John Davis (buccaneer)
Encyclopedia
Robert Searle was one of the earliest and most active of the English
buccaneer
s on Jamaica
.
,” but this seems unlikely, since that island did not become an English dominion until 1655. Searle’s career as a “gentleman of fortune” was marred by frequent quarrels with Sir Thomas Modyford
, royal governor of Jamaica
, who usually befriended buccaneers.
and Tolú
(Colombia
) in 1659. Four years later, Searle captained the Cagway as part of Myng’s expedition against Santiago de Cuba
. This force of 1,300 men and a dozen vessels sailed from Port Royal
(Jamaica) on October 1, 1662 and two-and-a-half weeks later disembarked to the east of their intended target. Santiago was overrun the following day and a considerable amount of booty carried back to Jamaica
.
In 1664, the political situation in Europe and the Caribbean was volatile. Constant raiding by English buccaneers had prompted repeated and vociferous protests from Madrid
, delivered by the Spanish ambassador to King Charles II of England
. In turn, a letter to Governor Modyford from the king stated that “His Majesty cannot sufficiently express his dissatisfaction at the daily complaints of violence and depredation” against the Spanish by the ships of Jamaica. Modyford was “again strictly commanded not only to forbid the prosecution of such violence for the future, but to inflict condign punishment upon offenders, and to have the entire restitution and satisfaction made to the sufferers.”
That letter, signed in London 11 days after Modyford first landed at Port Royal
, in early June, did not arrive until the beginning of September. It caused something of a sensation on the island. At that moment there were two rich Spanish prizes from Cuba at anchor in Port Royal’s harbor. Both were heavily guarded and prizes to Searle, who had already landed the boxes and bags of Spanish coin so that the king’s share could be calculated. Modyford promptly summoned the Council of Jamaica and showed them the letter.
The alarmed Council decided that the governor of Cuba
should be told at once that the captured ships and money were being returned. It was resolved that “all persons making further attempts of violence upon the Spaniards be looked upon as pirates and rebels, and that Captain Searle’s commission be taken from him and his rudder and sails taken ashore for security.”
Searle’s ship was restored, rudder and sails intact, with the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Dutch War
in 1665. In early March 1666, he and his crew sailed as one of nine ships and 650 soldiers raised by Colonel Edward Morgan (Sir Henry Morgan’s uncle) in an expedition against the Dutch islands of Sint Eustatius and Sabá
. This force was described in a letter by Modyford as “chiefly reformed privateers, scare a planter amongst them, being resolute fellows and well armed with fusils [muskets ~ed.] and pistols.” The governor was particularly pleased that they would be serving “at the old rate of no purchase, no pay, and it will cost the King nothing considerable, some powder and mortar pieces.” Although they landed successfully, Morgan dropped dead from heat exhaustion.
While these islands were quickly subdued, the English force disintegrated because of poor plunder and differences over who should succeed the late Col. Morgan as leader.
The next year, Searle and a Captain Stedman took two small ships and 80 men to the Dutch island of Tobago
, near Trinidad
, and sacked the island from end to end. Lord Willoughby, governor of the English colony of Barbados
, had also fitted out an expedition to take Tobago, but the Jamaicans were three or four days before him. The latter were busy pillaging when Willoughby arrived and demanded the island in the king’s name. The buccaneers condescended to leave the fort and governor’s house standing only on the condition that Willoughby gave them liberty to sell their booty in Barbados.
Governor Modyford forbade further raids in June, 1667, and recalled all privateering commissions issued in Jamaica. Again, he had to deal with Robert Searle, who was to be punished for his part in a straightforward piece of tit-for-tat. Soon after Sir Henry Morgan’s raid on Maracaibo
(Venezuela
), Searle and his ship were lying at New Providence
in the Bahamas when a vengeful Spanish force attacked the English settlement there. This spurred several angry privateersmen, among them Searle, to sail for Florida and sack the presidio of St. Augustine, Florida
in May of 1668. Coming so soon after Modyford’s proclamation withdrawing all commissions, and so obviously intended as retaliation, the governor decided that he would have to punish the leader, who by general consent was Searle. Henry Woodward
, the first settler of South Carolina
, had been captured by the Spanish and held at St. Augustine. Searle's 1668 raid resulted in Woodward's escape, who then served for several years as a surgeon on privateer ships.
