Captain George Lowther
George Lowther set sail from
London down the River Thames aboard the ship, the
Gambia Castle, a slaver for the Royal Africa Company. He had signed on as First Mate to Captain Charles
Russell. Also on board was an Army officer Captain
Massey and his Company of soldiers. Lowther had never been on a Slave ship and was not aware of what lay
ahead of him. The Royal Africa Company was in the
business of collecting slaves around the Gambia
River. As it was the slave ships would remain off the coast for months on end until they had enough slave
to make their efforts worthwhile. There was little
for the crew to do, no place to go on shore, and
little to do on ship. To make matters worse, the
weather was unbearable, and diseases such as
dysentery, malaria, and Scurvy would take there toll
on the crew.
Lowther had from the beginning of
the trip found favor with the crew. Captain Russell,
while not a bad Captain, was more concerned with the
slave shipment than with the health of his crew. He
distrusted Lowther because of how "familiar" he had
became with the crew. The division between captain
and crew reach a critical point when Russell order
Lowther flogged for a minor infraction, and many of
the crew took up their marlin spikes and dared anyone to pick up a whip. What had caused such a division
among the crew was the appalling conditions aboard
the ship after reaching Gambia in May of 1721. The
slave trade was almost at a stand still and the ship
remained docked for a long time. The Royal Africa
Company seemed to care little about the crew and to
make matters worse, Captain Massey and his soldiers
had to retreat from their fort and set up
headquarters on board the over crowded ship.
It seems that the governor of the
Royal Africa Company in Gambia had taken ill from all the mosquitoes and the fort was in such a poor state
that it had become unlivable. Massey was furious over the state of affairs his troops were in. He and
Lowther met to discuss their situation one night when Captain Russell was not on board and they both
decided that they should leave. With any further
discussion, the ship set sail on June 13th 1721,
leaving Russell behind. At this point Massey was in
mind to return to England but Lowther had other
thoughts. He immediately summoned the whole crew,
plus Massey's soldiers before him and told them of
his intentions. He explained there was no turning
back for himself, for he knew that England would not
excuse his actions but if the crew were to vote to
return to England his only request was to be set
ashore someplace safe. Then he explained his
intentions to go "on the account".
This was met with a resounding
cheer, and all aboard signed the articles of Piracy,
electing Lowther as Captain. (It should be mentioned
that Massey originally intended to return to
England.) Massey and Lowther formed an uneasy but
workable alliance and together the crew of the newly
named ship, Delivery, went on to pillage many a ship. But Massey found it very difficult to adjust to the
slow pace of the Sea. He therefore put forth a plan
to sack a town. Lowther was completely against such
an endeavor due to the many risks it involved.
However, as pirate custom demanded, it was put to a
vote. Massey lost by a large margin and he then
requested that he and his supporters be allowed to go their own way. Lowther had obtained a second smaller
sloop from a previous plunder and was happy to be rid of Massey and his followers. With that Massey and his men parted company. This sort of separation was
common practice aboard pirate ships with two strong
personalities.
Lowther then set sail in late 1721
to the Carolinas. It is reported he put in to careen
his ship, debauch, loot and pillage. More likely he
careened, debauched and spent his loot. In any case,
shortly after his careening he left for the Grand
Caymans in his newly named Happy Delivery, again on
the account. On the way he came upon the Greyhound
command by Benjamin Edwards. Lowther ran up his Jolly Roger and signaled with a cannon shot for the
Greyhound to come to. To his amazement the Greyhound
gave him a broadside back. Lowther and his crew
prepared Grapplers and Swivel guns and moved in for
the fight. The engagement was brief and shortly after the Pirates managed to board, Edwards struck his
ensign. The usual penalty for such an act was no
quarter, and while there is no evidence that every
man was killed, it is clear that the Edwards and his
crew were beaten and whipped and the Greyhound was
put to the torch.
By now Lowther had several small
ships under him as well as the Happy delivery and
again went ashore in Guatemala to careen.
Unfortunately when his men were in the middle of
careening they were attacked by Indians and had to
set sail. Several of his crew were lost and some of
his ships were left or damaged. Lowther had no choice but to transfer all of his men and their meager
supplies to one ship, the Revenge, and continue on.
In May of 1722, they were prowling off the island of
Diseada where they took another brigantine. Several
ships later, off the coast of South Carolina, the
pirates ran afoul of a ship, the Amy, that was in no
mood to surrender to the pirates and after several
broadsides forced the pirates to beach and escape
ashore. The crew wintered ashore and repaired their
ship.
In the spring of 1723 they set to
sea again and made for Newfoundland, where they took
a couple of ships before returning to warmer climates among the islands. It was now time to careen again
and clean the ships. Lowther chose a small cay called Blanquilla, which is northeast of Tortuga. It was a
small island but very well concealed. Lowther ordered guns, provisions and crew on shore, which was
customary, and commenced careening his ships. They
had almost finished when the sloop Eagle commanded by Walter Moore spotted the ship. Lowther, a cabin boy,
and three of his crew tried to run but it was
fruitless, as the little island held no real cover
for them. A search party was sent ashore to hunt down his men and bring them back in irons.
Lowther must have realized that his time was running out to have chosen his next course
of action. For it was some time later that the search party recovered Lowther. In a secluded spot along the beach they found him with an empty pistol in his hand and a bullet through the brain. He had chosen to kill himself rather than face the Hangman. Lowther and his crew had threatened the Caribbean and the east coast
of America for over two years and they were fairly
successful. One of the things that Lowther's story
brings out is the need to careen regularly, and the
vulnerability of the pirates while in this state.
Reference Sources