In this thread tclouie makes the following statement:
It was a slight hijack, but it intrigued me. So (hopefully with tclouie’s indulgence) I am giving it its own thread.
Huh? Anyone care to 'splain? I am off to google to look up a bit about him, but it sound like there will be more to the story than I will find. I am also going to go back to this thread to make sure I know what to do in case I meet Kidd’s descendants.
Capt. Kidd and his wife were respectable early New Yorkers–had their own pew in the church, and all.
Some Whig politicians in England decided, somehow, it would be a good political move to give Kidd a job chasing pirates.
So he went to chase pirates. Had a good hand-picked crew, all married men, some of whom were taken off his ship rather arbitrarily when they failed to salute a passing Royal vessel.
Chased pirates, came up with zippo. Crew started grumbling. The gunner, one Mr. Moore, threatened Kidd with a tool in his hand. Kidd brained him with a wooden bucket in self-defense. Moore died.
Kidd’s crew finally took one ship: the Quedah Merchant, sailing for France, an enemy country. Letters on board to prove it.
Back home in New York, Kidd got called to London. Went there maybe expecting a reward, got clapped in irons and accused of piracy. Whig friends tired of him, anti-piracy tour was non-productive. Letters from Quedah Merchant never showed up at trial.
Plea-bargaining is bad now, and was bad then too. Entire crew plea-bargained, testified against Kidd. They got to live, he got sentenced to death.
Hanged at Execution Dock. Hanged TWICE, the rope broke the first time! Oh, the humanity!
Body hung up inside metal braces to rot. A warning to sailors passing by. No gravesite or memorial I know of. Oh, the humanity!
75 years before Nathan Hale, an honest American done to death by British bureaucrats and politicians. This one just sticks in my craw.
Pardon Kidd now! No justice, no peace!
Wasn’t Captain Kidd British (well Scotish anyway) ?
I’m not saying that you’re wrong that he was wrongfully accused, but this is what I found at google.
Back then nobody really called themselves Americans. I think most of the colonists, American-born or not, referred to themselves by their Mother Countries: as Englishmen, Dutchmen, Swedes, Germans, etc.
But, hey, a New Yorker is still a New Yorker! Always has been, always will be!
Not being a New Yorker or even an American I won’t argue that point with you.
If he was a true pirate or not I’m still undecided. 
I wouldn’d hold out any hopes of getting a pardon off the British though!
We are still waiting for an apology for the Famine!
Well, Prince Charles apologized in Australia for the treatment of the Aborigines. It seems the year 2000 was a good year for apologies–President Clinton fell all over himself apologizing for this, that and the other. Even churches apologized for things. But maybe some parties, caught up in this flurry, forgot how MUCH they have to apologize for.
Let’s remind them;)
It’s never too late. Hell, Galileo got an apology and a pardon from the Vatican! so why not Captain Kidd??
louie Where do you get your info about Saint Kidd? I have no personal stake in this, but pirates seems to have an expanded story about him. I am open to anyone who can say what the SD is.
I didn’t get it from on-line sources, but rather from Time-Life books.
Amazing how one’s reputation, once sullied, keeps on being sullied.
I have no idea whether Kidd actually turned pirate. That the prosecuting attorney hid evidence that his attack on the Quedagh Merchant was legitimate is pretty well accepted by historians. Even the Encyclopædia Britannica mentions it (although the EB characterizes it as “suppressing evidence” while the reality is that the King’s prosecutor had the papers in his own desk and lied that he had never seen them).
As one of the more outspoken New York City boosters on this board I’d be delighted to support your cause, **tc.[/] You write the petition and I’ll sign it; start the picket line and I’ll march with you.
Like you said:
"Pardon Kidd now! No justice, no peace!"
Akkk. I’m a moron.
Once more with feeling (and the right codes):
As one of the more outspoken New York City boosters on this board I’d be delighted to support your cause, tc. You write the petition and I’ll sign it; start the picket line and I’ll march with you.
Like you said:
"Pardon Kidd now! No justice, no peace!"
tclouie said:
Not the best source in the world- it seems to have just repeated Kidd’s own claims in his defense and accepted them as fact. A much more balanced view is provided in “Captain Kidd and the War Against the Pirates” (Harvard University Press, 1986), by Robert C. Ritchie, a professor at UC San Diego, and a specialist on colonial New York history.
He establishes that Kidd did in fact engage in piracy, but was a victim of circumstances to a degree. He was sent off with the backing of many powerful officials, ones who had in the past winked at pirate expeditions, in exchange for a cut of the profits. It was Kidd’s bad luck that while he was a sea there was a change in the political climate, and merchantile interests had convinced the English government that piracy had to be suppressed to protect the profits from legitimate trade.
Kidd may have expected to have been able to cover himself with some well-placed payoffs like his unprosecuted predecessors, maybe even felt himself entitled to protection, but he had clearly engaged in illegal activities.
Very true, but the same could be said of several other well-known pirates and other scoundrels. A respectable 1690s New Yorker could have a lot of personal baggage without disquieting his neighbors. Kidd was known to have engaged in piracy before his NY “respectability.”
