William Turner Jr. (born 1708) was a Scottish pirate who reputedly served as Captain of the Flying Dutchman during the Golden Age of Piracy. Turner originally worked as a blacksmith's apprentice in Port Royal, Jamaica, but, in 1728, he joined Jack Sparrow in a life of piracy with the objective of rescuing the woman he loved, Elizabeth Swann, from the rival pirate captain Hector Barbossa. While Turner briefly returned to his trade, he was arrested in 1729, forcing him to escape and return to piracy with his friend Sparrow and his love, Swann. He married Swann in 1729, the same year that, according to legend, he became Captain of the Flying Dutchman after slaying Davy Jones at the Battle of Calypso's Maelstrom.
Biography[]
An unconscious Turner, 1720
William Turner was born in Glasgow, Scotland, Great Britain in 1708, the son of the sailor-turned-pirate "Bootstrap Bill" Turner. He was raised by his mother in England and believed that his father was a respectable merchant sailor; on his mother's death, Turner became a sailor in order to search for his father. In 1720, he was the lone survivor of a pirate attack on the trading ship Princess, and he was rescued from its wreckage by the HMS Dauntless after the similarly aged Elizabeth Swann noticed Turner floating unconsciously on the water. Turner accompanied the ship to Port Royal, Jamaica, where he became a blacksmith's apprentice under John Brown, and he distantly longed for Swann, who, as the daughter of Governor Weatherby Swann, was expected to marry rich.
Turner in 1728
In 1728, Turner fashioned a sword for Commodore James Norrington's promotion ceremony, and, that same day, he helped to capture the escaped pirate Jack Sparrow after Sparrow attempted to hide in his shop. After the pirate captain Hector Barbossa and the crew of the Black Pearl raided Port Royal and kidnapped Swann, Turner helped Sparrow escape from prison and commandeer the HMS Interceptor with the objective of rescuing Swann. In the process, Turner reluctantly adopted a life of piracy, and Sparrow told Turner that his father had been a pirate as well. Turner accompanied Sparrow as he recruited a crew on Tortuga, battled with the Black Pearl, and defeated Barbossa at Isla de Muerta, successfully rescuing Elizabeth from the pirates. In gratitude for Sparrow's help, Turner and Swann helped Sparrow escape the hangman back in Port Royal.
In 1729, Turner and Swann decided to marry, only for their ceremony to be interrupted when British East India Company agent Cutler Beckett had the two arrested for aiding in Sparrow's escape. Beckett freed Turner on the condition that he recover Jack Sparrow's unique compass, in exchange for which he would also release Swann. After helping Sparrow escape from Pelegosto and visit Tia Dalma on Tortuga, Turner was tricked into serving aboard Davy Jones' ship, the Flying Dutchman, where he met his father and promised to free him from the curse of servitude which legend claims afflicted the crew. According to that same legend, Turner and Swann betrayed Sparrow to the Kraken in exchange for their lives and those of Sparrow's crew, only for them to help rescue Sparrow from "World's End" and battle against Jones and the British East India Company at the Battle of Calypso's Maelstrom. During that battle, Turner was said to have stabbed the heart of Davy Jones, making him the new captain of the Flying Dutchman, and cursing him to only be able to return to land once every ten years. Nevertheless, Turner married Swann, and she bore him a son, Henry Turner, who became a seaman like his father.