There they renamed the ship Blessed William, and Kidd became captain either as a result of election by the ship's crew, or by appointment of Christopher Codrington, governor of the island of Nevis. During one of their voyages, Kidd and other crew members mutinied, ousting the captain and sailing to the British colony of Nevis. Some accounts suggest that he served as a seaman's apprentice on a pirate ship during this time, before beginning his more famous seagoing exploits as a privateer.īy 1689, Kidd was a member of a French–English pirate crew sailing the Caribbean under Captain Jean Fantin. There he befriended many prominent colonial citizens, including three governors. Early voyages Īs a young man, Kidd settled in New York City, which the English had taken over from the Dutch. The myth that his 'father was thought to have been a Church of Scotland minister' has been discounted, insofar as there is no mention of the name in comprehensive Church of Scotland records for the period. A local society supported the family financially after the death of the father. There have also been records of his baptism taking place in Dundee. While claims have been made of alternate birthplaces, including Greenock and even Belfast, he said himself he came from Dundee in a testimony given by Kidd to the High Court of Admiralty in 1695. Kidd was born in Dundee, Scotland prior to 15 October 1654. Life and career Early life and education The belief that he had left buried treasure contributed significantly to his legend, which inspired numerous treasure hunts in the following centuries.

Kidd was romanticized after his death and his exploits became a popular subject of pirate-themed works of fiction. Bellomont engineered Kidd's arrest upon his return to Boston and sent him to stand trial in London. The political climate in England had turned against him, however, and he was denounced as a pirate. In 1698, Kidd captured his greatest prize, the 400-ton Quedagh Merchant, a ship hired by Armenian merchants and captained by an Englishman. On his voyage he failed to find many targets, lost much of his crew and faced threats of mutiny. He received a letter of marque and set sail on a new ship, Adventure Galley, the following year.

In 1695, Kidd received a royal commission from the Earl of Bellomont, the governor of New York, Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire, to hunt down pirates and enemy French ships in the Indian Ocean. By 1690, Kidd had become a highly successful privateer, commissioned to protect English interests in North America and the West Indies. Conflicting accounts exist regarding his early life, but he was likely born in Dundee and later settled in New York City. 1654 – ) also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd, was a Scottish privateer. Shea Dauphinée, Michael Dauphinée, James Dauphinée

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