Thomas Larimore (
fl.
''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...
1677-1706, last name occasionally Laramore, Larrimore, Laremore, or Laremoor) was a
privateer and pirate active in the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
and off the eastern seaboard of the American colonies. After helping suppress
Bacon’s Rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion held by Virginia settlers that took place from 1676 to 1677. It was led by Nathaniel Bacon against Colonial Governor William Berkeley, after Berkeley refused Bacon's request to drive Native American ...
and serving as a militia leader he turned to piracy, his activities intertwined with those of fellow pirate
John Quelch
John Anthony Quelch CBE (born August 8, 1951) is the dean of the University of Miami School of Business at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
He also serves as the University of Miami's Leonard M. Miller university chair profes ...
.
History
When
Nathaniel Bacon rebelled against
Virginia colonial officials in 1676, Larimore sided with the Virginia loyalists under Governor
William Berkeley.
He ferried troops and fought in and around
Newport News in his ship ''Rebecca'', which was captured by Bacon’s rebels then recaptured and returned to Larimore.
He then used the ''Rebecca'' – with extra cannon added by the rebels – to capture the rebels’ remaining ships, helping lead the loyalists to victory.
Larimore also served as
quartermaster aboard several different vessels during
King William's War from 1688-1697.
In 1702 he was commissioned as a privateer by Governor
Joseph Dudley of
Boston to sail against the French, and took at least five French ships. Dudley commissioned Larimore again in 1703, this time to lead a unit of foot soldiers to help defend
Jamaica against the Spanish.
His soldiers suffered from disease and went unpaid, shuffled around the Caribbean and as far north as
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
before being returned to Boston that November.
Bitter and broke, Larimore threatened to take to piracy on his ship ''Larimore Galley''.
Returning to
Cape Ann near Boston, a number of Quelch’s men came aboard Larimore’s ship, having dispersed on shore after leaving Quelch's ''Charles Galley'' to hide their loot.
Governor Dudley’s men seized Larimore, his crew, and the remains of Quelch’s crew. Larimore was charged not with piracy but with harboring fugitives (Quelch's crew).
He was sent to England for trial, but because of his service against the French and Spanish, Dudley asked officials to pardon him.
By late 1706 Larimore had been returned to New England and again placed under arrest, “suspected of very ill designs and practices.”
See also
*
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 ...
, the venue in which Larimore's privateering prizes were approved, and in which Larimore was later tried.
*
Samuel Sewall, the judge who presided over Quelch's and Larimiore's trials, more famous for his role in the
Salem Witch Trials.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larimore, Thomas
Year of birth missing
Year of death missing
18th-century pirates
English pirates
Caribbean pirates