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Speaker

A French warship taken by the English and bought by London merchants for a slaving voyage, seized on the Madagascar coast by George Booth's pirates about 1700, commanded after Booth's death by John Bowen, and wrecked on a reef off Mauritius in 1702; her wreck has been located and worked.

LaunchedNot establishedToWrecked off Mauritius, 1702

The Speaker was a large armed ship, worked as a pirate vessel in the western Indian Ocean between about 1700 and 1702 under George Booth and then under John Bowen, and she ended on a reef off Mauritius, where the wreck has been found and dug. Her career comes out of one narrative; the wreck is the part of her anyone has handled.1

A French man of war, bought in London

She had been a man of war "belonging to the French King, and could mount 50 Guns; but being taken by the English, she was bought by some London Merchants, and fitted out from that Port, to slave at Madagascar, and go to Jamaica", as the second volume of The History of the Pyrates has it. A French naval hull, an English prize, a London syndicate, and a slaving voyage that was to end in the Caribbean. She was not an English-built East Indiaman.2

Three figures are given for her size and force, and they do not agree. She "could mount 50 Guns" while the merchants had her, and at St. Augustine her new company mounted her with 54. The 450 tons that travels with her name belongs to later accounts. The guns lifted off the wreck in 2021 ran mostly to 4 and 8 pounders, calibres that suit a French fifth rate and answer to her French origin.3,4

Taken by a bribe

Booth's men took her on the Madagascar coast without fighting for her. They interceded with the local king and got at a crewman named Hugh Man, who was paid "for a hundred Pounds" to wet the priming of her guns, and she was carried "without the Loss of a Man on either Side". Neither the anchorage nor the month is recorded, and the captain who lost her is not named.5,6

At the Bay of St. Augustine she swallowed another pirate ship whole. Seventy or eighty men came over from the Alexander, Captain James, with her guns, which brought the Speaker to 54 guns and about 240 men, besides some twenty slaves.7

Booth kept her until a shore party was cut off. Arab troops at Zanguebar killed him and about twenty of his men, and the company elected John Bowen captain in his room.8

St. Thomas's Reef

Coming from the Malabar coast for Madagascar, she "ran upon St. Thomas's Reef, at the Island of Mauritius, where the Ship was lost; but Bowen and the greatest Part of the Crew got safe ashore". The site itself sits on the reef off the mouth of the Grande Riviere Sud-Est, near Roches islet. Nothing joins that reef name to the surveyed position.9,10

The year is 1702. The closest date anyone gives is 7 January 1702, after a cyclone had come through the Mascarenes. The narrative's own clock will not agree with that: it ends the company's three months on the island "about the middle of March 1701", a year early.11,12

About 170 pirates were aboard when she struck, and thirty Arab captives, by the Dutch company's own reckoning.13

Three months ashore

The Dutch governor treated the wrecked company as guests. He entertained Bowen, had the sick carried into the fort and cured, and let the colonists deal with the pirates "as friends".14

They paid for it on the way out. After about three months they made the governor a present of 2500 pieces of eight and left him the wreck, her guns and her stores. He supplied them, invited them to make the island "a Place of Refreshment", and let them buy a sloop, which they cut about into a brigantine to carry them off.15,16

What the reef kept

Patrick Lize found the wreck and worked it, and reported in 1984. A mission went back to the site at Grande Riviere Sud-Est in 2021 and brought up 32 cannon, mostly 4 to 8 pounders, three of her four anchors, clusters of iron shot, Chinese porcelain, glass beads and lead musket balls.17,18

What is missing is her paperwork. No builder's certificate, no ownership papers, no East India Company or naval survey of the Speaker was located for this record. Her tonnage, her exact armament and her build history rest on one narrative and on the later accounts that repeat it.19

What the evidence does not settle

Construction

  • Speaker's builder, tonnage and exact armamentConfirmed

Capture

  • The place and month of seizure and the captain who lost her

Wreck chronology

  • Whether St Thomas's Reef is the surveyed site and whether the loss belongs to 1701 or 1702