When he returned to Jamaica, Searle guessed that he might be out of favour. Instead of sailing into Port Royal, he took the Cagway to a bay on the southwestern end of the island, out of the governor’s reach. Governor Modyford reported to Lord Arlington, England
’s Secretary of State:
(Panama
). Searle was one of Morgan’s lieutenants during this renowned action and was given the important task of preventing any Spanish ships from escaping the port. At the port, Searle and his crew discovered a barque lying fast aground, which the Spaniards had attempted to burn. The buccaneers succeeded in extinguishing the fire before much harm had been done. This vessel proved to be a valuable prize and, in a few days, Searle had captured three other ships. Commanding this tiny flotilla, he scoured the islands which stretched offshore – Perico
, Taboga and Tobogilla, and Otoque, the most distant before reaching the Pearl Islands
(Las Islas del Rey). He harried the ill-fated refugees concealed there, taking many prisoners and much property. The President of Panama, Don Juan Pérez de Guzmán wrote:
Searle was looking primarily for vessels which, laden with valuables, were known to be hiding in various anchorages along the Panama coast or among the islands. On the island of Taboga, while looking for fugitives, Searle and his crew discovered a hidden store of Peruvian wine. The seamen promptly started drinking and by evening, most were helplessly drunk.
They were far too drunk to post lookouts and therefore did not notice a Spanish galleon coming from seaward and anchor. Nor did they see a boat being lowered and rowed to shore full of casks. They first learned of all this when they accidentally surprised and captured the boat’s seven-man crew as they looked for fresh water. The Spaniards were taken to Searle, who threatened them with torture. He discovered that the ship was none other than the 400-ton Santissima Trinidad very richly laden with all the King’s Plate and a great quantity of riches of gold, pearls, jewels, and other most precious goods of all the best and richest merchants of Panama
. On board this galleon were also the religious women belonging to the nunnery of the said city, who had embarked with them all the ornaments of the church, consisting of a great quantity of gold, plate, and other things of great value.
This single ship, which was reported to be armed with only seven cannon and 10-12 muskets, poorly supplied with food and water, and bearing only the uppermost sails of the main mast, carried the bulk of the gold, silver, and jewels which the government, private citizens, and the Church in Panama had shipped away for safety. Instead of fleeing to Lima
(Peru
), her captain, Don Francisco de Peralta, had simply put to sea. He apparently intended to return to Panama with his cargo and passengers after the buccaneers had left, since he believed they had no ships.
Searle immediately ordered to his men to seize the galleon, but they would not leave their wine or, more likely, were unable to obey. De Peralta, alarmed when his men failed to return and suspicious of the barque moored nearby, weighed anchor with some difficulty and fled into the night, being out of sight by daybreak. When the main body of buccaneers eventually learned of this missed opportunity a few days later, they were outraged. Esquemeling, even writing several years after the event, scornfully related how, when the watering party had been brought before Searle, the old rover “had been more inclined to sit drinking and sporting with a group of Spanish women he had taken prisoner, than to go at once in pursuit of the treasure ship.” Searle was bitterly reproached by Morgan and never regained his favour. Years later, Captain de Peralta was captured by the English privateer, William Dampier
, in the Pacific and told the story of his narrow escape from Searle with much relish.
, where William Dampier
wrote that he was killed in a duel with an English logwood cutter. The Jamaican buccaneer
, Captain Robert Searle, met his death near a small sandy islet at the northern end of the Gulf of Campeache (in the Laguna de Términos), known to his brother pirates as “Serle’s Key.”
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
buccaneer
Buccaneer
The buccaneers were privateers who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate...
s on Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
.
Early life
Nothing, to date, is known of his early life. The famous buccaneer chronicler, Esquemeling, states that Searle was “born at JamaicaJamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
,” but this seems unlikely, since that island did not become an English dominion until 1655. Searle’s career as a “gentleman of fortune” was marred by frequent quarrels with Sir Thomas Modyford
Thomas Modyford
Colonel Sir Thomas Modyford, 1st Baronet was a planter of Barbados and Governor of Jamaica, 1664-70.Modyford was the son of a mayor of Exeter with family connections to the Duke of Albemarle, who emigrated to Barbados as a young man with other family members in 1647, in the opening stages of the...
, royal governor of Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, who usually befriended buccaneers.
The Cagway
Searle’s first known ship was the 60-ton, 8-gun Cagway, the largest of three Spanish merchantmen captured by Sir Christopher Myngs as he returned from his raid on Santa MartaSanta Marta
Santa Marta is the capital city of the Colombian department of Magdalena in the Caribbean Region. It was founded in July 29, 1525 by the Spanish conqueror Rodrigo de Bastidas, which makes it the oldest remaining city in Colombia...
and Tolú
Tolú
Tolú is a small town and municipality in Sucre Department, northern Colombia by the Caribbean sea. The municipality has an area of 500 km². The name of Tolú comes from a tree called the Balsam of Tolú....
(Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
) in 1659. Four years later, Searle captained the Cagway as part of Myng’s expedition against Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island, some south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana....
. This force of 1,300 men and a dozen vessels sailed from Port Royal
Port Royal
Port Royal was a city located at the end of the Palisadoes at the mouth of the Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1518, it was the centre of shipping commerce in the Caribbean Sea during the latter half of the 17th century...
(Jamaica) on October 1, 1662 and two-and-a-half weeks later disembarked to the east of their intended target. Santiago was overrun the following day and a considerable amount of booty carried back to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
.
In 1664, the political situation in Europe and the Caribbean was volatile. Constant raiding by English buccaneers had prompted repeated and vociferous protests from Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, delivered by the Spanish ambassador to King Charles II of England
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
. In turn, a letter to Governor Modyford from the king stated that “His Majesty cannot sufficiently express his dissatisfaction at the daily complaints of violence and depredation” against the Spanish by the ships of Jamaica. Modyford was “again strictly commanded not only to forbid the prosecution of such violence for the future, but to inflict condign punishment upon offenders, and to have the entire restitution and satisfaction made to the sufferers.”
That letter, signed in London 11 days after Modyford first landed at Port Royal
Port Royal
Port Royal was a city located at the end of the Palisadoes at the mouth of the Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1518, it was the centre of shipping commerce in the Caribbean Sea during the latter half of the 17th century...
, in early June, did not arrive until the beginning of September. It caused something of a sensation on the island. At that moment there were two rich Spanish prizes from Cuba at anchor in Port Royal’s harbor. Both were heavily guarded and prizes to Searle, who had already landed the boxes and bags of Spanish coin so that the king’s share could be calculated. Modyford promptly summoned the Council of Jamaica and showed them the letter.
The alarmed Council decided that the governor of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
should be told at once that the captured ships and money were being returned. It was resolved that “all persons making further attempts of violence upon the Spaniards be looked upon as pirates and rebels, and that Captain Searle’s commission be taken from him and his rudder and sails taken ashore for security.”
Searle’s ship was restored, rudder and sails intact, with the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Dutch War
Second Anglo-Dutch War
The Second Anglo–Dutch War was part of a series of four Anglo–Dutch Wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes....
in 1665. In early March 1666, he and his crew sailed as one of nine ships and 650 soldiers raised by Colonel Edward Morgan (Sir Henry Morgan’s uncle) in an expedition against the Dutch islands of Sint Eustatius and Sabá
Sabá
Sabá is a municipality in the Honduran department of Colón....
. This force was described in a letter by Modyford as “chiefly reformed privateers, scare a planter amongst them, being resolute fellows and well armed with fusils [muskets ~ed.] and pistols.” The governor was particularly pleased that they would be serving “at the old rate of no purchase, no pay, and it will cost the King nothing considerable, some powder and mortar pieces.” Although they landed successfully, Morgan dropped dead from heat exhaustion.
The good old colonel, leaping out of the boat and being a corpulent man, got a strain, and his spirit being great, he pursued overearnestly the enemy on a hot day, so that he surfeited and suddenly died.
While these islands were quickly subdued, the English force disintegrated because of poor plunder and differences over who should succeed the late Col. Morgan as leader.
The next year, Searle and a Captain Stedman took two small ships and 80 men to the Dutch island of Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
, near Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
, and sacked the island from end to end. Lord Willoughby, governor of the English colony of Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, had also fitted out an expedition to take Tobago, but the Jamaicans were three or four days before him. The latter were busy pillaging when Willoughby arrived and demanded the island in the king’s name. The buccaneers condescended to leave the fort and governor’s house standing only on the condition that Willoughby gave them liberty to sell their booty in Barbados.
Governor Modyford forbade further raids in June, 1667, and recalled all privateering commissions issued in Jamaica. Again, he had to deal with Robert Searle, who was to be punished for his part in a straightforward piece of tit-for-tat. Soon after Sir Henry Morgan’s raid on Maracaibo
Maracaibo
Maracaibo is a city and municipality located in northwestern Venezuela off the western coast of the Lake Maracaibo. It is the second-largest city in the country after the national capital Caracas and the capital of Zulia state...
(Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
), Searle and his ship were lying at New Providence
New Providence
New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It also houses the national capital city, Nassau.The island was originally under Spanish control following Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World, but the Spanish government showed...
in the Bahamas when a vengeful Spanish force attacked the English settlement there. This spurred several angry privateersmen, among them Searle, to sail for Florida and sack the presidio of St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
in May of 1668. Coming so soon after Modyford’s proclamation withdrawing all commissions, and so obviously intended as retaliation, the governor decided that he would have to punish the leader, who by general consent was Searle. Henry Woodward
Henry Woodward (colonist)
Henry Woodward , often referred to as Dr. Henry Woodward, was the first British colonist of colonial South Carolina. He was instrumental in establishing relationships with many Native American Indians in the American southeast...
, the first settler of South Carolina
Province of Carolina
The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...
, had been captured by the Spanish and held at St. Augustine. Searle's 1668 raid resulted in Woodward's escape, who then served for several years as a surgeon on privateer ships.
When he returned to Jamaica, Searle guessed that he might be out of favour. Instead of sailing into Port Royal, he took the Cagway to a bay on the southwestern end of the island, out of the governor’s reach. Governor Modyford reported to Lord Arlington, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
’s Secretary of State:
There arrived also at Port MorantPort MorantPort Morant is a town in southeastern Jamaica. It was, in the early years of European settlement, one of the island's chief ports, with export of bananas and production of rum being major industries....
the Cagway, Captain Searle, with 70 stout men, who hearing that I was much incensed against him for that action of St. Augustine, went to Macary Bay, and there rides out of command. I will use the best ways to apprehend him, without driving his men to despair.
Arrest
Shortly thereafter, Searle ventured ashore and was seized by the governor, who placed him under arrest in Port Royal. Weeks passed without further orders from England and the governor wrote to Arlington again, stating that Searle was still in the custody of Jamaica’s Provost Marshal, awaiting trial.Release
Ironically, he was freed after some months to take part in one of the buccaneer’s greatest land battles, Sir Henry Morgan’s famous sack of Panama CityPanama City
Panama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
(Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
). Searle was one of Morgan’s lieutenants during this renowned action and was given the important task of preventing any Spanish ships from escaping the port. At the port, Searle and his crew discovered a barque lying fast aground, which the Spaniards had attempted to burn. The buccaneers succeeded in extinguishing the fire before much harm had been done. This vessel proved to be a valuable prize and, in a few days, Searle had captured three other ships. Commanding this tiny flotilla, he scoured the islands which stretched offshore – Perico
Perico
Perico may refer to:* Perico : a popular Venezuelan and Colombian dish based on scrambled eggs and various vegetables* A nickname of Pedro Delgado, a Spanish cyclist* Miguel Ángel Alonso or Perico Alonso, father of Xabi Alonso...
, Taboga and Tobogilla, and Otoque, the most distant before reaching the Pearl Islands
Pearl Islands
The Pearl Islands are a group of 100 or more islands lying about off the Pacific coast of Panama in the Gulf of Panama.- Islands :...
(Las Islas del Rey). He harried the ill-fated refugees concealed there, taking many prisoners and much property. The President of Panama, Don Juan Pérez de Guzmán wrote:
The English, having got possession of the Relicks of our town, found a Bark in the Fasca, although I had given order that there should be none, yet had they not complied with my command, and when they would have set it on Fire, the Enemy came fast and put it out and with it they did us great damage, for they took three more with it, and made great havock of all they found in the Islands of Taboga, Otoque, and Las Islas del Rey, taking and bringing from thence many Prisoners.
Searle was looking primarily for vessels which, laden with valuables, were known to be hiding in various anchorages along the Panama coast or among the islands. On the island of Taboga, while looking for fugitives, Searle and his crew discovered a hidden store of Peruvian wine. The seamen promptly started drinking and by evening, most were helplessly drunk.
They were far too drunk to post lookouts and therefore did not notice a Spanish galleon coming from seaward and anchor. Nor did they see a boat being lowered and rowed to shore full of casks. They first learned of all this when they accidentally surprised and captured the boat’s seven-man crew as they looked for fresh water. The Spaniards were taken to Searle, who threatened them with torture. He discovered that the ship was none other than the 400-ton Santissima Trinidad very richly laden with all the King’s Plate and a great quantity of riches of gold, pearls, jewels, and other most precious goods of all the best and richest merchants of Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. On board this galleon were also the religious women belonging to the nunnery of the said city, who had embarked with them all the ornaments of the church, consisting of a great quantity of gold, plate, and other things of great value.
This single ship, which was reported to be armed with only seven cannon and 10-12 muskets, poorly supplied with food and water, and bearing only the uppermost sails of the main mast, carried the bulk of the gold, silver, and jewels which the government, private citizens, and the Church in Panama had shipped away for safety. Instead of fleeing to Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
(Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
), her captain, Don Francisco de Peralta, had simply put to sea. He apparently intended to return to Panama with his cargo and passengers after the buccaneers had left, since he believed they had no ships.
