About the Curator

I'm Neil Johnson. I live in Liverpool, a city built by the sea trade, which is perhaps why the question at the heart of this project got under my skin: why did the most democratic institutions of the eighteenth century appear on ships flying the black flag?

The Archives grew out of the research for Sailing the Black Flag, my history of pirate democracy between 1690 and 1730. Writing that book meant reading trial records against the legends, and discovering how often the documented story is stranger and better than the invented one. The Archives is that method made public: every record here carries its evidence, its confidence level and its open questions, so you can check the working rather than take my word.

The records and evidence pages speak in the institution's voice, because the standard matters more than the personality. The interpretation pieces are mine, and signed. Where a Collection opens with a curator's note, that's me telling you why this story earned a place on the floor.

Sailing the Black Flag is my first book. It will not be the last.

You can follow the work on Instagram at @sailingtheblackflag or on Substack, and the corrections page explains how to tell me when I've got something wrong. People do, and the Archives is better for it.