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Cassandra

East India Company East Indiaman taken by Edward England's and John Taylor's pirates at Johanna in August 1720 and sailed afterwards as a pirate ship until her crew surrendered at Porto Bello.

LaunchedOctober 1719, DeptfordToNot establishedAlso writtenCaffandra (long-s printings of the period)

The Cassandra was an East India Company East Indiaman, taken up for the Bombay service and sailing for India in 1720 under Captain James Macrae. She had about 75,000 pounds of the Company's treasure aboard in ready cash, besides bale goods and European liquors, when she was lost. Her name gives no trouble: Cassandra throughout, the long-s printings of the period setting it as Caffandra, and the ship the pirates later sailed under that name is this same hull.1,2,3

The ship

She was about 380 tons, 26 guns, a crew of about 76. Thomas Bronsdon built her at Bronsdon's Yard in Deptford and launched her in October 1719, her managing owner Peter Hambly.4

She left Portsmouth on 21 March 1720 for Bombay, in company with the East Indiaman Greenwich under Captain Kirby. That day is also written 21 March 1719, in the Old Style year that began on 25 March: the same morning, counted from a different new year.5

Johanna, 17 August 1720

She came into Johanna on 25 July 1720 with the Greenwich, to refresh her men. Fourteen pirates were already ashore, come by canoe from Mayotta, where their ship the Indian Queen, under Captain Oliver de la Bouche, had been bulged and lost. Macrae and Kirby judged it would serve the Company to destroy such a nest of rogues, and were ready to sail on the morning of 17 August, about eight o'clock, when two pirate ships stood in.6,7,8

One carried thirty four guns, the other thirty. The Greenwich under Kirby, and an Ostender of twenty two guns, both left the Cassandra to fight alone. The engagement ran about three hours. She was run ashore and boarded, thirteen of her men killed and twenty four wounded, and three wounded men left aboard were cut to pieces when the pirates came over the side. A modern ship list dates all this to 7 August; the day in Macrae's own letter, with the hour, is the 17th.9,10,11

Macrae, shot in the head by a musket ball, got away with a few of his people and made the King's Town of Johanna, twenty five miles off. The pirates offered the country people ten thousand dollars to bring him in. The king and his chief men were in his interest, and nobody did.12

Macrae wrote the whole of it out from Bombay on 16 November 1720, and laid the loss of the Cassandra to the desertion of the Greenwich. It was his own account, written to explain a ship he had lost.13,14

The exchange

About ten days later Macrae went aboard the pirates under a promise of safety. The chief captain, Edward England, protected him, and in the end they made him a present of the ship they had no use for: the shattered Fancy, Dutch built, about three hundred tons, with a hundred and twenty nine bales of the Company's cloth. They kept the Cassandra in her room.15,16

The two pirate ships were Edward England's and John Taylor's, the Fancy and the Victory. Macrae named England the chief captain and described the Fancy, but never said which man had which hull; the pairing that circulates comes from A Compendious History of the Indian Wars and from later writers.17

The pirates sailed from Johanna on 3 September. Macrae followed on 8 September in the Fancy, with forty three of his crew and five tons of water, and came into Bombay on 26 October after forty eight days. England paid for the courtesy. He was pulled out of his command for siding with Macrae and marooned on Mauritius with three others, reached Madagascar, and lived there in poverty. Taylor rose in his place.18,19

Under Taylor

The pirates refitted at Mauritius about the middle of February and sailed again on 5 April. On the 8th, at the island called Mascarene, they found a Portuguese ship of seventy guns at anchor, most of her guns thrown overboard and her masts lost in a storm, and took her with little or no resistance. The Conde de Ericeira, Viceroy of Goa, was aboard. Those taken with him said that in diamonds alone she carried between three and four millions of dollars.20,21,22

That prize is commonly identified as the Nossa Senhora do Cabo, taken off Bourbon in April 1721 with Olivier Levasseur in the Victory alongside.23

At Madagascar they cleaned the Cassandra and divided the plunder, forty two small diamonds a man, or fewer where the stones were larger. The Victory was leaky and they burnt her, and as many of her men as would came into the Cassandra under Taylor. She was the only ship they had.24,25

They left Delagoa at the latter end of December 1722, could not agree what to do next, and parted. One company took the Portuguese prize for Madagascar. The rest took the Cassandra for the Spanish West Indies, where they surrendered with all their riches to the Governor of Porto Bello. The Lanceston came down a day or two too late.26,27

