William Knight ( fl. 1684-1689) was a 17th-century English

buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from Stuart Restoration, the Restoration in 16 ...

and pirate known for joining

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 ...

ing expeditions against Spanish colonies in Central and South America.

History

Knight may have lived in

Port Royal, Jamaica Port Royal is a village located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping and c ...

since 1675, but by September 1684 he and 50 men set out to raid the Spanish, crossing the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama ( es, Istmo de Panamá), also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien (), is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country ...

, building canoes once they reached the Pacific coast. Some of his sailors became separated, joining with

Francis Townley Francis Townley (died 1686) was an English buccaneer, privateer, and pirate active against the Spanish on the Pacific coast of Central and South America. History Townley first appeared in the Pacific in March 1685 with 180 men aboard two capture ...

, Edward Davis, and Charles Swan, as well as French buccaneers under Francois Grogniet and Jean L’Escuyer. Knight and the rest of his crew cruised off El Salvador and Ecuador then joined the larger group in March 1685. The buccaneers engaged a Spanish fleet in June but were forced to retreat. The English and French contingents blamed each other and subsequently separated after a failed assault on Remedios. Knight, Swan, Townley, and Peter Harris left in July to attack Nicaragua, sacking León and Realejo but with little to show for it. Davis and Knight left for Peru in September, raiding up and down the coast into 1686. That March they raided

Sana Sana may refer to: Places * Sanaa, the capital of Yemen * Sana (river), a river in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Sana, Bhutan, a town in Bhutan * Sana, Haute-Garonne, a commune in France * Sana, Iran, a village in Iran * Sana, Mali, a commune in M ...

, taking over 100,000 pesos (£25,000). This was one of the richest captures of the buccaneer era. A raid at

Paita Paita is a city in northwestern Peru. It is the capital of the Paita Province which is in the Piura Region. It is a leading seaport in the region. Paita is located 1,089 km northwest of the country's capital Lima, and 57 km northwest of ...

was less successful but they picked up additional crew when almost 40 freed slaves joined them. They continued their raids into the summer, collecting another £5,000 in July as a ransom to spare

Pisco Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored brandy produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. Made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit, it was developed by 16th-century Spanish settlers as an alternative ...

. After dividing their loot at the

Juan Fernandez Islands ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

on November (where each man received 5000 pieces of eight, or £1,250), Knight returned to the Caribbean via

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

. Davis’ crew elected to stay in the Pacific and continue their raids, having lost much of treasure gambling; they looted

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a Communes of Chile, commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The ...

in Chile then assisted a French contingent under

Pierre Le Picard Pierre le Picard (1624–1690?) was a 17th-century French buccaneer. He was both an officer to l'Olonnais as well as Sir Henry Morgan, most notably taking part in his raids at Maracaibo and Panama, and may have been one of the first buccane ...

in taking

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

. Knight possibly settled in Virginia afterwards, though in 1688 he was called to give testimony in Jamaica against French buccaneers who had sailed with Townley. English explorer and buccaneer

William Dampier William Dampier (baptised 5 September 1651; died March 1715) was an English explorer, pirate, privateer, navigator, and naturalist who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnav ...

(who had sailed with Davis) reported a “Captain Knight” active in the Indian Ocean in 1689, who consorted with some of Swan's crew from the ''Cygnet''. They cruised off

Acheen Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a spe ...

and

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek /h/ cou ...

before putting some crew off at

Coromandel Coromandel may refer to: Places India *Coromandel Coast, India **Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements ** Dutch Coromandel *Coromandel, KGF, Karnataka, India New Zealand *Coromandel, New Zealand, a town on the Coromandel Peninsula *Coro ...

. Given the dates and the association with Dampier, Davis, and Swan's crew, this may have been William Knight.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, William 17th-century pirates Year of birth missing Year of death missing English pirates Piracy in the Indian Ocean

History

See also

References