Henry Avery's Early Life

Henry Avery was born in 1653 in Plymouth, England. Avery had already spent almost 36 years at sea before he became a pirate. Avery enlisted into the Royal Navy, serving as a junior officer. The higher officers gave Henry and his other sailors beatings. In 1693 Henry went to be a part of a ship leaving England to attack French ships. At first he received great profit, but he was later sold into slavery with many others. He wanted to re-gain his freedom. When they were on the ship called the Charles Avery and twenty four other men came onto deck and took control of the entire ship. Henry then went below deck to speak to the sick captain. He told the captain that he could still be captain if he joined their crew, but he declined the offer. So Avery let him go to shore on one of the boats with anyone else who wanted to leave.

Starting off the Pirate Career

On the first day of Avery being a pirate he held a meeting with the 85 men who decided they would be a part of his crew. Avery announced that the profit that they would receive would not be for Houblon. It would be a way for them to provide for them and their families. He wanted to go to Madagascar to trade with natives who would trade food and other things they would need with them.  He said that they would raid ships and towns all over the Indian Ocean and Caribbean. When they were done raiding they would quietly go back to England with all of their loot. All of the men agreed and decided that Avery should be their pirate. They decided to split the plunder pretty equally. They decided that Avery would only get one extra share. They would make all of their biggest decisions democratically, but during combat whatever Avery said would go. They renamed the ship that they over threw the Fancy.

Avery's Pirate Career

All throughout his first month of being a captain they sailed down the Atlantic Ocean stopping at many different islands. They found three English ships that automatically surrendered without fighting. Although they surrendered, Avery forced 9 members to join his crew because they had “special skills”. A couple months after he raided English ships he decided that he would never steal from his own country again.  Later on when Henry was on the coast of Western Africa he led many tribesmen onto his ship telling them that he wanted to trade with them. He didn’t keep his promise; he stole put them into shackles, stole their gold, and sold seven of them into slavery. They burned the town of Mayd because the members wouldn’t trade with them. By 1965 Avery captured nine ships and sailed from Maio to India. From there the Fancy got into many different battles with many different ships. They won all of the countless battles and received even more loot.

The End of Avery's Pirate Career

Avery bribed the Governor Trott for protection with 7,000 pounds for his and his crew’s safety. After the Governor agreed the crew spent many days in Nassau. They debated on what to do next with their lives. A couple wanted to stay where they were; so they got married and stayed. The rest of the pirates split into three different groups with different ideas of how to go back to normal life with their treasures. Avery decided to go to north of Ireland. They arrived at Dunfanaghy and were greeted by customs who treated them in a strange manner and gave them gold and passes to Dublin. After traveling for six miles Avery left his men saying that he was on his way to Scotland. Many of his men wanted to travel with him, but he didn’t let them. Not long after five members of the crew were caught and hanged on November 25, 1696.

What Happened to Henry Avery?

Nobody exactly knows what happened to Henry Avery, but there are a couple stories that have different ideas. Some say that he returned to Madagascar with his wife. They say he had pirates coming to him from everywhere around the world for advice and techniques. Some believe that Avery returned to England and took up a different name. He made arrangements to sell his diamonds and treasures with some people in Bristol. He thought they would send him the money for what he sold but they never did. So, he fell into debt, got sick, and died.  Although nobody knows for sure what happened to Henry Avery many will agree that he is the “King of Pirates”. Many will also agree that he is one of the most successful. Henry Avery was one of the only pirates who never got caught for all of his crimes and had the shortest and most profitable career than any other pirates.

Book Report: The Republic of Pirates

    The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard is about The Golden Age of piracy in the 1700’s.  Woodard tells many stories of many different pirates and tells who they truly were.  He writes about what the captains and their crews had gained and what they had destroyed.  He tells the story of the “Flying Gang” which consisted of three popular pirates who were strategic thieves.  Woodard makes you grateful that pirates are gone, especially the most terrible ones of them all.  Although many people think that the Pirates of the Caribbean movies show how pirate life was, The Republic of Pirates gives you a better idea, and the truth.

        The Republic of Pirates is about the “Golden Age of Pirates”.  The book starts off with “The Pirates Tale” of Henry Avery and how he started piracy.   It mainly tells it through the lives of three pirates in the “Flying Gang” by the names of Samuel Bellamy (Black Sam), Edward Thatch (Blackbeard), and Charles Vane.  Bellamy and Thatch were friends who together attacked nearly 300 ships.  They met many years before they were captains because they had the same mentor, Benjamin Hornigold, who founded The Pirate Republic.  Blackbeard was one of the most dangerous pirates in the Caribbean.  The two of them were also good acquaintances with Vane. Woodes Rogers also had a big role in the book.  Rogers was interested in making piracy coming to an end.  Rogers had many encounters with pirates who had ran away and started making strategies on how to defeat them. King George wanted to support Rogers so he sent navy ships to go with him on his conquests.  Many other pirates decided to help him including Hornigold.  Rogers’ quest was successful; he ended the Pirate Republic and got rid of all the pirate crews all around the world.  Although he ended piracy he ended up in prison for not paying all the loans that he made to get rid of pirates.  Right before the Republic of Pirates came to an end Vane’s ship was caught in a hurricane and was destroyed.  Vane was caught and sent to prison when he washed up to shore, a year later he was hung.  Blackbeard lived a normal life for awhile after The Republic of Pirates came to an end, but Lt. Robert Maynard found him and got into a huge fight and in the end Blackbeard was killed.  Bellamy died three years before piracy came to an end.  He was caught in a terrible storm that only seven men survived from who a couple days later ended up being executed.  For the most part all of those who were involved in piracy did not get a very happy ending.

        I chose to read about pirates because I have been intrigued by pirates for awhile now. Nobody knows for sure everything that happened in the age of piracy, which makes it so interesting. We only know bits and pieces of what actually happened and what type of events took place. Pirates affected a lot of things back then. They affected the economy hugely with all of the goods that they stole. They destroyed towns and put together countries like Belize.  They would put many merchants out of work and put many people in general in distress.

Works Cited

Henry Avery. Fortune City. Web. 9 Dec. 2011.   http://tinpan.fortunecity.com/lennon/897/avery.html.

"Henry Avery." Henry Avery. St. Croix, 2006. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. http://www.stcroix-beaches.com/Henry-Avery.html.

"Henry Avery. Pirates, Buccaneers, Privateers & Swashbucklers." V'lé's Pirate Cove, 70 of the Most Famous Pirates, Buccaneers, Swashbucklers & Privateers. Castlebound Enterprises. Vleonica. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. http://www.vleonica.com/avery.htm.

"Henry Every - Famous Pirate - The Way Of The Pirates." Famous Pirates at The Way Of The Pirates. The Way of the Pirates, 2009. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. http://www.thewayofthepirates.com/famous-pirates/henry-every.php.

Klein, Shelley. The Most Evil Pirates in History. London: Michael O'Mara, 2006. Print.

Woodard, Colin. The Republic of Pirates Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down. Orlando: Harvest, 2007. Print.