Every claim in the Archives

The claims

1. Kidd held a commission to pursue pirates. Confirmed
   Legal document

   Royal commission under the Great Seal, dated 26 January 1695/6, naming the pirates Thomas Tew, John Ireland, Thomas Wake and William Mace (period transcriptions)On: Captain Kidd; Was Captain Kidd a Pirate?; William Kidd
2. Kidd held authority against French shipping. Very likely
   Letter of marque

   Privateering commission and letter of marque against the French, c. December 1695 (Calendar of State Papers Colonial)On: Captain Kidd; Was Captain Kidd a Pirate?; The French Passes
3. Quedagh Merchant carried French protection papers. Very likely
   Captured documents

   French pass for the Quedagh Merchant, signed Francois Martin, 14 January 1698 at Hugli, printed in the House of Commons Journal XIII.21 (Jameson 1923)On: Captain Kidd; Was Captain Kidd a Pirate?; Quedagh Merchant; The French Passes
4. The government possessed French passes before Kidd's trial. Very likely
   Parliamentary and custody records

   Kidd's arraignment statement that Lord Bellomont had seized his papers (printed 1701 trial record); the passes were later printed in the Commons Journal XIII.21 and survive as copies at The National Archives, CO 5/860 No. 64 ii (Rouparelle, undated) and No. 64 iii (Cara or Quedagh Merchant, 14 Jan 1698), enclosed with Bellomont's letter and digitised in the TNA image libraryOn: Captain Kidd; Captain Kidd: Political Fall Guy; Trial of William Kidd; The French Passes
5. The jury did not see the passes. Confirmed
   Trial record

   Printed Admiralty sessions trial record (1701): the passes were not produced and no witness would say he had seen oneOn: Captain Kidd; Captain Kidd: Political Fall Guy; Trial of William Kidd; The French Passes
6. Kidd struck William Moore with a bucket and Moore died the next day. Confirmed
   Trial testimony

   First (murder) indictment and testimony of Joseph Palmer and surgeon Robert Bradinham, printed 1701 trial record: a blow with a wooden bucket bound with iron on 30 October 1697, Moore dying the next dayOn: Captain Kidd; William Kidd; William Moore; Trial of William Kidd
7. Bellomont helped organise the venture and later ordered Kidd's arrest. Confirmed
   Correspondence and official records

   Colonial Office correspondence and Calendar of State Papers Colonial, vols 17-18; Bellomont to the Board of Trade, 8 July 1699 (Jameson document 77)On: Captain Kidd; Captain Kidd: Political Fall Guy; Richard Coote, Earl of Bellomont
8. Political self-protection influenced the handling of Kidd. Unverified
   Interpretation

   Interpretation from the pattern of correspondence, the parliamentary context and modern scholarship (Ritchie 1986; Jameson 1923)On: Captain Kidd; Captain Kidd: Political Fall Guy
9. Kidd was tried at an Admiralty sessions held at the Old Bailey on 8 and 9 May 1701, on six indictments, and found guilty on all. Confirmed
   Trial record

   Printed Admiralty sessions trial record (1701)On: Captain Kidd; Trial of William Kidd; William Kidd
10. The jury found the taking of the Quedagh Merchant to be piracy; Kidd had renamed her the Adventure Prize. Unverified
    Trial record

    Second indictment and verdict, printed 1701 trial record; capture dated 30 January 1697/8, about ten leagues from CochinOn: Captain Kidd; Trial of William Kidd; Quedagh Merchant
11. Kidd was hanged at Execution Dock, Wapping, on 23 May 1701. Confirmed
    Trial pamphlet

    Title page of the printed 1701 trial pamphletOn: Captain Kidd; Trial of William Kidd; William Kidd
12. The first rope broke and Kidd was hanged a second time. Very likely
    Secondary accounts

    Widely and consistently reported in later accounts; not present in the 1701 trial pamphletOn: Captain Kidd; William Kidd
13. Kidd's body was gibbeted at Tilbury Point on the Thames and displayed for about three years. Likely
    Secondary accounts

    Consistently reported; the display duration is disputed, two to three yearsOn: William Kidd
14. Kidd was born about 1654, with the traditional c. 1645 recorded as an inherited convention. Likely
    Deposition (secondary reading)

    His 1695 High Court of Admiralty deposition giving his age as 41, known through secondary transcriptions; the c. 1645 tradition is inheritedOn: William Kidd
15. The forename Robert appears for Kidd in the 1695 royal commission, an attested documentary alias. Very likely
    Legal document

    Royal commission of 26 January 1695/6, two independent period transcriptions; the original manuscript is not yet examinedOn: William Kidd
16. Two French passes, for the Rouparelle and the Quedagh (Cara) Merchant, survive in print, and their absence from the trial was central to Kidd's defence. Very likely
    Parliamentary print

