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Thomas Green

English commander of the East India ship Worcester, convicted of piracy, robbery and murder by a Scottish admiralty court and hanged in April 1705 on evidence that will not stand.

Bornnot documentedDied11 April 1705, hangedAlso writtenCaptain Thomas Green (printed Tryal, 1705); Capt. Tho. Green (title of the London pamphlet, 1705); Captain Thomas Greer (print error in the doom)

Thomas Green commanded an English East India ship, the Worcester, freighted out of London by Captain Thomas Bowrey of Wellclose Square. A Scottish court convicted him of piracy, robbery and murder. The conviction happened. Whether the piracy did is another matter: very little that came out before or after the trial says it did.1,2,3

The captain and the ship

In court he was "Captain Thomas Green, Commander of the Ship the Worcester." He is Capt. Tho. Green in the shorter forms, and the doom, or the man setting the type for it, once turned him into Captain Thomas Greer. There is no byname. He never took a second name to sail under. He had sailed from England in the Worcester, in the libel's own words, "upon pretence of merchandising towards the East-Indies".6,7

Seized at Leith

The seizure came first, and piracy had nothing to do with it. In August 1704 the Company of Scotland took the Worcester at Leith in reprisal for the English seizure of the Company's own ship, the Annandale, with the Darien failure still raw and Scottish anger with it. A merchantman held hostage in a quarrel between two kingdoms and their trading companies: that was Green's position months before anyone accused him of a crime.8

The libel

The libel charges an attack on "another Ship, or Vessel, bearing a Red Flag, and having English or Scots aboard", and elsewhere on "Captain Drummond's Ship belonging to the Scots African Company". The name Speedy Return appears nowhere in it. It came into the case afterwards, through the Dictionary of National Biography and the accounts that followed it, very likely rightly, but it was never what Green answered. Alexander Higgins, the procurator-fiscal, alleged that the Worcester's men boarded from their own manned sloop on the coast of Malabar, somewhere between February and May 1703, killed about ten or more men who spoke English, and robbed the vessel of her goods and cargo.9,10,11

Green pleaded not guilty. The defence was that the Worcester had been on an open homeward voyage and that the men accusing him had not been aboard when the thing was supposed to have happened. The prosecution answered it with paper out of Green's own books: the freighters' instructions, letters from Thomas Bowrey directing that correspondence be written in a cipher alphabet and that the names of any men who died be set in cipher after the writer's own. Trade secrecy, of the kind any London owner might send after his ship. Sir David Dalrymple's speech to the jury turned it into a scheme for hiding murder.12,13

One clear witness

The assize found "one clear Witness as to the Piracy, Robbery, and Murder libelled, together with accumulative and concurring Presumptions". One man and a set of presumptions carried a capital conviction. The witness was the Worcester's cook's mate, Antonio Ferdinando, who deposed that he had joined the ship at Callicoiloan; the Dictionary of National Biography, reading the same deposition, holds that he "did not join the Worcester until long after the time referred to". The others who spoke had not been aboard at all.14,15

Green stood as the principal panel with fourteen of his crew, among them the chief mate John Madder and the gunner James Simpson. The interlocutor and the verdict fell on 16 March 1705, the doom on 21 March.16,4

The doom set three execution dates, 4, 11 and 18 April, for different groups of the condemned, and acquitted a single man, John Reynolds. Fewer men died than that list of dates suggests. After reprieves and a postponement, three men were hanged on 11 April: Green, Madder and Simpson. Keigle and Haines, whom the doom had named for the fourth, lived. So did every other condemned man on the list.17,5,18

The other ship

Exculpation was in official hands before the rope was rigged. On 30 March 1705 two seamen of the Speedy Return swore at Portsmouth that Madagascar pirates had taken their ship and that the Worcester had never attacked them. Robert Drury's Journal, as the Dictionary of National Biography reports it, has Drummond's ship taken by pirates at Madagascar and Drummond himself killed later at Tullea. Of evidence that the murder had happened at all there was, in the Dictionary of National Biography's words, "none whatever that Drummond had been murdered, or that he was even dead".19,20,21

Not everyone thought him wronged. Alexander Hamilton, in his New Account of the East Indies, is reported to have held that Green deserved hanging for other crimes whether or not he was innocent of Drummond's murder. Nothing corroborates it, and the account that relays it points out that Hamilton was a Scotsman writing in Scotland.22

Two documents carry this page. The official printed proceedings, Edinburgh 1705, from the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, hold the preface, the indictments, the libel, the depositions, the interlocutor, the verdict, the doom and the cipher letters; the Dictionary of National Biography carries most of what came after the court rose. The London tracts of 1705, The Case of Capt. Thomas Green and the Remarks upon the Tryal, and the reprint of the trial in the Complete Collection of State Trials were located and not read here, and Hamilton and Drury are present only as the Dictionary reports them. Nothing read gives Green's parentage, his birth, or a single day of his life before he took the Worcester to sea.23,24

What the evidence does not settle

Origins

  • Green's parentage, birth and life before the Worcester voyage

The lost ship

  • Whether Captain Drummond's ship was the Speedy Return

Portsmouth affidavit

  • The original affidavit of 30 March 1705

Each line is one question with its own grade, taken from the register where a claim carries it. Nothing here is graded as a whole.

Sources for this record

Every statement above that rests on a checked claim carries a small number; the numbers lead here. Each entry gives what is claimed, how far the record supports it, and where it comes from.

