The pirate who inspired ‘Black Sails’

from Pirate Plunder August 2021

Trading post

The early life of Henry Jennings was largely unrecorded, although it is generally agreed that he owned a plantation in Jamaica until he became a privateer during the War of the Spanish Succession.

This career move proved financially beneficial and his reputation as a fearsome opponent was established in a particularly audacious raid in 1715. Whilst navigating the American coast, Spain’s Treasure Fleet was battered by bad weather in The Bahamas and then destroyed by a hurricane as it approached Florida. When King Philip V of Spain heard about the loss, he despatched crews to salvage what treasure they could find. The Spanish located the fleet’s flagship, ‘Urca de Lima’, and began to recover its precious cargo, which they transferred to a fort built at St Augustine for safe storage as salvage efforts continued. Captain Jennings, leading a fleet of his own in the sloop ‘Bathsheba’ arrived on the scene and finding that his crew outnumbered the fort’s garrison by four to one demanded the treasure, which was yielded after a short conflict and his ships sailed to Jamaica piled high with loot.

Further raids led to him being declared a pirate by order of King George

I, so rather than risk the gallows, he fled to the island of New Providence where he set up home in Nassau, establishing a so-called ‘Commonwealth of Pirates’. He was a mentor to other pirates such as Jack Rackham and Charles Vane, and became the de facto Mayor of New Providence – the expressed aim of Captain Flint played by British actor Toby Stephens and the inspiration for the TV series ‘Black Sails’.

In 1718, Captain Jennings accepted an amnesty offered by Woodes Rogers, Governor of The Bahamas, and changed sides to hunt down his former allies, finally retiring to a life of considerable luxury in Bermuda.

Toby Stephens as Captain Flint in ‘Black Sails’.

Derbyshire Arms Ltd has been making muskets and pistols since 2005. We specialise in hand-made weaponry, including cannons, snaphaunce, migulet and wheellocks, just to name a few. Muskets, Carbines and Pistols are supplied either Inert, Live or as Blank firers. We also sell top quality gun cleaning products and accessories. History is our source of inspiration and we have satisfied customers from all over the world, including re-enactors, heritage groups, centres and museums – we are also able to refurbish and maintain exhibits – and private collectors. We can provide historically accurate weapons for films, TV and stage productions that are safe for actors to handle. Recent invitations to take part in more Piratical Enterprises has allowed us to extend our range even further with cannon balls, chain shot, bar shot and our much-admired swivel gun. Our telephone number is 01283 520937 and we can take calls between 10.00 am-1.30 pm from Tuesday-Friday and on a Saturday out of season. Visits are by appointment only.