The Short Life of Pirate Richard Worley

[Sully Cross]

   Richard Worley's first prize was the capture of household goods from a shallop in the Delaware River near New Castle in September 1718. This attack was technically burglary rather than piracy, as according to British maritime law at the time the attack did not take place in international waters. Local authorities mistakenly attributed the attack to Worley's better-known counterpart Blackbeard, who had raided the same waterways earlier in the year. Vessels were armed and sent to intercept the robbers but, after cruising for several days without setting sight on Worley, returned empty-handed.

 

   Their second prize brought better luck as, upon capturing a sloop bound for Philadelphia, Worley also gained four additional crew members. A few days later they requisitioned another sloop bound for Hull which, as well as being in better condition, was fully provisioned which they had desperate need of.

 

   They left the Delaware and set out to sea to the Bahamas pursued by the 24-gun warship HMS Phoenix, he and his crew were able to evade capture. After six weeks off the Bahamas, he captured a brigantine and a sloop, increased his crew to about twenty-five and gained six cannons and numerous small arms. The brigantine was released but the sloop sunk.

 

   Worley sailed north in his ship New York's Revenge alongside a second larger ship now under captain of his former First Mate John Cole called New York Revenge’s Revenge. Cole's ship had been the prisoner transport Eagle, captured by them off Virginia the previous month. South Carolina Governor Robert Johnson received news that William Moody was near Charles Towne and sent four ships to find him. Instead they found Worley and Cole off of Sullivans Island. The pirate hunters split up and chased them down separately, capturing Cole some hours after, Worley was killed in the battle. Cole's ship was still carrying prisoners, including 36 women destined to be sold into indentured servitude who all died. Cole and his crew were taken in chains to Charles Towne where nineteen were tried, found guilty of piracy, and hanged at Whites Point Novemberer 24th, 1718.

 

Edited May 23 by Sully Cross

[Mary Diamond]

Yet another informative post, thank you!

[Sully Cross]

Located at the "Battery" in Charleston, SC stands this marker. It is located near where White Point once was.

[Stynky Tudor]

On 5/23/2024 at 2:51 PM, Sully Cross said:

Richard Worley's

Hey Sully, do you have a source from where this info came from?

[Sully Cross]

Yes

• Johnson, Charles (1725). A General History of the Pyrates. Vol. I (3 ed.). London: T.Warner.
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•  Seitz, Don Carlos (2002). Under the Black Flag. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 162–164. 
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