Searle immediately ordered to his men to seize the galleon, but they would not leave their wine or, more likely, were unable to obey. De Peralta, alarmed when his men failed to return and suspicious of the barque moored nearby, weighed anchor with some difficulty and fled into the night, being out of sight by daybreak. When the main body of buccaneers eventually learned of this missed opportunity a few days later, they were outraged. Esquemeling, even writing several years after the event, scornfully related how, when the watering party had been brought before Searle, the old rover “had been more inclined to sit drinking and sporting with a group of Spanish women he had taken prisoner, than to go at once in pursuit of the treasure ship.” Searle was bitterly reproached by Morgan and never regained his favour. Years later, Captain de Peralta was captured by the English privateer, William Dampier
William Dampier
William Dampier was an English buccaneer, sea captain, author and scientific observer...
, in the Pacific and told the story of his narrow escape from Searle with much relish.
Death
In later years, Searle relocated to HondurasHonduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, where William Dampier
William Dampier
William Dampier was an English buccaneer, sea captain, author and scientific observer...
wrote that he was killed in a duel with an English logwood cutter. The Jamaican buccaneer
Buccaneer
The buccaneers were privateers who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate...
, Captain Robert Searle, met his death near a small sandy islet at the northern end of the Gulf of Campeache (in the Laguna de Términos), known to his brother pirates as “Serle’s Key.”
At the North-end, and about the middle of the East Lagune, there is another small Creek like that which comes out against One-Bush-Key, but less and shallower, which dischargeth it self into Laguna Termina, against a small sandy Key, called by the English Serle’s Key, from one Captain Serles, who first careen’d his vessel here, and was afterwards killed in the Western Lagune, by one of his company as they were cutting Logwood together.
Sources
- Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and the West Indies, 1661–68, 789, Minutes of the Council of Jamaica, E.
- Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and the West Indies, 1661–68, 1082
- Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and the West Indies, 1661–68, 1125
- Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West Indies 1827 (?), King Charles II to Sir T. Modyford, June 15, 1664
- Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West Indies 842, Sir T. Modyford to Lord Arlington, April 12, 1665
- Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West Indies 979, Sir T. Modyford to Lord Arlington, April 20, 1665
- Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West Indies 162, Sir T. Modyford to Lord Arlington, March 15, 1670
- Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and the West Indies, Sir T. Modyford to Lord Arlington, April 20, 1670
- Cruikshank, E. A.Ernest Alexander CruikshankErnest Alexander "E. A." Cruikshank FRSC , was a Canadian Brigadier General, a historian who specialized in military history and the first Chairman of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.-Early life:...
The Life of Sir Henry Morgan, with an Account of the English Settlement of the Island of Jamaica (1665–1688). Toronto: Macmillan Co. of Canada, Ltd., 1935. - Dampier, William. Dampier’s Voyages: Consisting of a New voyage round the World, a Supplement to the Voyage round the world, Two voyages to Campeachy, a Discourse of winds, a Voyage to New Holland, and a Vindication, in answer to the Chimerical relation of William Funnell. London: E. Grant Richards, 1906.
- Esquemeling, John. The Buccaneers of America. Williamstown, MA: Corner House Publishers, 1976.
- Gosse, Phillip Henry George. The Pirates’ Who’s Who. London: Dulau, 1924.
- Haring, Clarence Henry. The Buccaneers in the West Indies in the XVII Century. Hamden, CN: Archon Books, 1966.
- Interesting Tracts Relating to the Island of Jamaica, Consisting of Curious State Papers, Councils of War, Letters, Petitions, Narratives, etc., which Throw Great Light on the History of That Island from Its Conquest Down to the Year 1702. St. Jago de la Vega (Kingston, Jamaica): Lewis, Lunan and Jones, 1800.
- Marley, David F. Pirates and Privateers of the Americas. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1994.
- Pope, Dudley. The Buccaneer King: the Biography of Sir Henry Morgan, 1635-1688. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1978.
- Rogozinski, Jan. Pirates: an A-Z Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 1996.
- The Voyages and Adventures of Capt. Barth. Sharp and Others in the South Sea, Being a Journal of the Same; Also Capt. Van Horn with His of La Veracruz; to Which is Added the True Relation of Sir Henry Morgan His Expedition Against the Spaniards in the West-Indies and His Taking Panama; Together with the President of Panama’s [i.e., Juan Perez de Guzman] Account of the Same Expedition, Translated Out of the Spanish; and Col. Beeston’s Adjustment of the Peace Between the Spaniards and English in the West Indies. London: Printed by B.W. for R.H. and S.T. and are to be sold by Walter Davis…, 1684.