    House of Commons Journal XIII.21, transcribed in Jameson (1923); rediscovered among Board of Trade papers in 1910. The passes survive at The National Archives as CO 5/860, Nos. 64 ii (Rouparelle) and 64 iii (Quedagh Merchant), enclosures to Bellomont's letter.On: Captain Kidd; Trial of William Kidd; The French Passes
17. The two chief Crown witnesses were pardoned former members of Kidd's crew, Joseph Palmer and the surgeon Robert Bradinham, who turned King's evidence. Confirmed
    Trial record

    The Arraignment, Tryal and Condemnation of Captain William Kidd (London, 1701), the printed trial recordOn: Captain Kidd; Trial of William Kidd
18. Most of Kidd's crew deserted to Robert Culliford at Ile Sainte-Marie, Madagascar, in 1698. Unverified
    Correspondence and secondary accounts

    Calendar of State Papers Colonial and secondary accountsOn: Captain Kidd; Madagascar; Robert Culliford; Mocha Frigate
19. The captured hull, Kidd's renamed prize, was located off Catalina Island, Dominican Republic, in 2007; it is a prize hull, not the Adventure Galley. Very likely
    Archaeology

    Indiana University underwater investigation of the Quedagh Merchant / Cara Merchant wreckOn: Quedagh Merchant
20. On 7 May 1694 Every led the mutiny that seized the Charles the Second at Corunna, was elected captain, and renamed her the Fancy. Unverified
    Trial record and pirate declaration

    Printed 1696 trial record (A63217), Every's own Johanna declaration and David Creagh's testimony ('Upon the 7th of May, 1694, I came to the Groin')On: Henry Every; Fancy
21. The mutiny indictment dates the taking of the Charles the Second to 30 May 1694, a regnal-year form ('the 30th of May, in the 6th Year of the Reign'); the working date of 7 May 1694 rests on Every's declaration and Creagh's testimony, and the two dates do not reconcile. Confirmed
    Trial indictment

    Printed 1696 trial record (A63217), indictment read verbatim; no '30 April' variant exists in the print; the 7 May / 30 May conflict stays logged as unresolvedOn: Henry Every; Trials of Every's Crew; William May; Charles II; Fancy
22. The indictment dates the taking of the smaller Moorish ship, not the Ganj-i-Sawai, to 28 September 1695, forty leagues from Surat. Very likely
    Trial indictment

    Printed 1696 trial record (A63217): 'on the 28th of September, 1695. in a Place 40 Leagues distant from Surrat'; this indictment date belongs to the smaller Moorish prize, not the Ganj-i-SawaiOn: Henry Every
23. Every's company captured the Ganj-i-Sawai near Surat in early to mid September 1695; the printed trial gives no day-date for the taking. Very likely
    Trial record and secondary chronology

    Printed 1696 trial record (A63217): 'ten Leagues from the Cape St. Iohns near Surat', no day-date; the commonly cited 7 September 1695 is secondary. The print's silence on the day-date is confirmedOn: Henry Every; Ganj-i-Sawai; Fancy
24. Sexual violence, torture and forced suicides aboard the captured Indian ships are attested by two independent and mutually hostile sources: the Mughal historian Khafi Khan and the East India Company governor Sir John Gayer. Very likely
    Mughal chronicle and company letter

    Khafi Khan, Muntakhab-ul-Lubab, trans. Elliot and Dowson vol. 7, pp. 350-351; Sir John Gayer's Bombay letter of 12 October 1695 (Jameson doc 60). The English printed trial confines itself to property crime and records only that several men were killed. No source gives reliable numbersOn: Henry Every; Ganj-i-Sawai
25. The attack triggered a diplomatic crisis at Surat: the Mughal governor imprisoned the East India Company factors and Aurangzeb pressured the Company, which undertook to make good the losses and to convoy the pilgrim fleet. Likely
    Company letter and petition

    Gayer's Bombay letter of 12 October 1695 (Jameson doc 60) and the East India Company petition (Jameson doc 58), corroborated by the Venice letter (doc 61). The crisis and the factory seizure are Confirmed; the compensation terms are Probable.On: Henry Every; Ganj-i-Sawai
26. The plunder is reported at widely different figures across the sources; the one figure that recurs is a share of about 1,000 pounds a man for roughly 180 men. Likely
    Trial indictment, deposition and chronicle

    Gunsway indictment (100,000 pieces of eight plus 100,000 chequins); Khafi Khan (52 lakh rupees aboard); Dann (about 1,000 pounds a man); modern totals range from about 325,000 to 600,000 pounds. That the estimates vary is Confirmed; any single total is Probable.On: Henry Every; Ganj-i-Sawai
27. Every was never caught; no reliable trace of him survives after June 1696, and no primary record fixes the fact, date or place of his death. Confirmed
    Corpus-level negative finding

