“He had a great deal of good Nature, and did not want for Courage; he was not avaritious, and always averse to the ill Usage of Prisoners received.”
— Charles Johnson on Edward England in A General History of the Pyrates, 1724.
Although not the most well-known pirate captain, Edward England was considered important enough to receive his own chapter in Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates. It is thought by some that his real name might have been Jasper Seegar, although others dispute this, claiming this name belonged to different pirate. England was born around 1685 in Ireland and was possibly a Catholic and a Jacobite. He started his career as a sailor and probably fought in the Spanish War of Succession as a privateer. After the war he found employment as a mate aboard a merchant sloop sailing out of Jamaica until it was captured by a pirate ship commanded by Christopher Winter.…
Active between 1719 and 1722, Bartholomew Roberts is viewed as being one of the most successful pirates, when judged by the amount of vessels captured. It is thought he took as many as 470 vessels, albeit the half of them being fishing boats. Born with the Christian name John, it is unsure why he took the name Bartholomew. Some say he adopted the name in reference to the legendary buccaneer Bartholomew Sharp, others say in order to hide his true identity.…
Presuming all the tales of his exploits are true, Edward Lowe, also Low or Loe, was probably the most cruel and bloodthirsty pirate of the Golden Age, possibly second only to Fran