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Richard Worley
English Sailor & Pirate
Richard Worley set out from New York with eight
others in a small open boat; they were ill equipped and carried few
supplies. The crew set out in late September 1718. Their ship was hardly
seaworthy so they set out down the coast and up the Delaware River where
they captured a boat laden with household goods (this was not constituted as
piracy, but rather burglary since it did not take place upon the sea). The
next prize taken by these men was more in keeping with their needs, a sloop
out of Philadelphia. They took the sloop and increased the size of their
band to 12. Within a couple more days they had taken another sloop that
they felt more well kept than the prior ship and transferred to it.At this time the governor issued a proclamation for the apprehension of all
pirates who had not availed themselves of the King's pardon, and ordered out
the Phoenix, a ship of 20 guns, to enforce this proclamation. However,
Worley and his band set out to sea and missed the Phoenix which was
searching for them in the coastal waters. Six weeks later the pirates
returned, having taken another sloop and a brigantine among the Bahaman
Islands. The company had increased to 25 during this trip and their sloop
now mounted 6 guns. Captain Worley and his crew had also adopted the skull
and crossbones in their ensign (flag). Articles were signed and the crew
were officially 'on account' that they would fight to the end, no quarter
asked or given.They were next sighted off North Carolina where they
paused to clean and refit their ship. The governor received this
information and outfitted two ships of 8 and 6 guns to trap the pirates, but
to no avail as they were gone by the time the ships arrived.
Unfortunately, Worley came in sight of the ships and mistaking them for
merchants moved to prevent them from entering the Jamestown harbor. Instead
of preventing their entry, he ended up trapping himself in the harbor with
two ships blocking his escape. True to their articles the pirates
fought to the end, taking a broadside from one of the Carolina ships before
being boarded. All of the pirates died on board, except for the
captain and one other, who were very seriously wounded. Both captured
pirates were hanged the next day, February 17th 1719, for fear that their
wounds might prevent them from receiving the punishment that was felt due. |
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