WOODES ROGERS
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Who was Woodes Rogers?

Woodes Rogers was born in Bristol, England in 1679, being the son of a prosperous sea captain. Rogers married the daughter of a renowned Naval Commander who lived in the West Indies.

As a privateer, he sailed to Cabo San Lucas in Baja California Sur, Mexico, between 1709 and 1710 to take advantage of the 20% share in their booty that the English government offered. Then he captured a Manila galleon in that place, and sent out privateers to raid enemies' ships during the War of the Spanish Succession, the reason why Spain cataloged him as a pirate.

Rogers continued raiding the Pacific coast from Mexico to South America, gaining recognition as a diplomat and honest commander that provided his Officers with appropriate rewards, including food, medical care, religious services, and liquor and wine rations.

In 1718, Woodes Rogers was officially appointed “Captain, General and Governor in Chief in and over the Bahamas Islands" by King George I of Great Britain, becoming the first royal governor of the Bahamas.

As Magistrate of the "Privateers Republic", Captain Rogers was responsible for the capture and death of Blackbeard (Edward Teach). As governor of Bahamas he offered the "King's Pardon" to all pirates who surrendered, although amnesty did not apply to the most powerful pirates, who were hunted and killed after being captured, sharing the same fate with those pirates who did not surrender before September 1718.

Captain Rogers and other private investors paid for settlers and troops sent to the Bahamas as aid to suppress pirates in the Caribbean Sea because, ironically, the title of royal governor did not grant him a salary. Hundreds of pirates accepted the King's pardon but others left for new ports.

Woodes Rogers enforced a rigorous justice that scared away most pirates, but he was granted a salary in 1728, ten years after the royal decree that made him governor. Captain Rogers died in Nassau on 1732 and was the inspiration for the novel "Robinson Crusoe" written by Daniel Defoe and first published in 1719.

Captain Woodes Rogers

 

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