![Engraving of the pirate trading vessel 'Nassau' captained by Giles Shelley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Engraving_of_the_pirate_trading_vessel_%27Nassau%27_captained_by_Giles_Shelley.png)
Giles Shelley (born May 1645 (?), died 1710, last name occasionally Shelly) was a pirate trader active between New York and
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
.
History
Shelley commanded the 4-gun or 6-gun vessel ''Nassau'' on supply runs between New York and the pirate trading posts of Madagascar, including
Ile Ste.-Marie
Nosy Boraha , previously known as Sainte-Marie, main town Ambodifotatra, is an island off the east coast of Madagascar. The island forms an administrative district within Analanjirofo Region, and covers an area of 222 km2.
It has a popula ...
. He delivered goods in demand by pirates such as gunpowder and alcohol, returning with slaves as well as merchandise stolen from
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
ships. Backed by New York merchants such as
Stephen Delancey, the voyages were immensely profitable: a pipe of
Madeira wine bought for £19 in the American colonies sold for £300 on Madagascar.
Despite not engaging in direct piracy of his own, Shelley’s trips were not always safe: in 1696 pirates who had come aboard posing as merchants robbed the ''Nassau''.
His best-known voyage took place in early 1698, one that made his backers over £30,000. With Delancey’s investment he made the usual trip around Africa to Madagascar and sold his cargo. For the return trip in December he took aboard over fifty pirates who wanted to retire in New England, each of which paid for their passage in captured gold.
Many of the pirates had sailed under
Dirk Chivers,
Robert Culliford, or
William Kidd
William Kidd, also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd ( – 23 May 1701), was a Scottish sea captain who was commissioned as a privateer and had experience as a pirate. He was tried and executed in London in 1701 for murder a ...
. Among the pirates he carried were
Otto Van Tuyl and
Paul Swan.
Culliford sent a treasure chest back with Shelley along with a letter addressed to the widow of one of his crew, explaining that the gold was her late husband’s share of their loot.
After a brief stop at
Cayenne to drop off some of the pirates, he sailed back to
Cape May
Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The so ...
in early 1699. Several pirates trying to avoid authorities were put ashore there, while a sloop met the ''Nassau'' at sea and took aboard several more who wanted to avoid New York entirely. Shelly beached the ''Nassau'' to offload the rest of the pirates and crew and their treasure.
Many of the transported pirates were arrested by local authorities; New Jersey Governor
Jeremiah Basse
Jeremiah Basse (died 1725) was a governor of both West Jersey and East Jersey. He became governor of West Jersey in 1697, and became governor of East Jersey in 1697.
Basse was not an effective governor, however, after Andrew Hamilton returned ...
personally boarded a sloop to apprehend a group of them, though New York’s
Governor Bellomont later accused him of having taken bribes to let them go.
While offshore Shelley wrote a letter to Delancey detailing the voyage, a letter which was seized by authorities attempting to arrest the pirates:
Giles Shelley to Mr. Delencie, or, in his absence, Mr. John Barbarie in New York. Cape May, May 27, 1699. At St. Mary's in Madagascar I sold the goods for muslin, calicoes, a ton of elephants' teeth and 2 or 3 cwt. of opium. I took on board 75 passengers: 24 went ashore at Fort Dolphin, where I bought a few negroes and some pigs of tooth and egg (sic). Most of the passengers design for Virginia and Horekills with Andrew Graverard. I have for their passages about 12,000 pieces of eight and about 3,000 Lyon dollars. I hear there is no man-of-war at New York, and design to come to Sandy Hook. Capt. Burgess arrived at St. Mary's the day I sailed, and sold his goods very well. Signed, Giles Shelley.
Bellomont had Shelley arrested and accused of piracy. Through his lawyer
Edward Antill, Shelley was released on bail then cleared of all charges. Shelley went on to become a respected merchant in New York and purchased a number of properties in the state.
He was married but had no children, adopting Anthill’s son after the elder Antill died. Shelley died in 1710, leaving a great deal of land and money to his adopted son as well as various friends and relatives; his widow died in 1718.
See also
*
Samuel Burgess and
Thomas Mostyn – two other New York-based ship captains employed in trading with the pirates of Madagascar
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelley, Giles
17th-century pirates
English pirates
1710 deaths
Piracy in the Indian Ocean
1645 births