The Trial of the Whydah Pirates: How Justice Came to Boston’s Most Notorious Pirates

The Wreck of the Whydah Gally: April 1717

On the stormy night of April 26, 1717, the notorious pirate ship Whydah Gally, captained by “Black Sam” Bellamy, wrecked off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts during a violent nor’easter. Bellamy and nearly all his crew perished as the ship was torn apart by 30-foot waves.

Among the wreckage, only two Whydah pirates survived:

• Thomas Davis, a Welsh carpenter

• John Julian, a young Indigenous pilot of Miskito descent

Meanwhile, another group of pirates from a captured prize ship, the Mary Anne, also washed ashore. In total, nine pirates survived and were quickly captured by local authorities and imprisoned.

Imprisonment and Fear in Boston

By early May 1717, the surviving pirates were transported to Boston Gaol, where they awaited trial under grim conditions. The public, fascinated by piracy, flocked to see them. Even the famed Puritan minister Cotton Mather visited the prisoners to record their confessions and attempt to save their souls.

Notably, John Julian — just a teenager — was not even given a trial. Instead, he was sold into slavery, a tragic reminder of the brutal racial injustices of the time.

The Pirate Trial Begins: October 1717

The pirates faced a Vice-Admiralty Court in Boston beginning October 18, 1717, overseen by Massachusetts Governor Samuel Shute and Judge Samuel Sewall (infamous for his role in the Salem witch trials).

The defendants included:

• John Brown (Jamaican)

• Thomas Baker (Dutch)

• Hendrick Quintor (Dutch)

• Peter Cornelius Hoof (Swedish)

• Simon van der Vorst (New Yorker)

• John Shuan (French)

• Thomas Davis (Welsh carpenter)

• Thomas South (coerced sailor)

Most argued they had been forced into piracy by Bellamy. Testimony revealed that Davis and South had indeed been pressed into service against their will.

Verdicts and a Grim Fate

On October 22, 1717, the court announced its decision:

• Thomas Davis and Thomas South were acquitted based on evidence they were unwilling participants.

• Six others — Brown, Baker, Quintor, Hoof, van der Vorst, and Shuan — were convicted of piracy and sentenced to hang.

While some accepted their fate with repentance, others, like John Brown, cursed the court to the very end.

Execution on Boston Common: November 15, 1717

On November 15, 1717, the six convicted pirates were publicly hanged at the Great Elms on Boston Common. Cotton Mather accompanied them in their final hours, praying with the condemned men.

The executions were a major public event, witnessed by thousands. Their bodies were left hanging as a warning to any would-be pirates sailing the Atlantic coast.

Legacy of the Whydah Pirates

The trial and execution of the Whydah pirates sent a clear message: piracy would not be tolerated in New England. Though piracy continued elsewhere, this marked a turning point in colonial American justice.

The Whydah Gally itself lay forgotten beneath the sea until 1984, when explorer Barry Clifford discovered the wreck off Cape Cod — the world’s first authenticated pirate shipwreck. Artifacts, including a ship’s bell inscribed “THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716,” brought this lost chapter of pirate history back to life.

Today, the story of the Whydah pirates — their shipwreck, trial, and fate — captivates historians, museum-goers, and anyone fascinated by the real-life pirates of the Caribbean.