Early life and education Kidd was born in
Dundee, Scotland prior to 15 October 1645. While claims have been made of alternative birthplaces, including
Greenock and
Belfast, he said himself he came from Dundee in a testimony given by Kidd to the High Court of Admiralty in 1695. There have also been records of his baptism taking place in Dundee. A local society supported the family financially after the death of the father. The myth that his "father was thought to have been a
Church of Scotland minister" has been discounted, insofar as there is no mention of the name in comprehensive Church of Scotland records for the period. Others still hold the contrary view.
Early voyages As a young man, Kidd settled in New York City, which the English had taken over from the Dutch. There he befriended many prominent colonial citizens, including three governors. Some accounts suggest that he served as a seaman's
apprentice on a pirate ship during this time, before beginning his more famous seagoing exploits as a
privateer. By 1689, Kidd was a member of a French–English pirate crew sailing the
Caribbean under Captain
Jean Fantin. During one of their voyages, Kidd and other crew members mutinied, ousting the captain and sailing to the British colony of
Nevis. There they renamed the ship
Blessed William, and Kidd became captain either as a result of election by the ship's crew, or by appointment of
Christopher Codrington, governor of the island of Nevis. Kidd was an experienced leader and sailor by that time, and the
Blessed William became part of Codrington's small fleet assembled to defend Nevis from the French, with whom the English were at war. The governor did not pay the sailors for their defensive service, telling them instead to take their pay from the French. Kidd and his men attacked the French island of
Marie-Galante, destroying its only town and looting the area, and gathering around 2,000 pounds sterling. Later, during the
War of the Grand Alliance, on commissions from the provinces of
New York and
Massachusetts Bay, Kidd captured an enemy
privateer off the
New England coast. Shortly afterwards, he was awarded £150 for successful
privateering in the
Caribbean. One year later,
Captain Robert Culliford, a notorious pirate, stole Kidd's ship while he was ashore at
Antigua in the
West Indies. In New York City, Kidd was active in financially supporting the construction of
Trinity Church, New York. On 16 May 1691, Kidd married Sarah Bradley Cox Oort, who was still in her early twenties. She had already been twice widowed and was one of the wealthiest women in New York, based on an inheritance from her first husband.
Preparing his expedition On 11 December 1695,
Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont, who was governing New York,
Massachusetts, and
New Hampshire, asked the "trusty and well beloved Captain Kidd" to attack
Thomas Tew,
John Ireland,
Thomas Wake,
William Maze, and all others who associated themselves with pirates, along with any enemy French ships. His request had the weight of the Crown behind it, and Kidd would have been considered disloyal, carrying much social stigma, to refuse Bellomont. This request preceded the voyage that contributed to Kidd's reputation as a pirate and marked his image in history and
folklore. Four-fifths of the cost for the 1696 venture was paid by
peers of the realm, who were among the most powerful men in England: the
Earl of Orford, the Baron of Romney, the
Duke of Shrewsbury, and
Sir John Somers. Kidd was presented with a
letter of marque, signed personally by King
William III of England, which authorised him as a privateer. This letter reserved 10% of the loot for the Crown, and Henry Gilbert's
The Book of Pirates suggests that the King fronted some of the money for the voyage himself. Kidd and his acquaintance Colonel
Robert Livingston orchestrated the whole plan; they sought additional funding from merchant
Sir Richard Blackham. Kidd also had to sell his ship
Antigua to raise funds. The new ship,
Adventure Galley, was well suited to the task of catching pirates, weighing over 284
tons burthen and equipped with 34
cannon, oars, and 150 men. The oars were a key advantage, as they enabled
Adventure Galley to manoeuvre in a battle when the winds had calmed and other ships were dead in the water. Kidd took pride in personally selecting the crew, choosing only those whom he deemed to be the best and most loyal officers. Because of Kidd's refusal to salute, the Navy vessel's captain retaliated by
pressing much of Kidd's crew into
naval service, despite the captain's strong protests and the general exclusion of privateer crew from such action. Short-handed, Kidd sailed for New York City, capturing a French vessel en route (which was legal under the terms of his commission). To make up for the lack of officers, Kidd picked up replacement crew in New York, the vast majority of whom were known and hardened criminals, some likely former pirates. Among Kidd's officers was quartermaster
Hendrick van der Heul. The quartermaster was considered "second in command" to the captain in pirate culture of this era. It is not clear, however, if Van der Heul exercised this degree of responsibility because Kidd was authorised as a privateer. Van der Heul may have been African or of Dutch descent. A contemporary source describes him as a "small black Man". If Van der Heul was of African ancestry, he would be considered the highest-ranking black pirate or privateer so far identified. Van der Heul later became a
master's mate on a merchant vessel and was never convicted of piracy.
