July 29, 1688 - Stede Bonnet
What distinguishes Bonnet from most of his contemporaries is the social position he abandoned — a landed gentleman who took up piracy not out of poverty or desperation, but by apparent choice, purchasing his own vessel rather than seizing one. His brief career along the American East Coast involved the capture of numerous merchant ships, though his inexperience at sea left him dependent on Blackbeard for effective command. He was eventually captured, tried, and hanged at Charleston in 1718, his unusual background making him a curiosity to the public and press of his era.
From Wikipedia
Stede Bonnet (c. 1688 – 10 December 1718) was an English pirate who was known as the Gentleman Pirate because he was a moderately wealthy landowner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born into a wealthy English family on the island of Barbados, and inherited the family estate after his father's death in 1694. Despite his lack of sailing experience, Bonnet decided he should turn to piracy in the spring of 1717. He bought a sailing vessel, the Revenge, and travelled with his paid crew along the Eastern Seaboard of what is now the United States, capturing other vessels and burning other Barbadian ships.
Bonnet set sail for Nassau in the Bahamas, to the haven for pirates known as the "Republic of Pirates", but he was seriously wounded en route during an encounter with a Spanish warship. After arriving in Nassau, Bonnet met the infamous pirate Blackbeard. Incapable of leading his crew, Bonnet temporarily ceded his ship's command to Blackbeard. Before separating in December 1717, Blackbeard and Bonnet plundered and captured merchant ships along the East Coast.
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