Meet the Crew of the Scavenger

Captain Jack Sawford · February 23, 2023

The Crew of the Scavenger is an authentic, living history pirate group based primarily in Florida, but with members around the U.S. Our main goal is to realistically portray a pirate crew from the "Golden Age of Piracy", particularly the time period between about 1710 and 1725, as they might have appeared while ashore in a town like Charles Town or Nassau. All of our clothing is as close to period correct as possible, from the cut and design of each garment, to the materials they are made of. The same goes for our weapons, be it swords, pistols, or muskets. If it wasn't around by 1725, our goal is that it won't be seen on us.

By joining this group, our members have acknowledged their ongoing commitment to an accurate portrayal of the sailors and pirates of the Flying Gang of 1710's Nassau. As such, our kits grow and change as new information comes to light. These were real people, and we aim to do them service by portraying them as correctly as we can.

We occasionally attend pirate festivals around the state where often we set up a shore encampment and engage and interpret with the public. Apart from those festivals, we try to do a yearly trip up the East coast to visit open air living history museums, like Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, Saint Mary's City, and meet up with other Scavenger crew members and reenactors that are further afield. On top of all that, we host a yearly immersive pirate careening encampment on an island in the Gulf of Mexico, typically in February, that is open to any reenactors who meet our authenticity guidelines.
The list of members, in order of rank and not related to the order of the below photos are as follows:

Captain Jack Sawford
Quartermaster Henry Sellars
Bosun Mitchell O'Sionnach
Coxswain Gilbert "Frenchie" Bontecue
Master Gunner Simon Jeffreys
Carpenter Red Herring
Ship's Musician Harry Thatcher
Cook Oliver Trowbridge
Seaman "Iron Jon" Washbourne
Seaman Thomas Blackwell
Seaman Jonathan Connolly
Seaman James Wilkinson
Seaman Richard Daniels
Seaman Bart Martinszoon
Seaman David Matheson
Seaman Tomas José Garcia
Seaman Jonah
Seaman Lachlan MacIntosh
Seaman Michael Wagner
Seaman Cran Ohlandt
Seaman Adam Cyphers
Seaman Samuel Cooper
Seaman Jan Bauknecht