Captain William Kid (or Kidd) was born in Scotland in about I645. Little is
known of him before I688, by which time he was living in New York. In the
following year he saw action against the French in the West Indies as captain of
his own sloop. In I69I he married, and acquired a comfortable estate in
Manhattan. Four years later he travelled to London in search of a command in
the navy. Kidd was persuaded instead to accept a privateering commission
against pirates and the French. The venture was funded partly by Kidd himself,
but mainly by Lord Bellomont (Governor of New England), various Whig
grandees in London, and even William III himself (though his share of the
capital was not in fact paid). Kidd fitted out a small ship, the Adventure galley,
and left Deptford in February I696, for the Red Sea. However, after calling at
Plymouth he made for New York, where he hoped to strengthen his crew. On
the passage he captured a French 'banker', a fishing vessel bound for Newfoundland, and sold her as a prize in New York. After a delay of several months
he sailed for the Indian Ocean, where, after an argument, he fatally injured the
gunner,Thomas Moore, by hitting him over the head with a bucket. After various incidents the Adventure galley took two ships, both considered legitimate
prizes because they bore French passes. The second of these, the Quedah, had a
valuable cargo. In I698 Kidd abandoned his own ship, which had become
unseaworthy, and set off for America in the Quedah. He arrived at Anguilla
(Leeward Islands) in April I699, to discover that he had been declared a pirate
in London. He took the Quedah to Hispaniola, transferred the more valuable of
her contents to a small vessel which he purchased, and sailed to New York, then
Boston, to enlist the aid of Lord Bellomont. Kidd's defence was that although
Moore was mutinous, he had not intended to kill him; and that the prizes had
been lawfully taken. He handed the French passes to Bellomont. Nevertheless
Kidd was taken to London, where he lay for a year in Newgate Gaol awaiting
trial. A political storm was raging over the Tories' accusation that the Whigs
were implicated in piracy. Kidd was called to the bar of the House of Commons
to answer questions, and later put on trial. The passes and other documents vital
to his defence were not produced-indeed, were probably deliberately suppres
sed- and Kidd was found guilty of both murder and piracy. His effects, worth
six and a half thousand pounds, were confiscated and given to Greenwich
Hospital. Some of the money went towards building what is now the National
Maritime Museum.