William Kidd, better known as Captain Kidd, had an very unfortunate career. He is believed to have been born into a poor seaman’s family in Dundee, Scotland in around 1654, later settling in New York. Not much else is known about his early life except that he took to the seas like his father before him. Although active in the grey area of privateering, it is likely that he never intended to adopt a life of piracy and was simply a victim of circumstances.
Kidd the privateer
Kidd is thought to have worked on a French privateer frigate, the Sainte Rose, during peace time. He was involved in actions against the Dutch and Spanish, including participating in the failed French attack on the Dutch Guianas. When England declared war on France in 1688, Kidd patriotically became a privateer against the French in American theatre of the War of the Grand Alliance known as King William’s War.…