Golden Age of Piracy: Top 10 Countdown Part II
This is the second installment of a series focusing upon the ten most successful pirates (as determined by the estimated total value of their combined hauls) of the Golden Age of Piracy (generally considered to have ended with the killing of Barthlomew “Black Bart” Roberts in 1722, although other pirates of that era continued to operate on a limited basis well through 1725).
Without Captain Charles Johnson’s 1724 book, “A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates,” John Halsey would have possibly escaped historical notation.
Few reports exist in which he is directly mentioned, but he is nonetheless credited for having purloined sufficient plunder as to rank as the ninth-most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy.
His total take of approximately $13 million puts him about $500 thousand ahead of Blackbeard, and essentially tied with Captain Henry (“Harry”) Morgan on the list.
John Halsey (c. 1662-1708) was born in Boston and was registered as a legal privateer (with the ship “Charles”) for Great Britain during Queen Anne’s War of 1701-1713. However, upon the expiration of his “letter of marquee” in 1706, Halsey continued his lucrative operations as an outlaw pirate.
He was quite successful in his initial pirating endeavors, proving himself to be a capable and competent commander. An incident with a well-armed Dutch ship proved him to be a discerning judge of which ships should be left alone, and his capture of two British warships in August of 1707 further bolstered his status.
Halsey’s ships were practically obliterated during a 1708 hurricane at Madagascar and he died from fever later that same year.
As noted by Johnson, “He was brave in his Person, courteous to all his Prisoners, lived beloved, and died regretted by his own People. His Grave was made in a garden of watermelons, and fenced in with Palisades to prevent his being rooted up by wild Hogs."
Halsey can be cited as the ninth-most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy.