Hunting for Pirates In September 1696, Kidd
weighed anchor and set course for the
Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. A third of his crew died on the
Comoros due to an outbreak of
cholera, the brand-new ship developed many leaks, and he failed to find the pirates whom he expected to encounter off
Madagascar. With his ambitious enterprise failing, Kidd became desperate to cover its costs. Yet he failed to attack several ships when given a chance, including a Dutchman and a New York privateer. Both were out of bounds of his commission. The latter would have been considered out of bounds because New York was part of the territories of the Crown, and Kidd was authorised in part by the New York governor. Some of the crew deserted Kidd the next time that
Adventure Galley anchored offshore. Those who decided to stay on made constant open threats of
mutiny. 's painting of Kidd in
New York Harbor Kidd killed one of his own crewmen on 30 October 1697. Kidd's gunner William Moore was on deck sharpening a
chisel when a Dutch ship appeared. Moore urged Kidd to attack the Dutchman, an act that would have been considered piratical, since the nation was not at war with England, but also certain to anger Dutch-born King William. Kidd refused, calling Moore a lousy dog. Moore retorted, "If I am a lousy dog, you have made me so; you have brought me to ruin and many more." Kidd reportedly dropped an ironbound bucket on Moore, fracturing his skull. Moore died the following day. Seventeenth-century English
admiralty law allowed captains great leeway in using violence against their crew, but killing was not permitted. Kidd said to his ship's surgeon that he had "good friends in England, that will bring me off for that".
Accusations of piracy Escaped prisoners told stories of being hoisted up by the arms and "drubbed" (thrashed) with a drawn
cutlass by Kidd. On one occasion, crew members sacked the trading ship
Mary and tortured several of its crew members while Kidd and the other captain, Thomas Parker, conversed privately in Kidd's cabin. Kidd was declared a pirate very early in his voyage by a Royal Navy officer, to whom he had promised "thirty men or so". The letter of marque was intended to protect a
privateer's crew from such impressment. On 30 January 1698, Kidd raised French colours and took his greatest prize, the 400-ton
Quedagh Merchant, an Indian ship hired by
Armenian merchants. It was loaded with
satins,
muslins, gold, silver, and a variety of
East Indian
merchandise, as well as extremely valuable silks. The captain of
Quedagh Merchant was an Englishman named Wright, who had purchased passes from the French East India Company promising him the protection of the French Crown. When news of his capture of this ship reached England, however, officials classified Kidd as a pirate. Various naval commanders were ordered to "pursue and seize the said Kidd and his accomplices" for the "notorious piracies" they had committed. On 1 April 1698, Kidd reached Madagascar. After meeting privately with trader
Tempest Rogers (who would later be accused of trading and selling Kidd's looted East India goods), he found the first pirate of his voyage,
Robert Culliford (the same man who had stolen Kidd's ship at Antigua years before) and his crew aboard
Mocha Frigate. Two contradictory accounts exist of how Kidd proceeded. According to
A General History of the Pyrates, published more than 25 years after the event by an
author whose identity is disputed by historians, Kidd made peaceful overtures to Culliford: he "drank their Captain's health", swearing that "he was in every respect their Brother", and gave Culliford "a Present of an Anchor and some Guns". This account appears to be based on the testimony of Kidd's crewmen Joseph Palmer and Robert Bradinham at his trial. The other version was presented by Richard Zacks in his 2002 book
The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd. According to Zacks, Kidd was unaware that Culliford had only about 20 crew with him, and felt ill-manned and ill-equipped to take
Mocha Frigate until his two prize ships and crews arrived. He decided to leave Culliford alone until these reinforcements arrived. After
Adventure Prize and
Rouparelle reached port, Kidd ordered his crew to attack Culliford's
