Early Career and Capture
Culliford and Kidd first met as shipmates aboard the French privateer Sainte Rose in 1689; there were only six other Britons aboard. After the War of the Grand Alliance broke out, Kidd, Culliford, and their British comrades mutinied against a French prize crew, taking the ship and renaming it the Blessed William, with Kidd put in command. But in February, 1690, Culliford led his own mutiny and deprived Kidd of his command. The pirates elected William Mason as captain.
Culliford sailed with the pirates through the Caribbean, sacking ships and attacking a town. They went to New York to sell their booty. Mason was granted a letter of marque by Jacob Leisler, then acting governor of New York, and Culliford accompanied the pirates as they ransacked and laid waste two French Canadian towns. The pirates also captured a French frigate named L'Esperance. Mason granted this ship to Culliford, who renamed it the Horne Frigate, Culliford's first pirate command. However, the pirates lost most of their booty when the two ketches they sent to bring their wealth to New York fell into the hands of French privateers. The disappointed Culliford returned to New York with Mason, where they returned aboard a single ship, the Jacob, another captured French vessel, and set sail in December 1690. Culliford served as captain's quartermaster, one of two quartermasters aboard the Jacob.
Culliford and his fellow pirates eventually made their way to India, landing at Mangrol in 1692, where they robbed and abused the local population. The Indians captured Culliford and seventeen of his comrades. Culliford spent the next four years in a Gujarati prison.
Read more about this topic: Robert Culliford
Famous quotes containing the words early, career and/or capture:
“I would observe to you that what is called style in writing or speaking is formed very early in life while the imagination is warm, and impressions are permanent.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“The 19-year-old Diana ... decided to make her career that of wife. Today that can be a very, very iffy line of work.... And what sometimes happens to the women who pursue it is the best argument imaginable for teaching girls that they should always be able to take care of themselves.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“Because the young child feels with such intensity, he experiences sorrows that seem inconsolable and losses that feel unbearable. A precious toy gets broken or a good-bye cannot be endured. When this happens, words like “sad” or “disappointed” seem a travesty because they cannot possibly capture the enormity of the child’s loss. He needs a loving adult presence to support him in his pain but he does not want to be talked out of it.”
—Alicia F. Lieberman (20th century)