    The manhunt proclamations never closed the case; a NEGATIVE FINDING that no primary death record was located. The disappearance, not a documented death, is the terminus of the secure biographyOn: Henry Every
28. The 1696 proclamations name 'Henry Every alias Bridgeman'; the alias Bridgeman is a documented one Every used during and after his piracy. Confirmed
    Proclamation

    English Lords Justices proclamation (EEBO A39489) which states he 'now goes by the Name of Henry Bridgman'; Scottish Privy Council proclamation (EEBO B05636)On: Henry Every
29. The Lords Justices proclaimed a reward of 500 pounds for Every on 17 July 1696, and the East India Company agreed to fund the hunt; the often-repeated combined 1,000-pound bounty is not in the proclamation texts. Confirmed
    Proclamation and company records

    Lords Justices proclamation of 17 July 1696, 500 pounds for Every and 50 pounds per accomplice. The 500-pound reward and the East India Company funding are Confirmed; the 1,000-pound top-up is a secondary claim and is Probable.On: Henry Every
30. The first trial was a single sitting on Monday 19 October 1696 at which the jury, against the court's expectation, acquitted the prisoners on the Ganj-i-Sawai indictment. Confirmed
    Trial record

    Printed 1696 trial record (A63217), body reading 'Monday the 19th Day of October' and 'the Jury, contrary to the expectation of the Court, brought in all the Prisoners Not Guilty'; the title-page date of 29 October is a printer's errorOn: Trials of Every's Crew; The Tryals of Joseph Dawson and Others (1696); Henry Every
31. Days later the prisoners were recommitted and convicted at a second trial, on the Charles the Second mutiny (31 October 1696) and on the Danish and Moorish indictments (6 November 1696). Confirmed
    Trial record

    Printed 1696 trial record (A63217): 'Die Sabbati, tricesimo primo Octobris... 1696' (Saturday 31 October) and 'Friday Novemb. the 6th 1696'On: Trials of Every's Crew; The Tryals of Joseph Dawson and Others (1696); William May
32. The court treated the first acquittal as a scandal: Lord Chief Justice Holt called the verdict a dishonour to the justice of the nation, jurors from the first panel were challenged off the second, and the charge to the second jury urged conviction. Confirmed
    Trial record

    Printed 1696 trial record (A63217): 'that Verdict was a dishonour to the Justice of the Nation'On: Trials of Every's Crew; The Tryals of Joseph Dawson and Others (1696)
33. Six men were condemned; five were hanged at Execution Dock on 25 November 1696 (Forseith, May, Bishop, Lewis and Sparkes), and Joseph Dawson, who had pleaded guilty, was reprieved. Very likely
    Trial record

    Printed 1696 trial record (A63217): 'Edward Foreseth and the rest were Executed, on Wednesday, November the 25th 1696, at Execution-Dock'. The six condemnations and the 25 November execution are Confirmed; the Dawson reprieve is Probable.On: Trials of Every's Crew; Henry Every
34. The crew were tried at Admiralty sessions held in the Old Bailey building, a separate jurisdiction from the regular Old Bailey Proceedings, so the trial is not found in Old Bailey Online. Very likely
    Trial record and jurisdiction records

    Printed 1696 trial record (A63217), title stating Admiralty Sessions; High Court of Admiralty series HCA 1; the Proceedings cover only City of London and Middlesex sessionsOn: Trials of Every's Crew; The Tryals of Joseph Dawson and Others (1696)
35. The 1696 printed trial, The Tryals of Joseph Dawson and others, survives and is fully digitised in multiple public-domain copies. Confirmed
    Printed trial record

    Library of Congress (LCCN 19011844), HathiTrust (mdp.35112204867115) and the EEBO-TCP transcription A63217; printed for John Everingham, London, 1696On: The Tryals of Joseph Dawson and Others (1696); Trials of Every's Crew
36. The story that Every returned home and died poor after being cheated of his diamonds is legend, derived from van Broeck (1709) and Johnson's General History, Vol. 1 (1724); no primary death record exists. Speculative
    Secondary and literary accounts

    Johnson, General History, Vol. 1 (1724), 'not being worth as much as would buy him a coffin'; the 1709 van Broeck pamphlet is fiction. Always flagged as legendOn: Henry Every
37. The preferred documentary form of the name is 'Henry Every', with 'Avery' a common contemporary and modern variant; 'John Avery' is an erroneous literary form from the 1709 pamphlet. Very likely
    Documentary and secondary

    Contemporary spellings and the 1709 van Broeck pamphlet as the origin of the 'John Avery' errorOn: Henry Every
38. Every's birth year and place are unresolved: 1659 at Newton Ferrers, 1653 at Cattedown near Plymouth, or c. 1656 from the Phillips deposition. Possible
    Parish and deposition readings

