Jeremiah Cocklyn, better known by the name Thomas Cocklyn (
fl. 1717–1719), was an English pirate known primarily for his association with
Howell Davis
Howell Davis (ca. 1690 – 19 June 1719), also known as Hywel and/or Davies, was a Welsh pirate. His piratical career lasted just 11 months, from 11 July 1718 to 19 June 1719, when he was ambushed and killed. His ships were the ''Cadogan'', ' ...
,
Olivier Levasseur,
Richard Taylor, and
William Moody.
History
Cocklyn was among the hundreds of pirates who accepted a
royal pardon when new Governor
Woodes Rogers
Woodes Rogers ( 1679 – 15 July 1732) was an English sea captain, privateer, slave trader and, from 1718, the first Royal Governor of the Bahamas. He is known as the captain of the vessel that rescued marooned Alexander Selkirk, whose ...
arrived in the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
in 1718.
He soon returned to piracy: in early 1719 near
Cape Verde aboard ''Rising Sun'', a group of William Moody's sailors led by Cocklyn attempted a mutiny. Moody
marooned Marooned may refer to:
* 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 ...
Cocklyn and 25 others, denying them shares of treasure. Moody's crew, angry over his treatment of Cocklyn, returned the favor by setting Moody and 12 of his supporters adrift in a small boat. The ''Rising Sun’s'' crew elected French pirate Olivier Levasseur as captain.
They returned to meet the marooned sailors, who had overpowered a ship on the river and chosen Cocklyn as their leader.
William Snelgrave, one of their captives, reported that they “chose Cocklyn for their commander because of his brutality, being determined they said, never again to have a gentleman commander such as Moody was.”
Soon met by Howell Davis near the
Sierra Leone River
The Sierra Leone River is a river estuary on the Atlantic Ocean in Western Sierra Leone. It is formed by the Bankasoka River and Rokel River and is between 4 and 10 miles wide (6–16 km) and 25 miles (40 km) long. It holds the major port ...
, the group captured a number of vessels in quick succession, including Snelgrave's ''Bird Galley''.
The pirates exchanged ships several times, each keeping best of the lot, finally leaving the captured
snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
''Bristol'' to Snelgrave and his crew. Snelgrave had been fond of Davis, who protected him, but was wary of the cruelty of Cocklyn, having witnessed him caning his own sailors
and torturing captives and slaves.
Cocklyn and his 25 men took Snelgrave's ''Bird'', renaming it ''Windham Galley''. This showed the
Jacobite sympathies of Cocklyn and Levasseur, both of whom named their ships (''
Windham Galley'' and ''Duke of
Ormond'', respectively) after prominent supporters of the exiled
James Stuart.
The three captains eventually quarrelled and went their separate ways.
Cocklyn continued his piracies off the African coast through 1719, operating alongside Richard Taylor. By 1720 he was at
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
; at least one source reported that Cocklyn died there, with captaincy of his recently captured ship ''Victory'' going to Richard Taylor, who afterwards sailed with Levasseur,
Edward England, and
Jasper Seagar.
Another source reports that Cocklyn was hanged for piracy.
See also
*
Paulsgrave Williams - Former pirate captain, later Levasseur's quartermaster; he had earlier sailed with
Samuel Bellamy
Captain Samuel Bellamy ( c. 23 February, 1689 – 26 April 1717), later known as "Black Sam" Bellamy, was an English sailor, turned pirate, who operated in the early 18th century. He is best known as the wealthiest pirate in recorded history, an ...
, who had also sailed with Levasseur in early 1717.
Further reading
*Snelgrave, William.
A new account of some parts of Guinea, and the slave-trade. London: P. Knapton, 1734.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cocklyn, Thomas
18th-century pirates
Year of death missing
Pardoned pirates
English pirates
Piracy in the Indian Ocean
Year of birth uncertain