Yes,There were Pirates…maybe even two………….. There may even be Treasure!
Santisima Trinidad
John WATLING: flibustier anglais (mort à Arica, 9 février 1681). @ Vétéran de la flibuste, il passa à la mer du Sud en 1680 avec les capitaines Harris, Coxon, Sawkins, Sharpe et Cooke. En janvier 1681, à l’île Juan-Fernández, à l’instigation de John Cox, il fut élu commandant de la Santísima Trinidad et capitaine général des flibustiers en mer du Sud après la déposition de Sharpe. Au début du mois suivant, il commanda la descente sur Arica au cours de laquelle il fut tué et ses hommes repoussés. Les Espagnols lui tranchèrent la tête et la plantèrent au bout d’une pique pour intimider les flibustiers.
JOHN WATLING
:English Buccaneer(died in Arica,February 9, 1681).A veteran of buccaneering. He arrived inthe South Sea in 1680 with the captains Harris, Coxon, Sawkins, Sharpe and Cooke. In January 1681, on the island of Juan Fernandez, at the instigation of John Cox, he was elected commander of the Santísima Trinidad and captain general of the Buccaneers in the South after the deposition of Sharpe. At the beginning of the following month, he commanded the descent on Arica during which he was killed and his men repelled. The Spanish cut off his head and planted it on a stick to intimidate the Buccaneers.
Wato wrote:
As I understand it he was a Pirate,who died at Arica 9th.February 1681.At the instignation of John Cox he took command of the pirate ship Santiima Trinidad after Bartholomew Sharpe was deposed. The pirates descended on the town of Arica and attacked the town where John Watling was killed .The Spanish cut off his head and stuck it on a pole as a warning others.
This John Watling was in fact a pious pirate, He observed the Sabbath,he threw over the side gaming boards with which the crew were playing note: he was most likely a Seventh Day Adventist so his Sabbath was most likely Saturday. It may well have caused unknowing traders to think they were safe on Sunday?
We believe he is the same person that gave his name to Watling Island (San Salvador) in the Bahamas.
The Bahamas Goverment Office think it was a George Watling but from what I can make out, they do not know a lot about it. To find a pirate in the family is remarkable enough (beats a Highwayman). to find two seems to me to be pushing your luck. It is possible that he took part in the Henry Morgan raid on Panama and repeated the exercise along with Sawkins, Sharpe and the others later on.
Bartholomew Sharpe went on to have a remarkable career.Also one of the Watling faction on the ship was none other than William Dampier who explored Australia and left his name on many features of that continent.
William Dampier was a member of the crew, and was a member of the Watling faction, voting for John to be the Captain, this was before Dampier became an explorer in his own right, giving his name to lots of places in Australia and circumnavigating the World twice
MORE ABOUT JOHN WATLING BUCANNEER:The whole story of these Buccaneers is incredible, I am surprised that their exploits has never been turned into a film, even the Government of the Bahamas had no idea about him, knowing little about the Pious Pirate John Watling, even thinking his name was George,seemingly embarrassed about their Pirate past in the Bahamas, but now there is a revival and there is even a Rum Distillery named after John Watling the Pious Pirate
As far as I am aware nobody knows where the Pirate came from, if I am right about the deportation to Bermuda there should be a record somewhere, being found guilty of a charge in Court does not necessarily imply that you were born at that place, I doubt if where he came from will ever be resolved, it is for others to explore, I am far too old to go tramping around the National Archives these days.I suspect he came from London, most of the crew he was with appear to have come from there, incidentally,
After John Watling death Bartholomew Sharpe was reinstated as Captain, he sailed the ship around Cape Horn, up the Atlantic to the West Indies, the Watling faction not wishing to serve under him took canoes and returned to Panama, trekked across the isthmus to the Caribbean and returning to England where the more literate published journals of their adventures and discoveries, both journeys were a remarkable feat.
The story of Robinson Crusoe was undoubtedly partly based on the stranding of a crew member when John had to sail from Juan Fernandez in a hurry because of the imminent arrival of two Spanish Warships and there being no profit in engaging them. (The man was saved four years later by another gang of Pirates in a ship named Bachelors Delight
John Watling was described as a tough old seaman, he obviously must have known enough about navigation to become Captain of the ship, this implies a nautical background which he could have got if he was in East London, then a considerable port, but of course does not exclude East Coast Ports of Norfolk and Suffolk.If John the Pirate had issue they would have been illegitimate, I doubt he ever married
(WatoDec2016)