  1. Thomas Green was an Englishman and commander of the Worcester, an English East India ship freighted by Captain Thomas Bowrey of Wellclose Square, London. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial pamphlet: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority)
  2. Green was tried and convicted of piracy, robbery and murder, and that conviction is a legal event of record. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial pamphlet: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority)
  3. Green's guilt of piracy and murder is not established and is rejected by the weight of the evidence. Speculative An inference, not a finding. Trial pamphlet and biographical dictionary: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority); with Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 23, Green, Thomas (d.1705), pp. 60 to 61
  4. The interlocutor and verdict in Green's trial fell on 16 March 1705 and the doom on 21 March 1705. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial pamphlet: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority)
  5. Green was hanged on 11 April 1705. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Trial pamphlet and biographical dictionary: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority); with Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 23, Green, Thomas (d.1705), pp. 60 to 61
  6. The printed record repeatedly styles him Captain Thomas Green, Commander of the Ship the Worcester, and in shorter form Capt. Tho. Green; the doom carries the print error Captain Thomas Greer, and he bore no assumed name or pirate byname. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial pamphlet: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority)
  7. Green had sailed from England in the Worcester on an East India voyage, which the libel describes as upon pretence of merchandising towards the East-Indies. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial pamphlet: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority)
  8. The Worcester was seized at Leith in August 1704 in reprisal by the Company of Scotland for the English seizure of the Company's ship Annandale, in the aftermath of the Darien failure, and not as a piracy arrest. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial pamphlet: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority)
  9. The printed libel charges an attack on another ship or vessel bearing a red flag and having English or Scots aboard, elsewhere called Captain Drummond's ship belonging to the Scots African Company, and does not use the name Speedy Return. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial pamphlet: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority)
  10. The identification of the vessel named in the libel with the Speedy Return is carried by the Dictionary of National Biography and the later record rather than by the printed proceedings. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Biographical dictionary: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 23, Green, Thomas (d.1705), pp. 60 to 61
  11. The procurator-fiscal Alexander Higgins alleged that the Worcester's men boarded the vessel from their own manned sloop on the coast of Malabar between February and May 1703, killed about ten or more men who spoke English, and robbed her of her goods and cargo. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Trial pamphlet: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority)
  12. Green pleaded not guilty, and the defence urged that the Worcester was on an open homeward voyage and that the accusing witnesses had not been aboard at the time. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Trial pamphlet: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority)
  13. The prosecution used the freighters' instructions found in Green's books, letters from Captain Thomas Bowrey directing that correspondence be written in a cipher alphabet and that the names of any men who died be set in cipher after the writer's own, and Sir David Dalrymple's speech to the jury turned upon them. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial pamphlet: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority)
  14. The assize found one clear witness as to the piracy, robbery and murder libelled, together with accumulative and concurring presumptions. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial pamphlet: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority)
  15. That witness was the Worcester's cook's mate Antonio Ferdinando, who deposed that he joined the ship at Callicoiloan, and the Dictionary of National Biography holds that he did not join the Worcester until long after the time referred to. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Trial pamphlet and biographical dictionary: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority); with Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 23, Green, Thomas (d.1705), pp. 60 to 61
  16. Green stood as the principal panel alongside fourteen of his crew, among them the chief mate John Madder and the gunner James Simpson. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial pamphlet: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority)
  17. The doom set three execution dates, 4, 11 and 18 April, for different groups of the condemned, and acquitted only John Reynolds. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial pamphlet: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority)
  18. After reprieves and a postponement only Green, Madder and Simpson were hanged, and every other condemned man, including Keigle and Haines whom the doom had named for 4 April, was reprieved. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Trial pamphlet and biographical dictionary: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority); with Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 23, Green, Thomas (d.1705), pp. 60 to 61
  19. On 30 March 1705 two seamen of the Speedy Return swore at Portsmouth that Madagascar pirates had taken their ship and that the Worcester had never attacked them. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Biographical dictionary: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 23, Green, Thomas (d.1705), pp. 60 to 61
  20. The Speedy Return, Captain Robert Drummond, was taken by Madagascar pirates, and Robert Drury's Journal, as the Dictionary of National Biography reports it, has Drummond killed later at Tullea in Madagascar. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Biographical dictionary: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 23, Green, Thomas (d.1705), pp. 60 to 61
  21. The Dictionary of National Biography records that there was no evidence whatever that Drummond had been murdered, or that he was even dead. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Biographical dictionary: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 23, Green, Thomas (d.1705), pp. 60 to 61
  22. Alexander Hamilton's reported opinion, in his New Account of the East Indies, that Green deserved hanging for other crimes whether or not he was innocent of Drummond's murder is uncorroborated and is discounted by the Dictionary of National Biography that relays it. Speculative An inference, not a finding. Biographical dictionary: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 23, Green, Thomas (d.1705), pp. 60 to 61
  23. The core source for the case is the official printed proceedings of 1705, which carry the preface, the indictments, the libel, the depositions, the interlocutor, the verdict, the doom and the freighters' cipher letters. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial pamphlet: The Tryal of Captain Thomas Green and his Crew, pursued before the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Assessors appointed by the Lords of Privy Council, at the instance of Mr. Alexander Higgins Advocat, Procurator-fiscal, for Piracy, Robbery and Murder (Edinburgh, printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, 1705, published by authority)
  24. The London tracts of 1705, The Case of Capt. Thomas Green and Remarks upon the Tryal of Capt. Thomas Green and his Crew, and the reprint of the trial in the Complete Collection of State Trials, volume 14, were located but not read for this record, and the books of Alexander Hamilton and Robert Drury are known here only as the Dictionary of National Biography reports them. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Biographical dictionary: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 23, Green, Thomas (d.1705), pp. 60 to 61