One account will not lie down with the others. A modern ship list has her retaken by the Falkland man of war under Captain Harris in February 1722, which sits beside neither her career under Taylor nor the surrender at Porto Bello.28

The Cassandra has no wreck. Nothing on the seabed is hers, and the treasure wreck found off Sainte-Marie in Madagascar, which popular accounts attach to her, belongs to the Nossa Senhora do Cabo, a prize rather than a captor; both of those points are reported, not checked. Nothing from the Company's own files has been read for this page, and for the fight in the bay nothing but Macrae's letter.29

What the evidence does not settle

Construction

  • Cassandra's builder, launch date, tonnage, armament and crew from Company records
  • The launch at Bronsdon's Yard comes from a ship database

Taking and later fate

  • 7 or 17 August 1720, and recapture by Falkland or surrender at Porto Bello

Physical remains

  • Whether any identified wreck belongs to CassandraUnverified

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. The Cassandra was an East India Company East Indiaman, taken up for the Bombay service and sailing to India in 1720 under Captain James Macrae. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Printed letter: A Letter from Captain Mackra, dated at Bombay, Nov. 16, 1720 (printed in A General History of the Pyrates)
  2. She was carrying about 75,000 pounds of the Company's treasure in ready cash, besides bale goods and European liquors, when she was lost. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Participant narrative: A Compendious History of the Indian Wars
  3. The ship's name is stable in the sources as Cassandra, the long-s printings of the period setting it as Caffandra, and the vessel the pirates afterwards sailed under that name is the same ship. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Printed letter: A Letter from Captain Mackra, dated at Bombay, Nov. 16, 1720 (printed in A General History of the Pyrates)
  4. A ship database compiled from East India Company journals gives her about 380 tons, 26 guns and a crew of about 76, built by Thomas Bronsdon at Bronsdon's Yard in Deptford, launched in October 1719, with Peter Hambly as managing owner. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Ship database: British Merchant East Indiaman Cassandra (1719), ship id 29166
  5. She left Portsmouth on 21 March 1720 for Bombay in company with the East Indiaman Greenwich under Captain Kirby, the same sailing being dated 21 March 1719 in the Old Style year that began on 25 March. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Museum article: Shipwreck, sickness and pirates: the dangers of working for the East India Company (points to manuscript AMS/29)
  6. The Cassandra arrived at Johanna on 25 July 1720 in company with the Greenwich, putting in there to refresh her men. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Printed letter: A Letter from Captain Mackra, dated at Bombay, Nov. 16, 1720 (printed in A General History of the Pyrates)
  7. At Johanna Macrae found fourteen pirates who had come by canoe from Mayotta, where their ship the Indian Queen, of two hundred and fifty tons, twenty eight guns and ninety men under Captain Oliver de la Bouche, had been bulged and lost. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Printed letter: A Letter from Captain Mackra, dated at Bombay, Nov. 16, 1720 (printed in A General History of the Pyrates)
  8. Macrae and Captain Kirby, judging it would serve the East India Company to destroy such a nest of rogues, were ready to sail for that purpose on the morning of 17 August about eight o'clock, when two pirate ships stood into the bay of Johanna. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Printed letter: A Letter from Captain Mackra, dated at Bombay, Nov. 16, 1720 (printed in A General History of the Pyrates), lines 3611-3616 of the Gutenberg text
  9. The two pirate ships carried thirty four guns and thirty guns, and the Greenwich under Captain Kirby and an Ostender of twenty two guns in company both deserted the action. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Printed letter: A Letter from Captain Mackra, dated at Bombay, Nov. 16, 1720 (printed in A General History of the Pyrates)
  10. After about three hours of engagement the Cassandra was run ashore and boarded, thirteen of her men were killed and twenty four wounded, and three wounded men left aboard were cut to pieces. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Printed letter: A Letter from Captain Mackra, dated at Bombay, Nov. 16, 1720 (printed in A General History of the Pyrates)
  11. A ship database dates the taking to 7 August 1720 against the 17 August given in the captain's own letter. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Ship database: British Merchant East Indiaman Cassandra (1719), ship id 29166
  12. Macrae, wounded in the head by a musket ball, made his way about twenty five miles to the King's Town of Johanna, and the pirates offered the country people ten thousand dollars to bring him in, but the king and his chief people were in his interest. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Printed letter: A Letter from Captain Mackra, dated at Bombay, Nov. 16, 1720 (printed in A General History of the Pyrates)
