The 36-year-old John Brownrigg is an experienced seaman from Newcastle. Although he officially holds the position of coxswain on Dream Chaser, he is one of the most indispensable crewmembers in the day-to-day running of the vessel, as well as maintaining the sails and rigging. Generally good-natured, he is known to be hot-tempered at times, especially with regards to the love-hate relationship that has developed between him and William Benton. A committed Jacobite, he was a sailor on a privateer vessel which took the Old Pretender, James Stuart, from France to Peterhead in Scotland, although they arrived too late for the battle. After the defeat of the Jacobites at the Battle of Preston in November 1715, he fled to the Caribbean , where he served on several pirate vessels until he encountered Captain Ironside in Nassau, to whom he pledged his undying loyalty
“The second was the coxswain, John Brownrigg, a tall man with a round, angry-looking face and long, greasy brown hair. He sported a short beard and wore a threadbare waistcoat with no shirt.”