pirate flag, described as “Fought under the black flagg at ye main topmast head. with deaths head in it” Prior to his time as a pirate, Taylor had risen to the rank of Lieutenant in the
Royal Navy. Taylor began his piratical career in 1718 as a crewman aboard the trading sloop
Buck when
Howell Davis staged a
mutiny, took over the ship, and convinced the crew to take up piracy. They captured ships off
Ouidah in 1720 after which Leveasseur left to raid the
East Indies. England gave Macrae the badly damaged
Fancy and let him keep some of the pirates’ less-valuable loot. Taylor was enraged at England's generosity and organized a vote to remove him from command and leave him
marooned. Levasseur, Seagar, and Taylor took the
Victory and
Cassandra, with sources differing on who was in command of which ship. There they encountered pirate trader
John Plantain and fellow pirate
Edward Condon. The pirates spent Easter of 1721 at the
Mascarene Islands. At
Reunion Island in April 1721 Taylor, Levasseur, and Seagar captured probably the most valuable prize in pirate history, the 700-ton Portuguese treasure ship
Nossa Senhora do Cabo (Our Lady of the Cape). The ship carried gold, uncut diamonds and church regalia belonging to the retiring
Viceroy of Goa in Portuguese India. Levasseur took
Cabo and Taylor took
Cassandra, swapping ships after burning the decrepit
Victory. After capturing the fort at
Delagoa the combined company split up in 1722. Taylor headed for the
West Indies, arriving there in 1723. The governor of Spanish
Portobello pardoned Taylor and his crew in exchange for his ship the
Cassandra. Taylor thereafter sailed in Spanish service, hunting
logwood cutters in the Caribbean. Jacob de Bucquoy, who spent time as Taylor's prisoner, reported that Taylor eventually left Portobello, returning to his family at Jamaica before leaving again for Cuba, where he operated a plantation and a small trading vessel as late as 1744. ==See also==