Mocha Frigate. However, his crew refused to attack Culliford and threatened instead to shoot Kidd. Zacks does not refer to any source for his version of events. Both accounts agree that most of Kidd's men abandoned him for Culliford. Only 13 remained with
Adventure Galley. Deciding to return home, Kidd left the
Adventure Galley behind, ordering her to be burnt because she had become worm-eaten and leaky. Before burning the ship, he salvaged every last scrap of metal, such as hinges. With the loyal remnant of his crew, he returned to the Caribbean aboard the
Adventure Prize, The
1698 Act of Grace, which offered a
royal pardon to pirates in the Indian Ocean, specifically exempted Kidd (and
Henry Every) from receiving a pardon, Kidd became aware both that he was wanted and that he could not make use of the Act of Grace upon his arrival in
Anguilla, his first port of call since St. Augustine's Bay. and continued towards New York aboard a sloop. He deposited some of his treasure on
Gardiners Island, hoping to use his knowledge of its location as a bargaining tool. Kidd landed in
Oyster Bay to avoid mutinous crew who had gathered in New York City. To avoid them, Kidd sailed around the eastern tip of Long Island, and doubled back along the Sound to Oyster Bay. He felt this was a safer passage than the highly trafficked
Narrows between
Staten Island and
Brooklyn. New York
Governor Bellomont, also an investor, was away in Boston, Massachusetts. Aware of the accusations against Kidd, Bellomont was afraid of being implicated in piracy himself and believed that presenting Kidd to England in chains was his best chance to survive. He lured Kidd into Boston with false promises of clemency, and ordered him arrested on 6 July 1699. Kidd was placed in
Stone Prison, spending most of the time in
solitary confinement. His wife, Sarah, was also arrested and imprisoned. They were separated and she never saw him again. The conditions of Kidd's imprisonment were extremely harsh, and were said to have driven him at least temporarily insane. The civil government had changed and the new
Tory ministry hoped to use Kidd as a tool to discredit the
Whigs who had backed him, but Kidd refused to name names, naively confident his patrons would reward his loyalty by interceding on his behalf. There is speculation that he could have been spared had he talked. Finding Kidd politically useless, the Tory leaders sent him to stand trial before the
High Court of Admiralty in London, for the charges of piracy on high seas and the murder of William Moore. Whilst awaiting trial, Kidd was confined in the infamous
Newgate Prison, regarded even by the standards of the day as a disgusting hellhole, and was held there for almost two years before his trial even began. near
Tilbury in
Essex, following his execution in 1701 showing location of Execution Dock Stairs at
Wapping, east London Kidd had two lawyers to assist in his defence. However, the money that the Admiralty had set aside for his defence was misplaced until right before the trial's start, and he had no legal counsel until the morning that the trial started and had time for just one brief consultation with them before it began. He was shocked to learn at his trial that he was charged with murder, arguing that Moore had been fomenting mutiny and that his death was accidental. He was found guilty on all charges (murder and five counts of piracy) and sentenced to death. He was hanged on 23 May 1701, at
Execution Dock,
Wapping, in London. Of Kidd's associates, Gabriel Loffe, Able Owens, and Hugh Parrot were also convicted of piracy. They were pardoned just prior to hanging at Execution Dock. Robert Lamley, William Jenkins and Richard Barleycorn were released. Kidd's Whig backers were embarrassed by his trial. Far from rewarding his loyalty, they participated in the effort to convict him by depriving him of the money and information which might have provided him with some legal defence. In particular, the two sets of French passes he had kept were missing at his trial. These passes (and others dated 1700) resurfaced in the early 20th century, misfiled with other government papers in a London building. These passes confirm Kidd's version of events, and call the extent of his guilt as a pirate into question. A
broadside song,
"Captain Kidd's Farewell to the Seas, or, the Famous Pirate's Lament", was printed shortly after his execution. It popularised the common belief that Kidd had confessed to the charges. ==Mythology and legend==