nostra Senora della Cabo

At Reunion Island (off the coast of Madagascar) in April 1721, he together with Olivier Levasseur captured the most valuable prize in pirate history, variously described as Nostra Senora della Cabo, Nostra Senhora do Cabo, or Nossa Senhora do Cabo (Our Lady of the Cape).^[3] The ship carried gold, uncut diamonds and church regalia belonging to the retiring viceroy of Goa.The Portuguese ship had been dismasted in a storm and proved to be an easy prize. It was captured after a brief boarding action.Levasseur and Taylor made off with the treasure then valued at more than a million pounds sterling.

Pardon

In 1722 Levasseur and Taylor eventually separated after a serious argument and Taylor went back to the Caribbean.^[4] Taylor eventually headed for Panama, arriving there in 1723. In Panama, the governor of Portobello pardoned Taylor and his crew in exchange for his ship the Cassandra. What became of Taylor after that is uncertain although one report claims he became an officer in the Armada de Barlovento.^[2]

References

Further reading

• Rogozinski, Jan. Pirates!: Brigands, Buccaneers, and Privateers in Fact, Fiction, and Legend. New York: Da Capo Press, 1996. ISBN 0-306-80722-X
• Rogozinski, Jan. Honor Among Thieves: Captain Kidd, Henry Every, and the Pirate Republic Libertalia. Mechanicsburg, Pa: Stackpole Books, 2000. ISBN 0-8117-1529-9
• Seitz, Don Carlos. Under the Black Flag: Exploits of the Most Notorious Pirates Mineola, Ny: Courier Dover Publications, 2002. ISBN 0-486-42131-7

External links

• Edward England at The Pirate's Realm
• John Taylor at Liberty StarCastle's World of Pirates