Israel Hands

[Captain Falkenberg]

I'm not sure if anyone has thought of this before, as the 'search' function seems to be disabled, but anyway:

We all know that Israel Hands testified against corrupt governors after Blackbeard's death in 1718. What happened to him after that is unknown, though captain Johnson claims he died as a beggar in London.

As you're probably aware, captain Johnson's book isn't quite 100% reliable, being part folklore, part hearsay, and part fact.

When Bartholomew Roberts' crew was put on trial in 1722, one of the pirates condemned to death was one 'Israel Hinde'.

Given the unusual name and the well known fact that the spelling of names greatly varied in documents from that period (indeed in any period up until the late 19th century) , is it possible that Blackbeard's former second in command ended up in Roberts' crew?

[Dutchman]

huh, thats interesting.

capn' where is your source for Robert's crew list. i have not run across it before (admittedly never thought to look either). this is definitely worth looking into.

i guess the next thing is to hit williamsburg and the virginia archives up to see where that trail would lead. maybe we can find his next step immediately after the trial. he had to leave the colony somehow. unfortunately, a lot of records were lost durring the civil war.

-dutch

[Captain Falkenberg]

huh, thats interesting.

capn' where is your source for Robert's crew list. i have not run across it before (admittedly never thought to look either). this is definitely worth looking into.

i guess the next thing is to hit williamsburg and the virginia archives up to see where that trail would lead. maybe we can find his next step immediately after the trial. he had to leave the colony somehow. unfortunately, a lot of records were lost durring the civil war.

-dutch

My source is a picture of the death sentence for Roberts' crew members that's sometimes reprinted in various books. Pirates! by Angus Konstam, page 30, for instance.

I think going back to piracy would actually have made sense for Hands. Beats being a beggar...

[Fox]

It's not impossible. There are records of several men who retired from piracy only to take it up again a few years later: John Rose Archer (Blackbeard/Phillips) and John Miller (Every/Quelch) to name but two.

Here are a couple of points to consider.

If Israel Hands had been shot through the leg at close range by Blackbeard would he be physically capable of performing duties as boatswain of the Ranger under Roberts?

At the trial of Roberts' crew it was noted that a couple of pirates had a previous history, yet no mention was made of Hinde's having sailed with Blackbeard.

[Dutchman]

criminal logs of the day often have physical descriptors of the guilty. i think a noted limp would be worth mentioning, even if the guilty were a pirate. might be a lead there.

i'm having trouble finding the records you are mentioning- can ya help me out.

[Captain Falkenberg]

If Israel Hands had been shot through the leg at close range by Blackbeard would he be physically capable of performing duties as boatswain of the Ranger under Roberts?

But is Blackbeard shooting Hands in the leg mentioned anywhere else except in Johnson? The problem with Johnson's book is that it's responsible for the best pirate lore (bless his kind heart, whoever he was), but might be somewhat unreliable as a historical source.

I wish he was, though, as he claims Mary Read used to run a tavern a mere stone's throw from where I live...

As for his previous history not being mentioned: I don't know the precise details of Hands' involvement in the trial against the corrupt governors (the archives being on the other side of the planet), but maybe there's a possibility that going back to piracy after supposedly being pardoned would be such a naughty thing to do in the eyes of the authorities that the prisoner 'forgot' to mention it?

This is no more than speculation, of course.

[Fox]

I don't know of any reference to Hands being shot outside of Johnson, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. Certainly a great deal of Johnson's work is incorrect so it shouldn't be relied on, but in recent years external research has shown much of it to be surprisingly accurate.

The fact remains that Israel Hands was in the same area as Blackbeard at the time of the last fight, but was not aboard his ship. There must be a reason for this and Johnson's explanation is as good as any. I suspect that the long-since disappeared trial of Blackbeard's crew would clear the matter up, but sadly...

If Hands and Hinde were indeed the same person then he'd certainly be unlikely to mention it himself at the Cape Corso trial, but nobody else mentioned it either.

I'd like to think that Israel Hands went back to sea again, but is there any real reason to suppose he sailed with Roberts?

(Incidentally, I believe the tavern supposedly run by Mary Read still exists - perhaps you can confirm this if you're local)

[Captain Falkenberg]

I don't know of any reference to Hands being shot outside of Johnson, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. Certainly a great deal of Johnson's work is incorrect so it shouldn't be relied on, but in recent years external research has shown much of it to be surprisingly accurate.

The fact remains that Israel Hands was in the same area as Blackbeard at the time of the last fight, but was not aboard his ship. There must be a reason for this and Johnson's explanation is as good as any. I suspect that the long-since disappeared trial of Blackbeard's crew would clear the matter up, but sadly...

If Hands and Hinde were indeed the same person then he'd certainly be unlikely to mention it himself at the Cape Corso trial, but nobody else mentioned it either.

I'd like to think that Israel Hands went back to sea again, but is there any real reason to suppose he sailed with Roberts?

(Incidentally, I believe the tavern supposedly run by Mary Read still exists - perhaps you can confirm this if you're local)

Ah well, without access to the right documents it was pure speculation anyway.

As for the tavern 'the three horse shoes', which Mary was supposed to have run, it was actually a brewery (the two things usually existed under one roof), that's been around since at least 1534. The name 'The three horse shoes' was first used for it in 1628, which means reports of Mary opening this tavern/brewery are incorrect. If she ran it at all, she must have taken over from a previous owner or maybe just worked there.

The brewery built a big factory on another site in 1880, remains of which are still around. The original site (roughly) is now a neighborhood called 'the three horse shoes', after the old brewery. Strangely enough the brewers never tried to make anything of the link with Mary Read (strange, because breweries around here are often keen to promote their own history), preferring to use the three musketeers on their bottles for some reason.

In 1982 they merged with some really big company and the old name is no longer being used.

Here be a cur'osity for you:

[Fox]

Cool, thankyou! :angry: