John Cockram (1689-19 June 1719) was an Irish pirate and privateer who was active during the Golden Age of Piracy. Cockram and Josiah Burgess served under Benjamin Hornigold, and the three of them took the King's pardon in 1718 before becoming pirate hunters. In 1719, Burgess and Cockram were both killed while attempting to capture Bartholomew Roberts on Principe.
Biography[]
John Cockram was born in Ireland in 1689, and he decided to move to the Caribbean to become a pirate at the start of the Golden Age of Piracy. He was a pirate for a few years to prior to 1718, and he became a close friend and confidant of Benjamin Hornigold. In 1718, he surrendered to King George's emmissaries in Nassau during the Blockade of Nassau, taking the King's pardon; Hornigold and Josiah Burgess did the same. Cockram, Burgess, and Hornigold were then recruited into the Templar Order together, and Hornigold sent Burgess and Cockram to West Africa to locate and capture Bartholomew Roberts, "the Sage". They arrived on Principe, where they orchestrated the ambush that killed Roberts' captain, Howell Davis, in June 1719. However, Edward Kenway - a former acquaintance of theirs - arrived on the island to save Roberts, and he resolved to kill Burgess and Cockram to gain Roberts' trust. Kenway infiltrated the fort of Santo Antonio as Burgess and Cockram were preparing to leave, and he proceeded to kill the two of them.