Charles Vane (c. 1680 – 29 March 1721) was an English pirate who operated in the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...
during the end of the
Golden Age of Piracy
The Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation for the period between the 1650s and the 1730s, when maritime piracy was a significant factor in the histories of the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, the Indian Ocean, North America, and West Afric ...
.
Vane was likely born in the
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
On ...
around 1680. One of his first pirate ventures was under the leadership of
Henry Jennings, during Jennings' attack on the salvage camp for the wrecked Spanish
1715 Treasure Fleet off the coast of
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...
. By 1717, Vane was commanding his own vessels and was one of the leaders of the
Republic of Pirates in
Nassau. In 1718, Vane was captured but agreed to stop his criminal actions and declared his intention to accept a
King's Pardon
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...
; however just months later he and his men, including
Edward England
Edward England ( –1721) was an Irish pirate. The ships he sailed on included the ''Pearl'' (which he renamed ''The Royal James'') and later the ''Fancy'', for which England exchanged the ''Pearl'' in 1720. His flag was the classic Joll ...
and
Jack Rackham, returned to piracy. Unlike some other notable pirate captains of the age like
Benjamin Hornigold and
Samuel Bellamy, Vane was known for his cruelty, often beating, torturing and killing sailors from ships he captured. In February 1719, Vane was caught in a storm in the
Bay Islands and was marooned on an uncharted island. Upon being discovered by a passing British ship, he was arrested and brought to
Port Royal
Port Royal is a village located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping an ...
where he was eventually tried and hanged in March 1721.
Pirate career
Little is known of Vane's early life. He lived in Port Royal before becoming a pirate, but he was most likely not born there.
Vane worked with
Henry Jennings during Jennings' attack on the salvage camp for the wrecked Spanish
1715 Treasure Fleet. Vane first operated as an independent captain in the summer of 1717. By the winter of that year he was one of the leaders of the pirates operating out of
Nassau.
When word reached the pirates that
King George I of Great Britain
George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first ...
had extended an
offer of pardon to all pirates who wished to surrender, Vane led the pirates who opposed taking the pardon, which included many with
Jacobite
Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to:
Religion
* Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include:
** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometimes ...
leanings. On 23 February 1718, Captain Vincent Pearse arrived at Nassau in , in an attempt to get the pirates on the island to surrender. Vane was captured along with his sloop, the ''Lark''.
Benjamin Hornigold,
Thomas Nichols, and others urged Pearse to release Vane as a show of good faith, which he did; Vane afterwards declared to Pearse that he intended to take the King's pardon. But on 21 March, Vane and his men (including
Edward England
Edward England ( –1721) was an Irish pirate. The ships he sailed on included the ''Pearl'' (which he renamed ''The Royal James'') and later the ''Fancy'', for which England exchanged the ''Pearl'' in 1720. His flag was the classic Joll ...
and
Calico Jack Rackham) turned pirate again, capturing a Jamaican sloop. Vane sailed back to Nassau and harassed Pearse repeatedly, trading their sloop for the ''Lark''. Vane left Nassau on 4 April; four days later Pearse left with HMS ''Phoenix'', and Nassau was again controlled by the pirates.
After leaving Nassau, Vane raided ships around the Bahamas. He gained a reputation for cruelty; he and his crew would often beat or torture captured sailors to force them to surrender their valuables. Around this time Vane's crew renamed the ''Lark'', calling it the ''Ranger''.
Vane cruised again in May and June, capturing, among other ships, a twenty-gun French ship that became Vane's new flagship.
Vane was back at Nassau on 22 July 1718 when
Woodes Rogers reached Nassau to take office as the new governor. Rogers' ships trapped Vane in the harbor; Vane's ship was too large to pass one of the harbor's two entrances, and the other was blocked by Rogers' fleet. That night, Vane turned the French ship into a
fireship
A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...
, setting it on fire and sailing it towards Rogers' ships. The fireship failed to damage any of Rogers' fleet except one, but the ships were forced to pull away, unblocking the channel. Vane commandeered a small 24 gun sloop, the ''Katherine'', and escaped out the smaller entrance as Rogers' ships returned.
Vane took ships off the Bahamas in July, working with
Charles Yeats, the original captain of the ''Katherine''. A brigantine that Vane captured became his new flagship. In August he sailed to Charleston and took eight ships there. After seizing a slave ship, he put the slaves aboard Yeats' ship; Yeats sailed off with the slaves and surrendered to the governor of South Carolina in exchange for a pardon. The merchants of Charleston outfitted two sloops to hunt Vane, under the command of
William Rhett
Colonel William Rhett (4 September 1666 – 12 January 1723) was a British-born plantation owner in the Province of Carolina in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He arrived in America in 1694, accompanied by his wife Sarah. Rhett quickly ...
. Rhett failed to find Vane, but his ships
located and captured the pirate
Stede Bonnet
Stede Bonnet (1688 – 10 December 1718) was an early 18th-century English/Barbadian pirate, also known as the Gentleman Pirate for the reason that he was a moderately wealthy landowner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born in ...
.
