Nicolás de la Concepción ( fl. 1720, also known as "Nicholas of the Conception") was a pirate active off the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

coast. An escaped slave, he was one of the few black or mulatto pirate captains.

History

Sailing from his base in

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

as a Spanish ''guarda costa''

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 ...

, de Concepcion’s 140-man multi-national crew captured several ships near the

Virginia Capes The Virginia Capes are the two capes, Cape Charles to the north and Cape Henry to the south, that define the entrance to Chesapeake Bay on the eastern coast of North America. In 1610, a supply ship learned of the famine at Jamestown when it ...

and

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

in late 1720. Using a Spanish brigantine they captured a sloop out of Philadelphia, then a second vessel, then their third, a

pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

from Virginia. All three de Concepcion kept as

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, sending each back to Saint Augustine in turn. Shortly afterwards he captured the ''Planter'' out of Liverpool. The ''Planter'' was recaptured on its way back to Saint Augustine and its papers searched. Onboard was found a forged

privateering 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 ...

commission from the Governor of Saint Augustine, dated after the

War of Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phili ...

and the

War of the Quadruple Alliance The War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) was caused by Spanish attempts to recover territories in Italy ceded in the 1713 Peace of Utrecht. Largely focused on Sicily, it included minor engagements in North America and Northern Europe as we ...

were long over. de Conception escaped attempts to apprehend him and his crew. When the

ended in early 1720, British and Spanish officials agreed to return ships captured by each other's privateers; the Spanish at St. Augustine agreed to make restitution for ships captured by Richard Noland, but "as for others which they say were taken by Nicholas of the Conception, they did not come here, excepting a sloop loaden with flower, the which was returned to the Captain and afterwards bought on the account of the King, the payment of which hath not been yet made by reason, that the persons have not come that are interested in the same."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Concepcion, Nicholas de 18th-century pirates Year of birth missing Year of death missing Spanish pirates

History

See also

References