Edward England
Encyclopedia
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, was a famous African coast
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
pirate captain from 1717 to 1720. The ships he sailed on included the Pearl (which he renamed The Royal James) and later the Fancy, for which England exchanged the Pearl in 1720. His flag was the classic Jolly Roger
Jolly Roger
The Jolly Roger is any of various flags flown to identify a ship's crew as pirates. The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly Roger today is the skull and crossbones, a flag consisting of a human skull above two long bones set in an x-mark arrangement on a black field. This design was used by...
with a skull
Human skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
above two crossed thigh bones on a black background.
Early career
Born in Ireland, England made his way to Jamaica and became a mate on a sloop. He was captured by the pirate captain Christopher Winter and forced to join the crew. Winter most likely took England to the pirate base on Nassau, BahamasNassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
, for England is next reported as Charles Vane
Charles Vane
Charles Vane was an English pirate who preyed upon English and French shipping. His pirate career lasted from 1716 - 1719. His flagship was a brigantine named the Ranger....
's quartermaster
Quartermaster
Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior...
, in March, 1718. Vane's sloop, the Lark was captured by the Royal Navy, but England and the rest of the crew were released to induce the other pirates of Nassau to accept the King's pardon.
Captaincy
Vane granted England command of a captured vessel in mid-1718. England made for the west coast of Africa, where he plundered large numbers of slave ships. He and his crew stayed for some time in an African town, but a conflict arose over the pirates' treatment of the local women. Fighting broke out, the pirates burned the town, and set sail.By 1720, England had reached the Indian Ocean, where he joined forces with fellow pirate captain Oliver la Buse
Olivier Levasseur
Olivier Levasseur , was a pirate, nicknamed La Buse or La Bouche in his early days, called thus because of the speed and ruthlessness with which he always attacked his enemies.-History:...
. England and La Buse attacked an East Indiaman under the command of James Macrae; they were beaten off, but succeeded in running Macrae's vessel ashore and capturing him. England ordered Macrae's life spared; England's quartermaster, John Taylor, resented this choice, and led a vote to depose England from command. He was subsequently marooned
Marooning
Marooning is the intentional leaving of someone in a remote area, such as an uninhabited island. The word appears in writing in approximately 1709, and is derived from the term maroon, a word for a fugitive slave, which could be a corruption of Spanish cimarrón, meaning a household animal who has...
on Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
with two other crew members, where they fashioned a small raft
Raft
A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull...
and made it to St. Augustine's Bay in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
. England survived for a short while by begging
Begging
Begging is to entreat earnestly, implore, or supplicate. It often occurs for the purpose of securing a material benefit, generally for a gift, donation or charitable donation...
for food and died around the end of 1720.