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 Speaker was a large armed ship worked as a pirate vessel in the western Indian Ocean between about 1700 and 1702, commanded first by George Booth and then by John Bowen, and was wrecked on a reef off Mauritius, where the wreck has since been located and worked archaeologically. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative and archaeological reports: The History of the Pyrates, Vol. II (Of Captain Bowen; the Life of Captain North; the seizure of the Speaker in the Life of Captain Thomas White); The wreck of the pirate ship Speaker on Mauritius in 1702, 13.2: 121-132; Speaker 1702 (project page and 2021 mission report); Piracy in the Indian Ocean (ca. 1680-1750), Working Paper No. 160
  2. The History of the Pyrates describes the Speaker as a former man of war "belonging to the French King, and could mount 50 Guns; but being taken by the English, she was bought by some London Merchants, and fitted out from that Port, to slave at Madagascar, and go to Jamaica", which makes her a French-built royal warship in English ownership fitted as a slaving ship and not an English-built East Indiaman. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative: The History of the Pyrates, Vol. II (Of Captain Bowen; the Life of Captain North; the seizure of the Speaker in the Life of Captain Thomas White); Speaker 1702 (project page and 2021 mission report)
  3. The History of the Pyrates gives the Speaker as a ship that "could mount 50 Guns" and says that at St. Augustine the pirates "took up her Guns, and mounted the Speaker with 54", while the 450-ton figure that accompanies her appears only in later accounts. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: The History of the Pyrates, Vol. II (Of Captain Bowen; the Life of Captain North; the seizure of the Speaker in the Life of Captain Thomas White)
  4. The guns recovered from the wreck by the 2021 mission run predominantly to 4 to 8 pounders, calibres consistent with a French fifth rate, which corroborates the French-warship origin the period narrative gives her. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Archaeological project report and period narrative: Speaker 1702 (project page and 2021 mission report); The History of the Pyrates, Vol. II (Of Captain Bowen; the Life of Captain North; the seizure of the Speaker in the Life of Captain Thomas White)
  5. George Booth's company seized the Speaker on the Madagascar coast by a ruse, interceding with the local king and bribing a crewman named Hugh Man "for a hundred Pounds" to wet the priming of her guns, so that she was boarded and taken "without the Loss of a Man on either Side". Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: The History of the Pyrates, Vol. II (Of Captain Bowen; the Life of Captain North; the seizure of the Speaker in the Life of Captain Thomas White)
  6. The period narrative does not settle where or when the Speaker was seized and does not name the captain who lost her. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: The History of the Pyrates, Vol. II (Of Captain Bowen; the Life of Captain North; the seizure of the Speaker in the Life of Captain Thomas White)
  7. At the Bay of St. Augustine the pirates took 70 to 80 men and the guns of the pirate ship Alexander, Captain James, bringing the Speaker to 54 guns and about 240 men besides some 20 slaves. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: The History of the Pyrates, Vol. II (Of Captain Bowen; the Life of Captain North; the seizure of the Speaker in the Life of Captain Thomas White)
  8. George Booth commanded the Speaker until Arab troops at Zanguebar killed him and about twenty men when a shore party was cut off, whereupon John Bowen was elected captain. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative: The History of the Pyrates, Vol. II (Of Captain Bowen; the Life of Captain North; the seizure of the Speaker in the Life of Captain Thomas White)
  9. Sailing from the Malabar coast for Madagascar the Speaker "ran upon St. Thomas's Reef, at the Island of Mauritius, where the Ship was lost; but Bowen and the greatest Part of the Crew got safe ashore". Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative and archaeological reports: The History of the Pyrates, Vol. II (Of Captain Bowen; the Life of Captain North; the seizure of the Speaker in the Life of Captain Thomas White); The wreck of the pirate ship Speaker on Mauritius in 1702, 13.2: 121-132; Speaker 1702 (project page and 2021 mission report)
  10. The wreck site lies on the reef off the mouth of the Grande Riviere Sud-Est, near Roches islet, on Mauritius, and the name St. Thomas's Reef given in the period narrative is not joined to that position by anything read for this record. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Archaeological reports and scholarly working paper: The wreck of the pirate ship Speaker on Mauritius in 1702, 13.2: 121-132; Speaker 1702 (project page and 2021 mission report); Piracy in the Indian Ocean (ca. 1680-1750), Working Paper No. 160
  11. The Speaker was wrecked in 1702. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Archaeological report and scholarly working paper: The wreck of the pirate ship Speaker on Mauritius in 1702, 13.2: 121-132; Piracy in the Indian Ocean (ca. 1680-1750), Working Paper No. 160
  12. The most precise date given for the loss is 7 January 1702, after a cyclone in the Mascarenes, and the period narrative's own chronology, which ends the company's three months on the island "about the middle of March 1701", runs about a year early. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Scholarly working paper and period narrative: Piracy in the Indian Ocean (ca. 1680-1750), Working Paper No. 160; The wreck of the pirate ship Speaker on Mauritius in 1702, 13.2: 121-132
  13. At the wreck the Speaker carried about 170 pirates and 30 Arab captives, a count reaching one scholarly account through Dutch company records. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Scholarly working paper: Piracy in the Indian Ocean (ca. 1680-1750), Working Paper No. 160
  14. The Dutch governor of Mauritius received the wrecked pirates hospitably, entertaining Bowen, having the sick taken into the fort and cured, and allowing the colonists to treat them "as friends". Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative and scholarly working paper: The History of the Pyrates, Vol. II (Of Captain Bowen; the Life of Captain North; the seizure of the Speaker in the Life of Captain Thomas White); Piracy in the Indian Ocean (ca. 1680-1750), Working Paper No. 160
  15. On leaving after about three months the pirates made the governor a present of 2500 pieces of eight and left him the wreck with her guns and stores, a gift and a figure resting on the period narrative alone. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: The History of the Pyrates, Vol. II (Of Captain Bowen; the Life of Captain North; the seizure of the Speaker in the Life of Captain Thomas White)
  16. The governor supplied the wrecked company and invited them to make the island "a Place of Refreshment", and they bought a sloop there which they converted into a brigantine. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative and scholarly working paper: The History of the Pyrates, Vol. II (Of Captain Bowen; the Life of Captain North; the seizure of the Speaker in the Life of Captain Thomas White); Piracy in the Indian Ocean (ca. 1680-1750), Working Paper No. 160
  17. The wreck was located and worked archaeologically by Patrick Lize, reported in 1984, and revisited by a 2021 mission at Grande Riviere Sud-Est which recovered 32 cannon, predominantly 4 to 8 pounders, three of four anchors, iron shot clusters, Chinese porcelain, glass beads and lead musket balls. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Archaeological reports: The wreck of the pirate ship Speaker on Mauritius in 1702, 13.2: 121-132; Speaker 1702 (project page and 2021 mission report)
  18. The objects recovered from the site corroborate the identification of the wreck as the Speaker without by themselves establishing it. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Archaeological reports: The wreck of the pirate ship Speaker on Mauritius in 1702, 13.2: 121-132; Speaker 1702 (project page and 2021 mission report)
  19. No contemporary builder's certificate, ownership papers, East India Company survey or naval survey of the Speaker was located, so her tonnage, exact armament and build history rest on the period narrative and on later accounts of it. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Period narrative: The History of the Pyrates, Vol. II (Of Captain Bowen; the Life of Captain North; the seizure of the Speaker in the Life of Captain Thomas White)