Thomas Anstis (died April 1723) was an English pirate who captained the brigantine Good Fortune from 1721 to 1723, during the Golden Age of Piracy.
Biography[]
Thomas Anstis was born in England, and he was a member of the sloop Buck before Howell Davis led a mutiny aboard the ship and became a pirate captain. After Davis' death in 1719, Bartholomew Roberts became the captain of several pirate ships, and Anstis was made the captain of the brigantine Good Fortune. On 18 April 1721, Anstis split with Roberts' fleet as it headed to West Africa, remaining in the Caribbean Sea to continue pirating there. Between Hispaniola and Jamaica, the pirates captured two vessels, gang raping a female passenger on the Irwin. He captured the British treasure ship Morning Star as it headed from Guinea to South Carolina, and he outfitted the ship with 32 guns and gave it to John Fenn. In August 1722, the King sent a fleet to eradicate the pirates, and Anstis lost forty men on Grand Cayman after the Royal Navy ships HMS Hector and HMS Adventure pursued the Good Fortune and Morning Star. Anstis and Fenn then headed to the Bay of Honduras, where they captured four prizes and pressed several captured Spanish sailors into their service. In December 1722, he captured two ships while he was headed for the Bahamas, and the pirates anchored off Trinidad and Tobago in April 1723 to careen their ships. There, the British man o' war HMS Winchelsea ambushed the pirates, and Anstis barely escaped on the Good Fortune. Upset by their heavy losses, the crew decided to mutiny against Anstis, murdering him as he slept in his hammock.