Thomas Tew
? - 1695
Thomas Tew relates his exploits to Gov. Fletcher of New York. Painting by Howard Pyle.
Nickname:	The Rhode Island Pirate
Type:	Pirate
Place of birth:	Maidford, England
Place of death:	Arabian Sea
Years of service:	1692 - 1695
Rank:	Captain
Base of Operations:	New York City and Indian Ocean
Commands:	Amity
Wealth:	about £8,000

Thomas Tew (?-1695), a.k.a. the Rhode Island Pirate, was a 17th century English privateer turned pirate. Although he embarked on only two major piratical voyages, and met a bloody death on the latter journey, Tew pioneered the route which became known as the Pirate Round. Many other famous pirates, including Henry Every and William Kidd, would follow in Tew’s path. A question mark is a punctuation mark. ... Jan. ... Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853-November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and writer, primarily of books for young audiences. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England. ... Maidford is a civil and eccesiastical parish in South Northamptonshire and the diocese of Peterborough situated approximately 6 miles northwest of Towcester. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The Arabian Sea (Arabic: بحر العرب; transliterated: Bahr al-Arab) is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui, the north-east point of Somalia... Events February 13 - Massacre of Glencoe March 1 - The Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony with the charging of three women with witchcraft. ... Jan. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Jan. ... For other uses, see Privateer (disambiguation). ... Look up pirate and piracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Pirate Round was a sailing route followed by certain Anglo-American pirates, mainly during the late 17th century. ... Henry Every or Avery (born c. ... For the musician, orchestrator, and composer, see William Kidd (composer). ...

Life and Career

Tew claimed to but have antecedents in Rhode Island dating back to 1640,^[1] but he was probably born in Maidford, Northamptonshire, England before immigrating to the colonies as a child with his family.^[2] He lived in Newport, Rhode Island. Tew was married and had two daughters; wife and children all greatly enjoyed the New York City social scene after Tew struck it rich.^[3] This article is about the U.S. State. ... Events December 1 - Portugal regains its independence from Spain and João IV of Portugal becomes king. ... Maidford is a civil and eccesiastical parish in South Northamptonshire and the diocese of Peterborough situated approximately 6 miles northwest of Towcester. ... Northamptonshire (abbreviated Northants or Nhants) is a landlocked county in central England with a population of 629,676 (2001 census). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a city in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Providence. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...

Around 1690, Tew moved to Bermuda. Although there is evidence that he was already reputed as a pirate at that time, no modern historian has determined whether this reputation was earned or not. He may simply have engaged in privateering against French and Spanish ships.^[4] Events Giovanni Domenico Cassini observes differential rotation within Jupiters atmosphere. ...

First pirate cruise

In 1692, Thomas Tew obtained a letter of marque from the governor of Bermuda. Various Bermudan backers provided him with a vessel: the seventy-ton sloop Amity, armed with eight guns and crewed by forty-six officers and men. Thus equipped, Tew set sail in December, ostensibly to serve as a privateer against French holdings in Gambia.^[5] But not long out of Bermuda, Tew announced his intention of turning to piracy, asking the crew for their support since he could not enforce the illegal scheme without their consent. Tew’s crew reportedly answered with the shout, “A gold chain or a wooden leg, we’ll stand by you!” The newly minted pirates proceeded to elect a quartermaster, a common pirate practice to balance the captain’s power.^[6] Events February 13 - Massacre of Glencoe March 1 - The Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony with the charging of three women with witchcraft. ... For the Patrick OBrian novel, see The Letter of Marque. ... For other uses, see Governor (disambiguation). ... For the military definition of sloop see: Sloop-of-war. ... Firing of a 18-pounder aboard of French ship During the Age of Sail, when large, sail-powered wooden naval warships dominated the high seas (roughly: 1571-1863), these warships mounted a bewildering variety of different types and sizes of cannons as their main armament. ... Look up December in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Privateer (disambiguation). ... The Republic of The Gambia is a country in West Africa. ... Quartermaster is a term usually referring to a military unit which specializes in supplying and provisioning troops, or to an individual who does the same. ...

Tew reached the Red Sea and ran down a large ship en route from India to the Ottoman Empire, some time in late 1693. Despite its enormous garrison of 300 soldiers, the Indian ship surrendered without serious resistance, inflicting no casualties on the assailants. Tew’s pirates helped themselves to the ship’s rich treasure, worth £100,000 in gold and silver alone, not counting the value of the ivory, spices, jewels and silk taken. Tew’s men afterward shared out between £1,200 and £3,000 per man, and Tew himself claimed about £8,000.^[7] Location of the Red Sea The Red Sea is an inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ... Motto دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1683, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299–1326) Bursa (1326–1365) Edirne (1365–1453) Ä°stanbul (1453–1922) Government Monarchy Sultans  - 1281–1326 (first) Osman I  - 1918–22 (last) Mehmed VI Grand Viziers  - 1320... Events January 11 - Eruption of Mt. ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... This article is about the chemical element. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Spice (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Gemstone (disambiguation). ... For other uses of this word, see Silk (disambiguation). ...

Tew urged his filibusters to hunt down and rob the other ships in the Indian convoy, but yielded to the opposition of the quartermaster. He set course back to the Cape of Good Hope, stopping at the island of St. Mary’s on Madagascar to careen.^[8] For other uses, see Convoy (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Cape of Good Hope (disambiguation). ... The careening of a sailing vessel is laying her up on a calm beach at high tide in order to expose one side or another of the ships hull for maintenance below the water line when the tide goes out. ...

