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Pirate in the family

T

the reverend

Landlubber
Thought id pop this down to explain why since ive been here my pirating has not been of the highest quality!

My mothers side of the family includes some seriously heavy duty sea faring stock which for modesty's sake i will not go into. I have recently been doing some research into a few of these characters and the family tree in general and have found that i have pirates in the family!

In 1757 three brothers joined with HMS Lennox (i assume they were pressed but records are so sketchy i cant be sure, havent even checked whether pressgangs were operating at the time...). They were from an area of the Yorkshire coast notorious for smuggling and were ostensibly fishermen, but were soon whisked away on HMS Lennox to the caribbean where one died from fever, one was discharged dead (no further details presumably an accident) and the third survived to return home. With his aledged smuggling career in ruins and a good deal of naval experience under his belt he set off overland for the west coast. He joined up with several other malcontents and a few months later on their first foray into piracy tried to board a small ship in the Irish Sea. Said ship turned out to be a revenue cutter and the gang were immediately clapped in irons and promptly strung up as a warning to others.
So far my piracy is about as good.
 
<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_eek.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":shock:" border="0" alt="icon_eek.gif" /> My goodness, what an interesting thing to find out about one's family! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />

I've often wondered, since I found out that some of my ancestors may have come from Turkey, if any of them were seafarers... <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/keith.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":keith" border="0" alt="keith.gif" />
 
Thats a cool thing to have found out, great family story <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/onya.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":onya" border="0" alt="onya.gif" />

Still it does make you think on just how different peoples lives were, even just a few hundred years ago, its almost like a different world!
 
I tell you some of the stories ive discovered are phenomenal! absolutely incredible. Finding relatives of yours were at some of the most crucial turning points in history really breathes life into them.

Quote: "I've often wondered, since I found out that some of my ancestors may have come from Turkey, if any of them were seafarers..."

It would seem likely some were.....hence the xebec decoration eh? Just like your forebearers.
 
Ah wasn't even thinking about that when I did the Xebec. And none of my ancestors is even remotely Irish. It was just a handy canvas for my brush, and my wish to give tribute to the Irish "Pirate Queen", Grace O'Malley. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />

It was an intriguing surprise to find out that some of my ancestors might be Turkish... My father's side of the family is Hungarian, and it's not too far a stretch to imagine a connection... <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/bookish.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":mm" border="0" alt="bookish.gif" />
 
A direct ancestor of mine is Cornelis Schrijver (Amsterdam 1686 – aldaar 16th of may 1768), born excactly 300 years before me I now see <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />... Well, he was `vice-admiral` of the Dutch fleet in the Spanish Succesionwar and between 1724 and 1731 he went hunting barberijnse (barberian?) pirates. And he later on served under the english Sir Peter Warren in the austrian succesionwar agains france and spain.. in the meanwhile he probably found some time to seddle down and make sure I would be here today.. he wasnt much of a pirate though, but Im still proud of him <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />
 
Very cool story, genealogy rocks. I would like to trump that with a relative of my own but they are all RN and i fear we are sailing steadily away from piratey themes. I might post a couple of stories in the burning brig at some point when the weight of work lifts and i am not comatose with scotch and chilean shiraz. Hopefully we can avoid the moderators lee shore then. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="icon_wink.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/whippa.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":whipa" border="0" alt="whippa.gif" />
 
Ah, but seafaring fits into the general subject at hand, Reverend! I'll not squash that!

<!--`QuoteBegin-the` reverend+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the reverend)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I might post a couple of stories in the burning brig at some point when the weight of work lifts and i am not comatose with scotch and chilean shiraz.[/quote] <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" /> No RUM? <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/diomed.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":dio" border="0" alt="diomed.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="icon_wink.gif" />
 
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Ah, but seafaring fits into the general subject at hand, Reverend! I'll not squash that!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

No need to steal a speedboat and blast across to mexico (without even stopping for some cheap wine and charming open fruit flans in calais) yet then? Glad to hear it, i can save that plan for a rainy day, maybe when i am accused of a crime i did not commit, although i always wanted to buy a big black van with a red spoiler and go around solving crime in that situation........

Oh and i make my grog with red wine and scotch......... i call it the salty dog. It has a lovely zing that is very easy on the pallette. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />
 
<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/hi.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":gday" border="0" alt="hi.gif" /> Rick, the link does not work. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" />
 
I too have a Pirate ancestor. He was in the dutch merchant navy from 1655 until he had enough to buy his own ship.
He crewed the ship with nardowells and set sail for the caribbean.
Here is what I have found so far...

HOORN, Van de or Van, buccaneer, born in Holland about 1635; died near Vera Cruz, Mexico, in 1683. He was engaged in the Dutch merchant service from about 1655 till 1659, and then bought a vessel with his savings, and with a band of reckless men, whom he had enlisted, became a terror to the commerce of the Netherlands. He afterward had several ships in his employment, and obtained such notoriety that some civilized governments were willing to employ him against their enemies. In 1666 a French minister sent him a commission empowering him to pursue and capture Spanish vessels, and, as he was uniformly successful, he amassed enormous sums. After the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, it was expected that he would cease ravaging the American coast, but the French government, while openly disowning their champion, secretly connived at his misdeeds. He made the mistake of pillaging a French ship, but, after an unsuccessful attempt to take him had been made in 1663, he no longer attacked the French flag. Learning that several Spanish galleons were waiting in the harbor of Porto Rico for a convoy, he entered the harbor and offered his services to the governor. He put forward his recent quarrel with the French, and declared that his only chance of safety was in the protection of the king of Spain. The governor allowed the galleons to leave port under the protection of Hoorn, but, as soon as they were outside of the Antilles, they were attacked by the flotilla of the buccaneer, who gained over 2,000,000 livres by the adventure. Hoorn was engaged with De Graft and other buccaneer chiefs in the capture of Vera Cruz in 1683. The division of the spoil caused a duel between Hoorn and De Graft, which was fought on the shores of the bay of San Sacrifield, five or six miles from Vera Cruz. Hoorn was dangerously wounded in the arm, and, after he had returned to his ship, the extreme heat, combined with the absence of surgical aid and his passion for drink, soon ended his life.

Also...
Barry Clifford points to a convocation of pirates on Roatan in the year 1683 as “one of those extraordinary events in pirate history.” Almost all of the most feared pirates of the age were there---including the Chevalier de Grammont, Laurens de Graff, Nikkolaas Van Hoorn, Yankey Willems, Michiel Andrieszoon, Pierre Bot, and Jean Foccard. It was one of the largest gatherings of buccaneers ever, and clearly shows that the Spanish in Trujillo were in an untenable situation. Certainly getting any significant shipping past almost 1000 pirates less than 50 miles away was impossible. The famous pirate sack of Vera Cruz was the upshot of the pirate convention on Roatan---Trujillo was too small to need such a great pirate fleet to defeat it.


I feel his blood coursing through my veins <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> (well the drink part was right)

Note: The duel was caused due to my ancestor wanting to send the heads of the captives of vera cruz to the spanish to leverage ransom. Nice chap eh!
 
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