John Russell ( fl. 1722-1723) was a pirate active from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

to the Caribbean to the African coast. He is best known for his association with

Edward Low Edward "Ned" Low (also spelled Lowe or Loe; 16901724) was a notorious pirate of English origin during the latter days of the Golden Age of Piracy, in the early 18th century. Low was born into poverty in Westminster, London, and was a thief from ...

and

Francis Spriggs Francis Spriggs (died 1725?) was a British pirate who, associated with George Lowther and Edward Low, was active in the Caribbean and the Bay of Honduras during the early 1720s. Early career Although much of his early life is unknown, Francis S ...

, and for his involvement with two well-known and well-documented

marooning Marooning is the intentional act of abandoning someone in an uninhabited area, such as a desert island, or more generally (usually in passive voice) to be marooned is to be in a place from which one cannot escape. The word is attested in 1699, and ...

Biography

Most commonly known as Englishman “John Russell”, his real name may have been Juan or John Lopez; he was in reality a Portuguese Catholic. Like a number of other pirates of the Golden Age, he was a Jacobite who professed support for England's ousted Catholic

King James II James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...

over his Protestant successors. Various sources paint him alternately as a Captain in his own right, or merely as Low's

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In ...

. He was argumentative and well-versed in the pirates’

Articles Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article may also refer to: G ...

, not above using them to secure his own ends. Rather than fly the

Jolly Roger Jolly Roger is the traditional English name for the flags flown to identify a pirate ship preceding or during an attack, during the early 18th century (the later part of the Golden Age of Piracy). The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly ...

flag, Russell instead flew English flags in order to surprise his targets.

History

Russell was Edward Low's quartermaster in June 1722 when they captured a series of vessels off

Shelburne, Nova Scotia Shelburne is a town located in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. History Shelburne lies at the southwest corner of Nova Scotia, at roughly the same latitude as Portland, Maine in the United States. The Mi'kmaq call the large and well-sheltered h ...

, near

Cape Sable Cape Sable is the southernmost point of the United States mainland and mainland Florida. It is located in southwestern Florida, in Monroe County, and is part of the Everglades National Park. The cape is a peninsula issuing from the southeast ...

. Among the sailors was

Philip Ashton Philip Ashton (17021746) was a castaway on then-uninhabited Roatán island in the Gulf of Honduras for 16 months in 1723/1724. His memoirs about his solitary stay were published in book form in Boston in 1725. While some people believed it was a ...

, whom Low forced to join his crew despite Ashton's pleas and his refusal to sign Low's articles. A few days later Low permitted two boys to take a small boat ashore to retrieve his dog; the boys ran away and an infuriated Russell accused Ashton of complicity in their escape, nearly killing Ashton several times:

I was forced to tell him, I knew not of their design; and indeed I did not, tho' I had good reason to suspect what would be the event of their going. This did not pacifie the Quarter-Master, who with outragious Cursing and Swearing clapt his Pistol to my Head, and snap'd it; but it miss'd Fire: this enraged him the more; and he repeated the snapping of his Pistol at my Head three times, and it as often miss'd Fire; upon which he held it over-board, and snap'd it the fourth time, and then it went off very readily. … The Quarter-Master upon this, in the utmost fury, drew his Cutlash, and fell upon me with it, but I leap'd down into the Hold, and got among a Crowd that was there, and so escaped the further effects of his madness and rage.

Low then sailed for the African coast where he captured ships near Cape Verde, with Spriggs sailing alongside in Low's former vessel. Among their captures in September 1722 was Captain George Roberts’ ship. Roberts described Russell as the commanding one of three vessels in the pirates’ flotilla. The pirates held Roberts for over a week, Russell repeatedly threatening him over his refusal to join the pirates. When the crew voted to release Roberts and his boys, Russell instead argued to strip Roberts’ ship of sails, water, food, and all other useful gear before setting him free. Russell was successful, using the strict terms of their articles to make his case. Other pirate officers smuggled a few provisions to Roberts (who made it to land and endured many adventures before returning home) and warned Russell not to abuse his position: "Ay, said the Gunner, and take Care, Russell … you have got the Company's Assent in this, I cannot tell how, and therefore I shall say no more, only that I, as I believe most of the Company, came here to get Money, but not to kill, except in Fight, and not in cold Blood or for private Revenge." Ashton escaped Russell and Low in March 1723 when they stopped near Roatan, where he was marooned for over a year. He penned his memoirs soon after his rescue. Roberts’ own account (''The four years voyages of capt. George Roberts'') was published in 1726 and has since been generally attributed to Daniel Defoe. Some sources dispute the Defoe attribution and maintain that Roberts’ account is trustworthy; others claim Defoe (or another author) read Ashton's ''Memorial'' and crafted Roberts’ tale as a fictionalized version of it. Both accounts feature Russell prominently. Charles Harris, who was also a quartermaster of Low's and had captained his

prize ship In admiralty law prizes are equipment, vehicles, vessels, and cargo captured during armed conflict. The most common use of ''prize'' in this sense is the capture of an enemy ship and her cargo as a prize of war. In the past, the capturing force ...

s, was sailing alongside Low in June 1723. They engaged the ''Greyhound'' man-of-war; Harris was defeated and captured while Low made his escape. Low had earlier parted with Spriggs after an argument; Russell was not mentioned during either incident, or during the various accounts of Harris’, Low's, and Spriggs’ fates.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, John 18th-century pirates Year of birth missing Year of death missing British pirates Caribbean pirates

Biography

History

See also

Further reading

References