Researching Peter Easton and company

[Calico Jack]

I know the dates and basics of the story.

I know that Easton broke most of the rules [privateer turned pirate, retired rich], worked out of Newfoundland in 1602 and follows; but always looking for more information.

What sorts of bits can this crowd offer? Will post what I know already this afternoon, but thought I'd get the topic started, as I'm always hoping to learn more about Easton and his pirate fleet in the North Atlantic.

Calico Jack

[Rumba Rue]

In the book "Pirates and Outlaws of Canada 1610 to 1932" by Harold Horwood and Ed Butts, the very first chapter deals with Peter Easton.

(I found the book when I was in Canada back last Sept.)

You can find the book through Amazon.

The chapter is lengthy so I'm not about to print all of it or even scan it.

But I'll try and give you some highlights.

Captain Peter Easton commanded ten ships of war, with the flagship being the Happy Adventure.

Easton was an English gentleman from a an old familiy that had produced a bishop in the twelfth century.

Peter Easton visited Newfoundland as early as 1602, when Elizabeth was still on the throne.

On the first visit to Newfoundland, Peter had the legal right to requistion stores, numitions, even seamen if he needed them fromthe fishing fleets. On his second visit he behaved in the same way with not a shred of legal authority. Th privateer had become the world's most powerful pirate.

By 1610, he commanded a fleet of forty ships that controlled all traffick through the English Cannel. He was also beholding to the famous Killigrew family.

I'd go on, but like I said the chapter is lengthy. I can't scan it either as it goes against publishing rights.

I've done a report on the book for NQG - don't know when it will appear.

Best I can suggest to you, is A. Either buy the book B. Do a search on the Internet. Or are you looking for specific details on something?

Rumba Rue

**I came, I saw, I plundered**

[Calico Jack]

Here's what I know so far [from a variety of sources]:

1. He broke the rule that Privateers don't become pirates [despite Exc. et al's insistance otherwise, there's little evidence]; when he signed on to sail privately against the Spaniards for Liz, he didn't count on King James. James declared him and his crew Pirates [to make the Spanish happy], and Easton seems to have retaliated by becoming one.

2. He worked out of Harbour Grace in Newfoundland, eventually fortifying a small "pirate town" [shades of Tortuga]. Expect the "town" was minimal, but the fortifications remain in evidence.

3. Around 1610, he had "forty ships and five thousand men" under his command, and was a plague such that the English, French and Spanish begged the British Crown to put a stop to him.

4. He broke another rule: he saved money. Enough to buy a rather expensive [he was well known] pardon from the British Crown, and then a wedding in France.

5. He broke the third rule as well. He retired by around 162x. He retired to France as the Marquis of Savoy, having bought himself a wedding into title and estate.

Anything more than that is what I'm looking for. Anyone? [And I'll check out the recommended book, as well.]

[Calico Jack]

More on Easton, the successful pirate...

Seems he signed out, yes, in 1602, as a quiet privateer for Queen Liz to 'harry the Spaniards' in the New World. Elizabeth after all didn't like the Spanish, but liked to keep that a secret from the Spaniards. Ah, those English "Sea Hawks."

Anyhow, in 1603, a small difficulty cropped up for Easton and company. That problem was named King James. James who liked the Spaniards. James who _particularly_ liked the Spaniards to know James liked the Spaniards. So James had Easton [who was in the Americas at the time] declared pirate.

"Mythtory" has it that the first Easton learned of his new status is when the 'pirate hunters' started trying to collect the bounty. Whether that is true or no, I'm not sure [evidence in either direction is welcome!]. Either way, Easton's response - whilst a-typical a career move for privateers - is certain. If James called him a pirate, well than a pirate he'd be. Counts vary, but some sources of numbers as legitimate as others claim up to forty ships and thousands of pirates under his command at various times throughout the rest of the decade, until 1610, when England called him a "notorious pirate." Apparently there's a bit of info from the diary of John Guy:

'John Guy records in his diary that Easton returned to Newfoundland in 1610 and 1612 with his fleet. Along the rugged coasts he swept everything before him like a barbarian, capturing ships, a cannon, and $100,000 worth of bounty. He even enlisted 500 more men for his crews, most of whom joined gladly, but some of whom were tortured into submission.

With his captured cannon, Peter Easton fortified Harbour Grace Bay, and a little island off the harbor still bears his name. He built a fort just east of Caplin Cove near the spot where the museum stand today. He made his headquarters across the bay from Harbour Grace on Kelly’s Island. '

There are other, even less "factual" stories in the Easton myth/history, such as the "Princess and the Pirate" story about Princess Sheila Na Geira and Gilbert Pike - supposedly en route from Ireland to elsewhere Sheila was captured by Dutch pirates, who were in turn captured by Easton's crowd.

Anyhow, here's some more sources on an interesting character, an interesting history, and an interesting [and still active] myth:

Davis, Mary. Sheila Nageira Pike: "Carbonear's Irish Princess"

"Gravesite of Irish princess could be tourist attraction", Evening Telegram, Saturday, May 10, 1986, p. A3.

Horwood, Harold. The Princess and the Pirates, Evening Telegram

Weekend Magazine, v.9, no. 29, July 18, 1959. p9-12.

Newfoundland Historic Trust. Ten Historic Towns. Newfoundland Historic Trust Publications, Volume II, 1978.

Captain John Smith published in 1629 that Easton was the wealthy Marquis of Savoy.

[Fox]

A small point I know, but an important one to me: I don't think "Mythtory" says anything about Easton, in fact I'm sure it doesn't

[Calico Jack]

Ah, now, not all Myth and "slighty adjusted history for the sake of a good story" comes from the that website, by a long shot ['though it is a nice one]. My putting "Mythtory" in quotations was not an attempt to cite the site, but rather a reference to my not really believing it to be a proper word...

Tell someone in Newfoundland that there's no Easton myths, and you're opening up an hours-long discussion over the ballad [yes, musical and poetic ballad] of Princess Sheila and the Pirates. Aim to tell anyone in Savoy [near present-day Monaco] that there's no history, and they'll tell you about the Marquis...

It's just the rest of us outside those areas as haven't much heard of him, as his reputation [once England, France, and Spain considered him a terrible blight and near unassailable in his fortified port - to the point where the Spaniards begged England to deal with this "notorious pirate"] seems to have - like that of Bart Roberts - fallen by the wayside in popular culture; whereas Blackbeard and Morgan have remained, even if details of their histories have generally fallen to fiction.

Anyhow, enough from me, 'til I find out more history. And nice site, by the way.

[Fox]

Then I am delighted to have created a new word! I came up with the pun myself and as far as I know was the first to use it. Whaddya know, I'm a lexicolog... lexicogral... lexicophonis... word-smith!