    Competing versions; the 1653 Cattedown claim traces to the unreliable 1709 pamphlet and is capped at Speculative. Sources agree only on Devon origin near PlymouthOn: Henry Every
39. The pirate's surname is attested in life as Thach or Thatch; the earliest datable attestation is 'Edward Thach' in Henry Timberlake's deposition of 17 December 1716. Confirmed
    Deposition (period transcription)

    Deposition of Henry Timberlake, master of the brigantine Lamb, 17 December 1716, describing an encounter of 13 December 1716 off western Hispaniola; transcribed by Brooks from the Public Record Office originalOn: Edward Thache (Blackbeard)
40. 'Teach' is a later print standardisation, not the pirate's own or his associates' usual spelling. Very likely
    Period print and early secondary source

    The Boston News-Letter (1718) called him 'Capt. Teach'; Johnson, General History, Vol. 1 (1724) fixed the form in popular memoryOn: Edward Thache (Blackbeard)
41. The forename Edward is consistent across the earliest independent period documents of 1716 to 1718. Confirmed
    Depositions and official records

    Timberlake (1716), Dickinson (1717), Bostock (1717) and the 1718 naval and newspaper reports all give EdwardOn: Edward Thache (Blackbeard)
42. The nickname Blackbeard is first attested in Jonathan Dickinson's letter of 23 October 1717 ('One Capan Tatch Allias Blackbeard'); the long black beard is independently described in Henry Bostock's deposition. Unverified
    Letter and deposition (period transcription)

    Dickinson letter, 23 October 1717; Bostock deposition sworn 19 December 1717 (Margaret taken 5 December 1717), 'a tall Spare Man with a very black beard which he wore very long'On: Edward Thache (Blackbeard)
43. The Bristol origin rests on a single sentence in an uneven early secondary source and has no corroborating period record. Possible
    Early secondary source

    Johnson, General History, Vol. 1 (1724), 'a Bristol man born, but had sailed some time out of Jamaica, in privateers'; capped at Possible for want of corroborationOn: Edward Thache (Blackbeard)
44. A Jamaica / Spanish Town origin is the leading modern reconstruction, but the identification of the documented Thache family with the pirate is inferential. Likely
    Early secondary source and genealogical reconstruction

    Charles Leslie, A New Account of Jamaica (1739), 'born in Jamaica, of very creditable parents'; Baylus Brooks's Spanish Town Thache reconstruction, which reviewers (Konstam, the QAR project) accept only as a possibilityOn: Edward Thache (Blackbeard)
45. No birth record for the pirate has been produced; the usual date of about 1680 is a back-calculation from apparent age at death. Possible
    Estimate (no primary)

    About 1680 is derived from an assumed age of 35 to 40 at death in 1718; the NPS c. 1660 and Brooks's early-to-mid 1680s figures are recorded as disagreementsOn: Edward Thache (Blackbeard)
46. His nationality was English / British, whether he was born in Bristol or in the British colony of Jamaica. Very likely
    Interpretation of period record

    Secure independent of the birthplace dispute, since both candidate origins lie within British territoryOn: Edward Thache (Blackbeard)
47. Thache operated as a consort of Benjamin Hornigold from late 1716, taking his own command by 1717. Very likely
    Deposition and colonial report

    Timberlake deposition, 17 December 1716, placing Thache with Hornigold's company; Capt. Matthew Musson's report of 5 July 1717 lists 'Thatch' among the captains based at New ProvidenceOn: Edward Thache (Blackbeard); Benjamin Hornigold
48. Thache was killed resisting arrest at Ocracoke on 22 November 1718 and was never tried, so no court adjudicated his personal guilt for any act. Confirmed
    Colonial and naval reports

    Spotswood's dispatch and the near-contemporary naval and press accounts; he was never tried, and these pages never call him convictedOn: Edward Thache (Blackbeard); William Howard
49. No period source in evidence records Thache killing or seriously harming a captive before the Ocracoke battle; the sadistic-murderer image is largely later legend. Very likely
    Interpretation of period record

    The Bostock, Wyer, Wragg and French-crew captives were all released alive; Konstam, 'until Teach's final battle, he had not so much as killed a single man'; David Moore concurs; that is the editorial line hereOn: Edward Thache (Blackbeard)
50. The fourteen wives story has no documentary support; even a single North Carolina marriage lacks any contemporary record. Speculative
    Early secondary source and later tradition

    Fourteen wives derive solely from Johnson, General History, Vol. 1 (1724), and are Speculative; a single NC marriage, later attached to a 'Mary Ormond' from nineteenth-century family lore, is held at Possible with the name not documentedOn: Edward Thache (Blackbeard)

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