As a profitmaking expedition, and with the knowledge that if profitable loot could not be seized from pirates, then just maybe the crew would look elsewhere for some easy pickings.
Ritchie says this unsubstantiated claim is very unlikely. As an aside, an ancestor of mine sailed with Kidd, and he was unmarried at the time.
Well, Kidd claimed it was self-defense. Other witnesses describe the event differently- Kidd called Moore “a lousie dog” and Moore replied “If I am a lousie dog, you have made me so”; Kidd turned, picked up a bucket, whirled and smashed Moore’s head, mortally wounding him.
No Kidd took several other ships beforehand. The Quedah Merchant was the only one with a valuable cargo however. Before capturing it Kidd had taken a Dutch ship, the Rupparell, a Portugese ship and several Indian vessels.
The Quedah Merchant was not sailing for France- it was sailing from India to the Spice Islands in the East Indians. It was carrying cargo owned by a powerful official at the court of the Moghul emperor- a sovereign with whom the English government and East India Company were trying to establish better relations. Kidd approached the QM flying a French flag, and sent a French speaking boarding party to her, hoping to entrap her into offering French papers, which he could use as a pretext for seizing her. The QM fell into his trap. Although it was owned by the Moghul empire, and captained by an Englishman, it did have papers from a number of countries to use for protection on the seas. There is no doubt that Kidd realized she was not really a French ship
He got called to Boston from NY, and was arrested there. Even in NY he picked up enough info to realize he was possibly in a great deal of trouble, but was still hoping to be able to buy his way out. His Whig sponsers did indeed desert him- in other words they did not try to follow their previous practices of helping pirates escape prosecution. His tough luck.
But that does not prove that he was innocent of the charges.
Thanks for your support, stuyguy!
Um, does anybody here know how to start an online petition? is there a website I can go to, or something?
I’m a bit confused from the different links as to exactly where Kidd was tried: Boston, or London?
If in London, then I believe it is the Home Secretary who would be responsible for an application for a pardon. The Brits have two types of pardon: your garden variety pardon, and the free pardon. The free pardon is used to mean that the Gov’t has concluded the person should never have been convicted.
That said, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for the Home Secretay to make a recommendation for a pardon to HM.
We, the undersigned citizens of the United States, the United Kingdom and the world, find and declare the following:
Captain William Kidd, a well-liked and respected resident of early New York, was unjustly accused of piracy by the British authorities and executed.
Captain Kidd was denied representation by competent legal counsel at his trial.
The trial prosecutor suppressed evidence, including letters which may have proven that the ship “Quedah Merchant” was sailing under French authority, and was therefore an enemy ship, legitimately taken by Captain Kidd.
Captain Kidd was the victim of an unconscionable plea bargain whereby his alleged partners in crime testified against him to save themselves, so that he was the only defendant sentenced to death.
The Court failed to consider that Captain Kidd acted in self-defense in the killing of William Moore, a gunner aboard ship.
The Court failed to consider that Captain Kidd was coerced and threatened by his crew, and that he in fact may have been guilty only of failing to keep the loyalty of his men.
The Court failed to consider that Captain Kidd’s voluntary return to New York indicated that he was not conscious of any guilt on his own part.
Captain Kidd was the victim of selective and politically motivated prosecution by the selfsame authorities who ignored or treated lightly the deeds of politically influential pirates like Thomas Tew.
Captain Kidd was denied a proper and decent burial, and his remains were shamefully exhibited for years afterward, in violation of the Christian principles of the British Crown.
In the spirit of the new Millennium, nations and religious denominations the world over have apologized for past mistakes and wrongdoing, and acknowledging one more misdeed would not disgrace the British nation.
There is no time limit on justice, since even the great astronomer Galileo, who lived before Captain Kidd, has been exonerated by the Roman Catholic Church.
The great State of New York, by taking an interest in this matter, would receive the benefits of increased interest in the history of old New York and a possible increase in tourism at maritime and historical sites.
Therefore, we respectfully petition the Legislature of the great State of New York, and the Governor of same, to do the following:
Send a message, on behalf of the People of New York, to the British Admiralty, requesting a posthumous pardon for Captain William Kidd, a New York resident.
In the event that the British Admiralty refuses a pardon, send the Admiralty a request for a posthumous re-trial of Captain Kidd, with full solicitor representation for the late defendant and qualified historians to be called as witnesses.
In the event that the British Admiralty refuses a re-trial, send the request to the British Parliament and the Queen, respectfully asking for their consideration and intervention.
In the event that a re-trial is granted and Captain Kidd is once again found guilty, petition the Court to set aside the death penalty and instead retroactively sentence the defendant to time served.
Ask the British Admiralty for the return of Captain Kidd’s remains to New York, if they can be found.
Captain Kidd’s remains having been found and returned to New York, mandate that the appropriate New York authorities lay them to rest in consecrated ground, not far from where he lived with his family.
Designate some sort of memorial to the memory of Captain William Kidd at an appropriate spot.
He was arrested in Boston, and sent to London for trial.