A well educated man of high status, Major Stede Bonnet, from Virginia, was born into a respectable English family.

His life progressed well and he became a respectable and successful plantation owner who had a good standard of living and a high place in Bridgetown society.

It’s no surprise then that Barbados was shocked when Stede Bonnet suddenly changed direction in his life. He became a pirate for reasons no-one has ever been able to understand, though it has been hypothesised that he may have developed some kind of mental disorder.

As a pirate, he was completely different to anyone else who had gone before him - he bought his own ship instead of stealing one and paid his crew from his own purse instead of drawing up contracts and allocating divisions of treasure.

His ship, the Revenge, was small and fast and carried ten guns. In early 1717 Bonnet recruited desperate sailors from the inns of Bridgetown and then managed to keep them in order only by virtue of the payments he was giving them.

After a slow start to his piracy career, Steed Bonnet set sail without saying a word to his wife or friends and began to capture various ships. After the first few it became his trademark to burn them.

After some success to the north and around the New Englan Coast, Bonnet and his crew returned south. By this time there was unease amongst his crew as they were becoming increasingly aware that he was only an amateur pirate.

After stopping by the Bay of Honduras, the Revenge came into contact with the Queen Anne’s Revenge, captained by the infamous Blackbeard, aka Edward Teach. Blackbeard and Bonnet quickly became firm friends.

Blackbeard, however, quickly became aware that Bonnet’s inexperience and relieved him of his command. Putting one of his crew in charge of Bonnet’s ship quickly placted the crew and so order was resored.

Not long after, Bonnet persuaded Teach to return the Revenge and he then promptly set sail for North Carolina where he handed himself in to the Governor, Charles Eden.

As a reformed pirate he escaped major punishment but still went straight back to his pirate ways. He was quickly caught by Colonel William Rhett. Bonnet escaped once but was soon captured yet again very soon afterwards.

Stede Bonnet was taken to Charleston where he faced the Court of Vice Admiralty, chaired by Sir Nicholas Trott esq.

Bonnet was found guilty of piracy, sentenced to death and then hung on 10th December, 1718.

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