Bartholomew Roberts (17 May 1682-10 February 1722) was a Welsh pirate and former merchant who captained "Royal Fortune" between 1719 and 1722. Roberts was a former slave trader who was captain of the "Princess" and traded in West Africa, but one day he was pressed into the service of pirate Howell Davis. When Davis was killed in a Portuguese ambush on Principe, Roberts took over his crew and took 470 prizes in three years before he was killed off Principe by the Royal Navy as they fired canister shot at his ship.
Biography[]
Roberts holding Mary Read at gunpoint, April 1717
John Roberts was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and his first naval voyage was at the age of 13 in 1695. Roberts gained employment as a merchant sailor under Laurens Prins, a Dutch slave trader who was based out of Kingston, Jamaica. Roberts assisted in the trade between the Portuguese island of Principe and the Caribbean, running goods between the two locations. There was a popular legend that said that he was "the Sage", the only man who could open the mythical "Observatory" in Captain Kenway's Folly, Jamaica, in Long Bay. In 1714, Governor Laureano Torres y Ayala of Cuba, who was also the leader of the Templar Order, paid Prins to find and hand over Roberts so that he could use his blood to open the Observatory. He was captured and delivered to Havana in 1716, but he escaped with the inadvertent help of Captain Edward Kenway, who wanted a better price for having turned him in to the Templars. He was later recaptured by Laurens Prins, who intended to sell him to Torres, but Roberts again escaped in April 1717 after Kenway and Mary Read killed Prins.
Service under Davis[]
Captain Howell Davis dead
Roberts resumed work as a merchant, but in 1719 his ship "Princess" was captured by Captain Howell Davis, a pirate. Davis made Roberts one of his crew members, and Roberts' skills as a navigator were put to use. The two Welshmen spoke in Welsh to each other while discussing confidential matters in order to prevent any crewmen from getting suspicious of their actions; Davis was a fellow Welshman from Pembrokeshire.
However, on 19 June 1719 Davis was ambushed by the Portuguese on Principe while heading inland. Many of the crew were also captured, and Roberts was one of the few survivors. Just then, Captain Kenway arrived on the island, searching for Roberts. He informed Roberts that the Templars sent John Cockram and Josiah Burgess to hunt him down, so Roberts told him to kill the two of them and find some of his crew if possible; he was to stay safe.
Pirate Captain[]
Roberts becoming captain
After Burgess and Cockram were killed, Roberts rallied his crew and took up responsibility for them, declaring himself the captain of "Princess". He made a partnership with Kenway, who was also a fellow Welshman, and he told him to meet him east of the Leeward Islands in two months.
In September 1719, Roberts and Kenway conspired to take control of the Portuguese man-of-war "Nosso Senhor de Compreensao" off the Yucatan Peninsula. The two took Kenway's ship "Jackdaw" and refitted her with a Portuguese flag taken from the sloop "Cambi", and they headed past the other ships to go strait for the main ship. Roberts and Kenway stormed the ship and killed the crew, and they made off with it, destroying pursuing ships with the ship's advanced guns. Roberts renamed the ship "Royal Fortune", and it became his flagship.
Greatest Pirate[]
Flag of Bartholomew Roberts
Roberts was a great pirate, preying mainly on Portuguese ships in West Africa and British ships in the Caribbean. He was especially hostile towards the inhabitants of Barbados and Martinique; his flag had two skulls with the initials ABH (A Barbadian Head) and AMH (A Martiniquan Head) to signify his hatred of the islands.
In June 1720, Roberts launched an attack as far north as French Newfoundland, off the coast of Canada. On October 25-28 he captured 15 French and British ships, and during that time he captured the Governor of Martinique's man-of-war and hung him from the yardarm.
Eventually, Roberts met with Kenway to discuss the location of the Observatory. He showed him that it was in Long Bay, Jamaica, and demonstrated its powers before kicking him into a pool of water below, ending his partnership. Kenway escaped, but later fainted, and Roberts delivered him to a Jamaican prison to gather the large bounty that King George I of Great Britain placed on his head.
Death[]
In December 1721, Roberts headed to West Africa, planning to return to Caribbean by Christmas. However, he learned that HMS Swallow and HMS Weymouth were sent to take him down. On 5 February 1722, he found that Kenway had pursued him in the pirate brig "Jackdaw", and he faced not only Kenway, but also British and Spanish ships that were searching for him. Roberts' ship "Royal Fortune" was incapacitated by "Jackdaw"'s fire after a naval duel, and Kenway boarded the ship. Roberts was stabbed and wounded in the neck, and in his last words he asked Kenway to destroy his body to prevent the Templars from getting any blood. Roberts succumbed to his wounds, and his body was thrown overboard.