Irish-American
, image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png
, image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state
, caption = Notable Irish Americans
, population =
36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...
pirate briefly active near
Ocracoke Inlet
Ocracoke Inlet () , from the North Carolina Collection's website at the
off
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. He is best known for bringing the Farley family with him, causing wife Martha Farley to be one of the few women tried for piracy.
Biography
In May 1727 John Vidal raided a wreck and a few small ships, including the
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
''Anne and Francis'', near Ocracoke Inlet in a small piragua. With him were Thomas Farley, his wife Martha Farley, their two children, and two other pirates, Edward Coleman and Thomas Allen. The Farleys had been convicts, transported separately to the
Province of North Carolina
Province of North Carolina was a province of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712(p. 80) to 1776. It was one of the five Southern Colonies, Southern colonies and one of the Thirteen Colonies, thir ...
in 1725.
Vidal was in a rowboat with three prisoners he had taken when they overpowered him and delivered him to local authorities. Thomas Farley escaped and his ultimate fate is unknown. Coleman and Allen were captured while ashore after local residents informed on them.
North Carolina had no
Admiralty Court
Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries, and offences.
Admiralty courts in the United Kingdom England and Wales
Scotland
The Scottish court's earliest ...
to try pirates, but Governor Richard Everard agreed to transfer Vidal to
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula ...
to try him before a Vice-Admiralty Court. A trial commenced on August 15, 1727. Vidal's other two accomplices were found guilty and hanged, and Vidal was scheduled for execution.
Virginia Governor Robert Carter granted Vidal a temporary reprieve. He wrote of Vidal to Everard, "I must own to you I have very little Compassion for persons Convicted of his Crime … It appeard very plainly to me from the Testimony against him as well as the rest that his heart was fully prepared for perpetrating the blackest of Vilianys, Altho the designe was laid with the greatest Improbability of Success."
Martha Farley (sometimes referred to as Mary Farlee or Mary Harvey) pleaded that she had no idea her husband Thomas meant to engage in piracy and thought he was returning them to friends they had left behind in the
Province of South Carolina
Province of South Carolina, originally known as Clarendon Province, was a province of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776. It was one of the five Southern colonies and one of the thirteen American colonies. The monar ...
. The Court believed her, and not wanting to orphan her children, acquitted her.
Newly arrived North Carolina Lieutenant Governor William Gooch wrote to England on Vidal's behalf after his advisors suggested a grant of clemency would be a good way to begin his tenure. The stay of execution was granted and in September 1727 Vidal was pardoned.
See also
*
Anne Bonny
Anne Bonny (8 March 1697 – disappeared April 1721), sometimes Anne Bonney, was an Irish pirate operating in the Caribbean, and one of the few female pirates in recorded history. What little that is known of her life comes largely from Capta ...
,
Mary Read
Mary Read (1685 – 28 April 1721), also known as Mark Read, was an English pirate. She and Anne Bonny were two famous female pirates from the 18th century, and among the few women known to have been convicted of piracy at the height of the " ...
, and
Mary Critchett
Mary Critchett (died 1729, first name also Maria, last name also Crichett or Crickett) was an English pirate and convict. She is best known for being one of only four confirmed female pirates from the Golden Age of Piracy, and the only one executed ...
, the other confirmed women active in piracy's Golden Age.