Tew reached Newport in April, 1694. Benjamin Fletcher, the royal governor of New York, became good friends with Tew and his family. Tew scrupulously paid off the owners of the Amity, who recouped fourteen times the value of the vessel. This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... Events February 6 - The colony Quilombo dos Palmares is destroyed. ... Benjamin Fletcher (1640-1703) was colonial governor of New York from 1692 to 1697. ... A map of the Province of New York. ...

Second pirate cruise

In November, 1694, Tew bought a new letter of marque from Fletcher and set out for another pirate cruise. His crew numbered thirty to forty men at departure this time.^[9]. However, by the time he reached Madagascar, he apparently increased his force to 50 or 60 men.^[10] For other uses, see November (disambiguation). ... Events February 6 - The colony Quilombo dos Palmares is destroyed. ...

Arriving at the Mandab Strait at the mouth of the Red Sea in August, 1695, Tew found several other pirates hoping to duplicate his prior success, including Henry Every in the powerfully armed warship Fancy. Tew and the other pirate captains decided to sail in concert. The Bab-el-Mandeb (Arabic for the gate of tears) is the strait separating the continents of Asia (Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula) and Africa (Somalia on the Horn of Africa), connecting the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean (Gulf of Aden). ... For other uses, see August (disambiguation). ... Jan. ... Henry Every or Avery (born c. ...

In September, 1695, a 25-ship Mughal convoy approached the Mandab Strait, slipping past the pirates during the night. Tew and his fellow pirates pursued. The Amity overtook one of the Mughal ships, believed to be the Fateh Muhammed, and attacked it. Tew was killed in this battle, reportedly disemboweled by a cannon shot. Demoralized, Tew’s crew surrendered immediately, though they were freed later when Every’s Fancy captured the Fateh Muhammed.^[11] For other uses, see September (disambiguation). ... Jan. ... The Mughal Empire (alternative spelling Mogul, which is the origin of the word Mogul) of India was founded by Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. ... Disembowelment is evisceration, or the removing of some or all of vital organs, usually from the abdomen. ...

The final resting place of Tew’s remains is unknown.

Flag

Possible flag of Thomas Tew

Tew’s personal standard is said to have been a white arm holding a sword on a black field, perhaps meaning "we are ready to kill you.” Contemporary evidence for this flag is lacking. The emblem of the German 13th SS division "Handschar" (Kroatische SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division) substantially resembles the flag ascribed to Tew. Image File history File links Pirate_Flag_of_Thomas_Tew. ... Image File history File links Pirate_Flag_of_Thomas_Tew. ... Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century Look up Sword in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen-SS during World War II. It was the largest of the SS divisions, with 21,065 men at its peak, composed almost entirely of non-German...

Trivia

• He is one of the named founders of the mysterious pirate colony of Libertalia.

• Captain William Kidd, before he himself turned pirate, was commissioned by King William III to hunt Tew down. Unknown to either Kidd or the King, Tew was already dead when the commission was issued.^[12]

• Thomas Tew's sea chest is the only known sea chest with provenance leading back to a pirate, and can be seen in Pirate Soul Museum, a pirate themed museum in the Florida Keys.^[13]

• "Tew, in Point of Gallantry, was inferior to none." — Captain Charles Johnson

• Rhode Island's Coastal Extreme Brewing Company, makers of the Newport Storm brand of beers, are distilling a rum [9] named after their state's patron pirate. The Rum was launched for sale in local stores in October 2007.

This article is about a type of political territory. ... Libertatia, also known as Libertalia, was a legendary country, or free colony, forged by pirates, under the leadership of Captain Misson in the late 1600s. ... William III (14 November 1650 – 8 March 1702) was the Prince of Orange from his birth, Stadtholder of the main provinces of the Dutch Republic from 28 June 1672, King of England and King of Ireland from 13 February 1689, and King of Scots (under the name William II) from... Provenance is the origin or source from which anything comes. ... For other uses, see Museum (disambiguation). ... Palm trees in Islamorada The Florida Keys is an archipelago of about 1700 islands in the southeast United States. ... Author of A General History of the Robberies and Murders Of the most notorious Pyrates (1724), his true identity remains a mystery. ...

References

• Botting, Douglas. The Pirates. Time-Life Books, 1978.
• Johnson, Charles. The History of the Pirates: containing the lives of Captain Mission…. London: Printed for, and sold by, T. Woodward, 1728.

Notes

External links

• RedFlag
• Of Captain Thomas Tew
• Maidford
• Thomas Tew Rum ~ Newport, Rhode Island

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Types	Pirates, Privateers, Buccaneers, Corsairs, Barbary pirates, Wokou, Vikings, Ushkuiniks
Places	Piracy in the Caribbean, Piracy in the Strait of Malacca, Port Royal, Tortuga, Saint-Malo, Libertatia, Barbary Coast
Famous Pirates and Privateers	Jean Bart, Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, Anne Bonny, Roche Braziliano, Roberto Cofresí, Sir Francis Drake, Henry Every, William Kidd, Edward Low, Jean Lafitte, Pierre Lafitte, Sir Henry Morgan, François l'Olonnais, Grace O'Malley, Calico Jack Rackham, Mary Read, Redbeard, Bartholomew Roberts, Robert Surcouf, René Duguay-Trouin
Naval officers:	Robert Maynard, Captain Ogle
Miscellaneous	Jolly Roger, Golden Age of Piracy, Timeline of piracy, List of pirate films, List of pirates, Women in piracy