On the 5th of December, 1717, Captain Henry Bostock of the sloop Margaret would be assaulted by Captain ‘Edward Thatch’s Queen Anne’s Revenge; a large French guineaman. His deposition of the event would be the first time in history his appearance would be described, sporting a “very black beard which he wore very long.”
Captain Bostock, a merchantman, had fallen victim to the Queen Anne’s Revenge just off of Crab Island, near Anguilla. For eight hours, the crew of the Margaret were held prisoner as their sloop was completely ransacked, however, they were mostly all returned to their ship unharmed and allowed to leave with their lives. Two sailors however were forced to join the crew of the Queen Anne’s Revenge; Martin Towler, and the Margaret’s cooper (barrel-maker) named Edward Salter. In addition, one of the Margaret’s crew willingly joined the pirates as well; Robert Bibby.
When the Margaret would arrive back to St. Christopher, where Bostock had been operating from, he would go on to give a deposition of the event to Governor Walter Hamilton later on the 19th of December, detailing many things he witness over the 8 hours among the pirates. He would state that Thatch had control of two vessels, both a sloop and a 36-gun French guineaman and a total crew of around 300 men.
Bostock believed the Queen Anne’s Revenge carried much “gold dust, silver plate, and other valuables” as well as “a Negro belonging to Bermuda”. He would also explain that he learned from the crew that they had badly burned several other ships, and that they intended to sail to Hispaniola, to Samana Bay, to “lie in wait for an expected Spanish Armada” supposedly laden with money to pay the garrisons.
Regarding Captain Thatch himself, Bostock would go on to say that his knowledge of a Royal Pardon from London for all pirates seemed to surprise him. In his deposition he would describe Thatch, his first documented description of the pirate’s appearance, leading to his namesake of “Blackbeard,” as:
”a tall spare man with a very black beard which he wore very long”
(Pictured is Blackbeard as depicted in Black Sails, captive sailors [from Black Sails], and a look out to sea from Anguilla’s coast)
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