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George Lowther
ÜBERSETZUNG FOLGT!!!!!
Born : Unknown
Died : 1723
Captain Lowther set sail from London down the River Thames in June of
1721 aboard the ship, the Gambia Castle. For the last time he sailed past
Execution Dock and Newgate Prison, never again to see England again. He
had signed on as First Mate to Charles Russell, on board the Gambia Castle,
a slaver for the Royal Africa Company. Also on board were Captain Massey,
Lowther had never been on a Slave ship and was not aware of what lay ahead
of him. The Royal Africa Company was in the business of collecting slaves
around the Gambia River. As it was the slave ships would remain off the
coast for months on end until they had enough slave to make their efforts
worthwhile. There was little for the crew to do, no place to go on shore,
and little to do on ship. To make matters worse, the weather was
unbearable, and diseases such as dysentery, malaria, and Scurvy would take
its toll on the crew.
Lowther, had from the beginning of the crew, found favor with the crew.
Russell, while not a bad Captain, was more concerned with the slave shipment
than with the health of the crew. He distrusted Lowther because of how
"familiar" he had became with the crew. The division between captain and
crew reach a critical point when Russell order Lowther flogged for a minor
infraction, and many of the crew took up their marlin spikes and dared
anyone to pick up a whip.
What had caused such a division among the crew was the appalling state
of condition aboard ship upon reaching Gambia. The slave trade was almost
at stand still and the ship remained docked for a long time. The Royal
Africa Company seemed to care little about the crew and to make matters
worse, Captain Massey and his soldiers had to retreat from their fort and
set up headquarters on board the over crowded ship. It seems that the governor
of the Royal Africa Company in Gambia had taken ill from all the mosquitoes
and the fort was in such a poor state that it had become unlivable. Massey
was furious over the state of affairs his troops were in. He and Lowther
met to discuss their situation one night when Captain Russell was not on
board and they both decided that they should leave. With no further discussion,
the ship set sail, leaving Russell behind.
At this point Massey was in mind to return to England but Lowther had
other thoughts. He immediately summoned the whole crew, plus Massey soldiers
before him and told him his intentions. He explained there was turning
back for himself, for he knew that England would not excuse his actions
but if the crew were to vote to return to England his only request was
to be set ashore someplace safe. Then he explained his intentions to go
"on the account". This was met with a resounding cheer, and all aboard
signed the articles of Piracy, electing Lowther as Captain. (It should
be mentioned that Massey originally intended to return to England.)
Massey and Lowther formed an uneasy but workable alliance and together
the crew of the newly named, Delivery, went on to pillage many a ship,
but Massey found it very difficult to adjust to the slow pace of the Sea.
He therefore put forth a plan to sack a town. Lowther was completely against
such an endeavor due to the many risks it involved. However, as pirate
custom demanded, it was put to a vote.
Massey lost by a large margin and with that requested that he
and his supporters be allowed to go their own way. Lowther had
obtained a second smaller sloop from a previous plunder
and was happy to be rid of Massey and his followers. With that
Massey and his men parted company of Lowther. This sort of separation
was common practice aboard pirate ships with two
strong personalities.
Lowther then set sail to the Carolinas, in late 1721, where it
is reported he put in to careen his ship, debauch, loot and pillage.
More likely he careened, debauched and spent his loot. In any
case, shortly after his careenage he left for the Grand Caymans
in his newly named Happy Delivery, again on the account. On
the way he came upon the Greyhound command by Benjamin
Edwards. Lowther ran up his Jolly Roger and signaled with a cannon
shot for the Greyhound to come to. To his amazement the
Greyhound gave him a broad side back. Lowther and his crew prepared
Grapplers and Swivel guns and moved in for the fight.
The engagement
was brief and shortly after the Pirates managed to board, Edwards struck
his ensign.
The usual penalty for such an act was no quarter, and while there
is no evidence that every man was killed, it is clear that the
Edwards and his crew were beaten and whipped and the Greyhound was to put
the torch.
By now Lowther had several small ships under him as well
as the Happy delivery and again went ashore in Guatemala to
careen. Unfortunately when his men were in the middle of careening
they were attacked by Indians and had to set sail. Several
of his crew were lost and some of his ships were left or damaged.
Lowther had no choice but to transfer all of his men and
their meager supplies to one ship, the Revenge, and continue on.
Lowther managed to come across a brigantine well stocked, and
with more bluff than anything else, replenished his supplies.
It appeared that Lowther was back on track to becoming a truly
prosperous pirate by 1722 and his crew was happy again.
Lowther had to once again careen. He chose a small cay called
Blanquilla, which is northeast of Tortuga. It was a small island
but very well concealed. Lowther ordered guns, provisions
and crew on shore, which was customary, and commenced
careening his ships. They had almost finished
when the sloop Eagle commanded by Walter Moore spotted the ship.
Lowther, a cabin boy, and three of his crew tried to run but
it was fruitless, as the little island held no real cover for them. A
search party was sent ashore to hunt down the men and bring
them back in irons. Lowther must have realized that his time in
the war of the Pirates was up to have chosen his next course of action.
It was some time later that the search party recovered Lowther. In a
secluded spot along the beach of Blanquilla they found him
with an empty pistol in his hand and a bullet through the brain.
He had chosen to kill himself rather than face the Hangman. |