  13. A General History of the Pyrates relates the particulars of the action at length in a letter written by the captain from Bombay and dated 16 November 1720. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Printed letter: A Letter from Captain Mackra, dated at Bombay, Nov. 16, 1720 (printed in A General History of the Pyrates), lines 3596-3601 of the Gutenberg text
  14. Macrae's letter imputes the loss of the Cassandra to the desertion of the Greenwich, and it is his own interested account, written to explain the loss. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Printed letter: A Letter from Captain Mackra, dated at Bombay, Nov. 16, 1720 (printed in A General History of the Pyrates)
  15. About ten days after the action Macrae went aboard the pirates under a promise of safety, the chief captain Edward England protected him, and the pirates made him a present of the shattered Dutch-built Fancy of about three hundred tons together with a hundred and twenty nine bales of the Company's cloth. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Printed letter: A Letter from Captain Mackra, dated at Bombay, Nov. 16, 1720 (printed in A General History of the Pyrates)
  16. The pirates kept the Cassandra in the room of the disabled Fancy, and she thereby became a pirate ship. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Printed letter: A Letter from Captain Mackra, dated at Bombay, Nov. 16, 1720 (printed in A General History of the Pyrates)
  17. The two pirate ships were commanded by Edward England and John Taylor and were the Fancy, a Dutch-built vessel of about three hundred tons, and the Victory, but Macrae's letter does not pair the captains to the ships and that pairing rests on A Compendious History of the Indian Wars and on later writers. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Participant narrative: A Compendious History of the Indian Wars
  18. The pirates sailed from Johanna on 3 September 1720 and Macrae followed on 8 September in the Fancy with forty three of his crew and five tons of water, reaching Bombay on 26 October after forty eight days. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Printed letter: A Letter from Captain Mackra, dated at Bombay, Nov. 16, 1720 (printed in A General History of the Pyrates)
  19. Edward England was afterwards deposed from command for his leniency to Macrae and marooned with three others on Mauritius, whence he reached Madagascar and lived in poverty, and John Taylor rose in his place. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (the Chapter of Capt. England)
  20. The pirates refitted at Mauritius about the middle of February and sailed again on 5 April. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (the Chapter of Capt. England); lines 4032-4035 of the Gutenberg text
  21. On the 8th, at the island the narrative calls Mascarene, they found a Portuguese ship of seventy guns at anchor, most of her guns thrown overboard and her masts lost after a violent storm, and took her with little or no resistance. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (the Chapter of Capt. England); lines 4037-4042 of the Gutenberg text
  22. The Conde de Ericeira, Viceroy of Goa, was aboard the Portuguese prize, and those taken with him asserted that in the single article of diamonds she carried to the value of between three and four millions of dollars. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (the Chapter of Capt. England); lines 4043-4048 of the Gutenberg text
  23. The Portuguese prize is commonly identified as the Nossa Senhora do Cabo, taken off Bourbon in April 1721 with Olivier Levasseur in the Victory alongside. Unverified Reported, not yet checked against the record. Specialist history site: Capture of the Nossa Senhora do Cabo
  24. At Madagascar the pirates cleaned the Cassandra and divided their plunder, sharing forty two small diamonds a man, or fewer in proportion where the stones were larger. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (the Chapter of Capt. England); lines 4102-4104 of the Gutenberg text
  25. The Victory being leaky was burnt, and as many of her men as would came into the Cassandra under the command of Taylor. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (the Chapter of Capt. England); lines 4113-4116 of the Gutenberg text
  26. The pirates left Delagoa at the latter end of December 1722 and parted, one company going aboard the Portuguese prize for Madagascar and the rest taking the Cassandra for the Spanish West Indies. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (the Chapter of Capt. England); lines 4181-4188 of the Gutenberg text
  27. The company that took the Cassandra to the Spanish West Indies surrendered with all their riches to the Governor of Porto Bello, the man of war Lanceston arriving a day or two too late. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (the Chapter of Capt. England); lines 4191-4195 of the Gutenberg text
  28. A ship database instead has the Cassandra retaken by the Falkland man of war under Captain Harris in February 1722, which cannot be reconciled with her later career under Taylor or with the surrender at Porto Bello. Unverified Reported, not yet checked against the record. Ship database: British Merchant East Indiaman Cassandra (1719), ship id 29166
  29. No wreck of the Cassandra has been identified, and the treasure wreck found off Sainte-Marie in Madagascar is the Nossa Senhora do Cabo, a different vessel. Unverified Reported, not yet checked against the record. Specialist history site: Capture of the Nossa Senhora do Cabo