Stede Bonnet, the Gentleman Pirate

It’s time to take to the sea in style. Why did a gentleman abandon a life of luxury to become a pirate? And how did one of the most incompetent ship captains in history end up sailing with Blackbeard himself? 

Featured image: An illustration circa 1725 of Bonnet from Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates (Image source)

Although this flag is usually associated with Stede Bonnet, there aren’t any contemporary accounts of it. (Image source)

An image of Blackbeard from the same A General History of the Pyrates book. (Image source)

The most common kind of image of Blackbeard, with smoking matches in his beard. (Image source)

A model of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. (Image source)

An illustration of Blackbeard’s Jolly Roger flag. (Image source)

The death of Stede Bonnet, from another edition of  A General History of the Pyrates. (Image source)

An illustration from the early 1900s of Bonnet being captured by Rhett. (Image source)

An illustration of Bonnet from 1920, for a boys’ adventure book about pirates. (Image source)

A trailer for Our Flag Means Death, a show by David Jenkins featuring Bonnet as the main character in a pirate comedy. Well worth a watch!

Stede Bonnet as a character in the 2013 game Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.

Sources

• Mad, Bad & a Total Gent: the Demons of the Pirate Stede Bonnet
• The Gentleman Pirate: How Stede Bonnet went from wealthy landowner to villain on the sea
• The Gentleman Pirate: Meet the man who became a pirate on a whim and ended up being a cohort to Blackbeard
• Stede Bonnet
• Three Centuries After His Beheading, a Kinder, Gentler Blackbeard Emerges
• Queen Anne’s Revenge Project: The Ship’s Journey
• The Queen Anne’s Revenge: Blackbeard’s Mighty Pirate Ship
• Blockade of Charles Town
• Golden Age of Piracy
• Spanish Main
• Privateer
• Sloop
• Charles Eden
• 1718 Kings Pardon
• Remembering Colonel William Rhett