In August Vane
careened his ship near
Abaco
Abaco is a variant Italian form of the Biblical name " Habakkuk" (but normally Abacùc or Abacucco).
Abaco may refer to:
People
* Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco (1675–1742), Italian composer and violinist
* Joseph Abaco (1710–1805), Belgian comp ...
, where his accomplice
Nicholas Woodall smuggled him supplies and ammunition. Hornigold had turned pirate-hunter along with his associate
John Cockram and followed Vane, who escaped; Hornigold and Cockram instead captured Woodall, who was imprisoned by Rogers.
Vane returned to Nassau in September to marry, threatening to retake the city. In October Vane sailed to
Ocracoke Inlet, and met with
Blackbeard
Edward Teach (alternatively spelled Edward Thatch, – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known about ...
, perhaps attempting to convince Blackbeard to join forces with him; the two crews celebrated for several days, but split up afterwards.
In October Vane raided
Eleuthera
Eleuthera () refers both to a single island in the archipelagic state of The Commonwealth of the Bahamas and to its associated group of smaller islands. Eleuthera forms a part of the Great Bahama Bank. The island of Eleuthera incorporates the ...
, carrying away liquor and livestock. On 23 November, Vane spotted a large
frigate, but when he hoisted the Jolly Roger the frigate replied by raising a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
naval ensign and opening fire. Vane's brigantine and sloop were outgunned, and he ordered a retreat. Vane's crew saw this as an act of cowardice. He was voted out of command in favor of Calico Jack Rackham. Vane and sixteen others who supported him, including his first mate
Robert Deal,
were put on the sloop.
Vane sailed to the
Bay Islands, capturing sloops along the way, one of which Deal took command of.
In February 1719, Vane and Deal were caught in a hurricane and separated; Vane was wrecked on an uninhabited island. When English ships arrived to collect water near the island, Vane tried to join one of the crews under a false name. He was recognized by an old acquaintance, and arrested.
Vane was taken to
Spanish Town, Jamaica
Spanish Town ( jam, label= Jamaican Creole, Panish Tong) is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and British capital of Jamaica from 1534 until 1872. T ...
and held in prison for some time. On 22 March 1721, he was tried for piracy and found guilty. Vane learned that Deal had been tried, convicted, and hanged some time earlier.
Vane was sentenced to death, and on 29 March he was hanged at Gallows Point in Port Royal. His corpse was hung in chains at
Gun Cay
Gun Cay is an island in the Bahamas, located south of Bimini
Bimini is the westernmost district of the Bahamas and comprises a chain of islands located about due east of Miami. Bimini is the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland Unite ...
.
In popular culture
W. Morgan Sheppard
William Morgan Sheppard (24 August 1932 – 6 January 2019) was an English actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes, in a career that spanned over 50 years.
Stage career
Sheppard graduated from the Royal Academy of ...
portrayed Vane in the 1999 family film ''Treasure of Pirate's Point''.
Vane appears as a side character and minor antagonist in the 2013 video game ''
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag'', in which he was voiced by
Ralph Ineson
Ralph Michael Ineson (; born 15 December 1969) is an English actor and narrator. Known for his deep, rumbling, Yorkshire-accented voice, his most notable roles include William in ''The Witch'', Dagmer Cleftjaw in ''Game of Thrones'', Amycus Car ...
. In the game, Vane is portrayed as rude, foul-mouthed, and self-centered, but despite this, he becomes a friend and ally of protagonist
Edward Kenway
Edward James Kenway is a fictional character in Ubisoft's ''Assassin's Creed'' video game franchise. He was introduced as a supporting character in '' Assassin's Creed: Forsaken'', a companion novel to the 2012 video game ''Assassin's Creed III' ...
and one of the co-leaders of the
Pirate Republic in
Nassau. Following the Republic's collapse, Vane and Kenway team up to search for the Observatory, which the latter believes will enrich them, only to end up marooned together on an island following a mutiny staged by Vane's quartermaster,
Jack Rackham. During their time on the island, Vane is driven insane, to the point he tries to kill Kenway, who defeats and subsequently abandons him. In a later mission, Kenway can encounter Vane in prison, revealing that the latter was captured and sentenced to death. Though he considers saving him, Kenway ultimately leaves Vane to his fate, deeming him too far gone.
Zach McGowan portrayed Charles Vane in the
Starz
Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consis ...
television series ''
Black Sails'' (2014–2017).
Tom Padley plays Vane in six episodes of the 2021
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
docuseries
Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries.
Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film.
*Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...
''
The Lost Pirate Kingdom
The Lost Pirate Kingdom is a 2021 docuseries created for Netflix. This historical drama portrays the rise and fall of the eponymous early-18th century pirate republic based in Nassau, Bahamas. The series begins in 1715, shortly after the close of ...
''.
Footnotes
References
*
* Menefee, S.P. "Vane, Charles," in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,'' vol. 56 (2004): pp. 94–95.
* Pickering, David. ''Pirates''. CollinsGem. HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY. (2006):p-75.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vane, Charles
1680 births
1721 deaths
British pirates
People executed for piracy
English Jacobites