Walter Bagnall (died 1631) was an early settler of the

colony of Massachusetts Bay The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

. In 1628, he became the first European immigrant to settle on

Richmond Island Richmond Island, or Richmond's Island, is an island off the coast of Cape Elizabeth in Cumberland County, Maine, in the United States. The island is named for Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox and 1st Duke of Richmond. Privately owned and unoc ...

, off

Cape Elizabeth Cape Elizabeth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The town is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine, metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 census, Cape Elizabeth had a population of 9,535. ...

in today's

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. Known as "Great Walt," Bagnall was a trader, and gained fortune by cheating the

Wabanaki Confederacy The Wabanaki Confederacy (''Wabenaki, Wobanaki'', translated to "People of the Dawn" or "Easterner") is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of four principal Eastern Algonquian nations: the Miꞌkmaq, Maliseet ( ...

. He was killed in 1631 by Skitterygusset (or Squidrayset), the brother of female Wabanaki leader Warrabitta. Allegedly, his death was avenged by the hanging of pirate "Black Will", who was under the command of

Dixie Bull Dixie Bull (or Dixey Bull) was an English sea captain, and the first pirate known to prey on shipping off the New England coast, especially Maine. Biography Born in Huntingdon about 1611, he was apprenticed Skinner to his elder brother Seth in 1 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagnall, Walter 1631 deaths People from Portland, Maine English emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony People from pre-statehood Maine