Henry Every - the famous English pirate nicknamed Lanky Ben, one of the first gentlemen of fortune in the so-called "golden age" of piracy. He became famous for his plunders in the waters of Africa and South Asia in the 90s of the 17th century, where he was able to seize huge booty. He became the hero of many adventure novels.
The semi-legendary biography of Henry Avery was first published by Daniel Defoe in his book A General History of the Pirates, published in London in 1724. In this work, he changed his name from Henry Every to John Avery.
Captain Avery's early years
There is also a version that in fact our hero's name was Henry Bridgman. This was announced by the Dutchman Van Brook, who for several months was a prisoner on board his ship. Avery allegedly confessed to him that his real name was Bridgeman, and he adopted a pseudonym so as not to cast a shadow on his relatives. According to Van Brook, Avery was a cheerful and good-natured person, but in childhood he was often offended by relatives, which could not but affect his character. As the son of a captain of a merchant ship, from his youth, he tied his fate with the sea, served on the warships "Resolution" and "Edgar" and became a pirate after his wife's betrayal.
It is likely that Avery was in command of a slave ship that was engaged in the illegal supply of slaves from Africa to America. At least the captain of the ship "Hannibal" Phillips in 1693 complained that he could not find blacks on the coast of Guinea, since Lanky Ben, aka Avery, had been here before him.
Pirate - Henry Avery
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According to Johnson, Avery was born in Devonshire near Plymouth in 1653. His pirate career can be traced back to 1694, when he was hired as first mate on the 46-gun frigate Charles II, which was under the command of Captain Gibson (Johnson calls this ship "Ducom"). The frigate was equipped with Bristol fittings at the request of Spanish merchants who wanted to use it to fight pirates and French smugglers in America. Arriving at the Spanish port of La Coruña with Sir James Hublon's squadron, "Karl" stood idle there for eight months. Unpaid, the sailors eventually conspired to seize the ship and mutinied on May 7, 1694. Avery was at the head of the rioters.
After that, the rebels went to the shores of West Africa. "Charles II" was renamed "Fancy" ("Quirk"). In the waters of the Cape Verde Islands, pirates were able to capture three English ships, from which they took 9 people and provisions, then in the Gulf of Guinea (near Principe Island) Avery captured 2 Danish 26 cannon ships: each crew member had 8 or 9 ounces of gold. 14 Danes willingly joined their gang.
Having rounded the Cape of Good Hope, the pirates headed for Madagascar, and then for the island of Anjouan. There, the British captured a gorab with 40 French filibusters from the command of Captain Isaac Weyre, who was shipwrecked near the neighboring island of Moheli. The French from the gorab were forced to join Avery's team.
1695, February 16 - almost immediately after the capture of the gorab, three ships of the East India Company ("Benjamin", "Mokka" and "Tonkin") approached the island of Anjouan. Captain Avery left on land “one man from his company who had fallen ill before; his name was William May, "and he weighed anchor. On the morning of February 19, he went to sea, without entering into negotiations with the East India ships.
After a short cruise, Captain Avery returned to Anjouan. There he recruited 13 or 14 French recruits, "who cruised these seas under the English flag and lost their ship at Moheli, where he ran aground."
Fancy became a formidable pirate ship with a crew of 170, including 104 Englishmen, 14 Danes from the Gulf of Guinea, and 52 Frenchmen from Demarez's crew. The gang decided to go to the Red Sea. On the way, they met two English pirate ships, the Dolphin and the Portsmouth Adventure. The first was under the command of Captain Richard Went, had 60 men and was equipped at Workill (near Philadelphia) in January 1694. The Portsmouth Adventure (Captain Joseph Faro) was equipped at the same time in Rhode Island and had almost the same number of men. Each had 6 cannons.
They agreed with Avery about a partnership and in June 1695 arrived together on the island of Perim, which is at the entrance to the Red Sea. There they spent the night, and the next day three other English pirate ships joined them: the Susanna of Boston under the command of Thomas Wake, the brigantine Pearl (Captain William Mays) and the sloop Amity (Captain Thomas Tew); the last two came from New York. They had 6 guns each, the brigantine had from 30 to 40 people, others - 50 people each.
Capture of the ship "Gang-i-Sawai"
Despite their numbers, the pirates managed to miss a convoy of 25 ships that left Mohi to return to India. Rushing in pursuit, the pirates were able to capture two Indian ships. One of the ships, the Gang-i-Sawai, was the largest in the entire Mughal Empire. The prize surpassed all of the pirates' wildest expectations. He transported numerous passengers returning from the pilgrimage to Mecca, including high-ranking officials and a number of women and girls. "They took on this ship so much gold and money in foreign currency and in vessels that together with the previously seized share of each person increased to 1000 pounds."
The search and robbery of the Indian ship, as well as the beating of passengers, lasted a whole week. Some of the captives, in order not to be dishonored, threw themselves overboard or killed themselves with daggers. In the end, after a wild orgy, having loaded all the treasures on board, the pirates let their prize go. Avery's people were now wealthy enough to live in abundance for the rest of their days.
1695 November - Avery's ship arrives at Bourbon Island, where "all Danes and all French were landed on land with their share of the booty, amounting to 970 pounds per person."
At the same time, in India, the message about a pirate attack on the ships of the Great Mogul caused a storm of indignation. When the Gang-i-Sawai arrived in Surat and the surviving sailors and passengers told the local residents about the cruelties committed by pirates, torture, murder of pilgrims, rape of passengers, a violent crowd of Muslims laid siege to the English trading post. Only the intervention of the troops saved the British from reprisals. Agent Samuel Annsley and 65 other East India Company employees in Surat were chained and imprisoned. They remained for 11 months in Indian prisons and were released only on June 27, 1696.
As for the "hero of the occasion" Henry Avery, by that time he left the Indian Ocean for America.
April 1696 - Fancy, with 113 men, anchored off Royal Island in Bahamas, and Captain Henry Bridgeman (Avery) sent a petition to Governor Nicholas Trott for provisions and permission to enter the waters of Nassau. Trott allowed the pirates to stay. For this he received 20 piastres from each member of the Fancy team, 40 piastres from Avery and another £ 1,000 from the loot. In addition, in a share with the merchant Richard Tagliaferro, he bought a ship and cargo for a pittance.
After dividing the remaining booty, most of the pirates moved to the mainland: some to New England, some to North Carolina and Pennsylvania, a few people remained in the West Indies, and two sailed to Bermuda. Avery bought the Mayflower from Captain Crosskis and sailed to Boston with 19 accomplices, carrying only £ 500.
On the trail of the pirate
In Boston, he fell under the suspicion of the governor and was forced to leave for Ulster (Ireland). For his capture, the king promised a reward of 500 pounds sterling, the same was promised by the directors of the East India Company, but it was not possible to find the "lucky Avery". According to one of the captured pirates, in the summer of 1696 Avery fled from Ireland to Scotland, but said that he would leave for Exeter. The witness met in St Albans the wife of the Fancy Quartermaster, who confided in him that she was “going to see Captain Bridgeman,” but did not say where.
Henry Avery's trail was completely lost. Later, a legend appeared that the former pirate, trying to sell the stolen jewelry, was deceived by fraudsters and died in poverty - "with him there was no money even to buy him a coffin."
V. Gubarev