Hendrick van der Heul (14 May 1676 – c. 1762) was a Dutch

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

who served with Captain

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 ...

as his quartermaster. He later purportedly led an attempt to traverse the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...

, though evidence seems lacking, during which he and his crew froze to death. Because of references to him as a "small black man", he has sometimes been identified as African, which would make him the highest-ranking known black pirate. However, his known ancestry is Dutch, and the description may simply mean that he had swarthy skin and/or black hair.

Early life and career

Van der Heul was born in 1676, in

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...

, the site of present-day

lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

, the son of Abraham Jansen van der Heul. His mother, Tryntjen Kip, was born in 1633 in Amsterdam and died in 1695. Hendrick married Marritje Meyer, with whom he had five children.

Privateer

In 1696, Scottish seafarer

received letters of Marque from agents of

King William III William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...

and other prominent English lords to outfit a ship and proceed to the Indian Ocean to find and take from the five or six known European

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

vessels in those waters any merchant goods they had and eliminate the threat they posed to trade between England and India. Van der Heul served as his quartermaster. Quartermasters on pirate vessels were entitled to two shares of the booty like the captain, and were elected by the crew. He also was responsible for dividing the shares equally. Van der Heul moved to

Montaukett = Montauketts = An indigenous Native American People. Name and Identifications The Montaukett ("Metoac" or Matouwac), currently more commonly known as Montauk. The meaning of the name ''Montauk'' is unknown. Native Americans living on Long ...

territory, where he settled and built a family. He became a

master's mate Master's mate is an obsolete rating which was used by the Royal Navy, United States Navy and merchant services in both countries for a senior petty officer who assisted the master. Master's mates evolved into the modern rank of Sub-Lieutenant in t ...

on a merchant vessel and in 1730, captained a ship north in search of the

, for which a prize of £20,000 was offered.

References

External links

The Straits of Anian Map
* http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/northwest-passage/imaginary-voyages.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20150923232603/http://www.easthamptonvillage.org/pdf/history.pdf * https://web.archive.org/web/20150423052908/http://www.onmontauk.com/montauk-history.shtml {{DEFAULTSORT:Heul, Hendrick van der 1676 births 1762 deaths Dutch pirates 18th-century maritime incidents People of New Netherland 17th-century pirates 18th-century pirates William Kidd

Early life and career

Privateer

Further reading

References

External links