17 Facts About Samuel Bellamy

Samuel Bellamy is best known as the wealthiest pirate in recorded history, and one of the faces of the Golden Age of Piracy.

Samuel Bellamy likened himself to Robin Hood, with his crew calling themselves "Robin Hood's Men".

Samuel Bellamy was born in Devon, England, in 1689, and began sailing for the British Royal Navy as a teenager.

Samuel Bellamy was born in 1689 in the parish of Hittisleigh on Dartmoor in Devon, Kingdom of England, the youngest of six known children of Stephen and Elizabeth Samuel Bellamy.

Samuel Bellamy traveled to Cape Cod around 1715, allegedly to seek some of his relatives there.

Wealthy jeweler Palgraves Williams, son of Rhode Island Attorney General John Williams, joined Samuel Bellamy and funded their expedition.

Samuel Bellamy's sentence was relatively short, but she was exiled from the town.

Samuel Bellamy chased the Whydah for three days before getting close enough to fire.

True to his reputation for generosity, Samuel Bellamy rewarded Prince's lack of resistance by trading the Sultana for the Whydah.

Samuel Bellamy had wanted to let the captain keep his ship, but his crew had just voted to burn it, and the captain of the merchant vessel had just declined an invitation to join the pirates.

Captain Samuel Bellamy, now known as Black Bellamy, was well known to his contemporaries and chroniclers as a distinctive figure, a tall, strong, well-mannered and very tidy man.

Samuel Bellamy made a dashing figure in his long deep-cuffed velvet coat, knee breeches, silk stockings, and silver-buckled shoes; with a sword slung on his left hip and four pistols on his sash.

Unlike some of his fellows, Samuel Bellamy never wore the fashionable powdered wig, but grew his dark hair long and tied it back with a black satin bow.

Samuel Bellamy's crew was very fond of him, sometimes even referring to him as "Robin Hood of the Sea" and themselves as "Robin Hood's Men".

Samuel Bellamy's flagship was powerful with many cannons and the second one was light but fast, which made a good balance.

In July 1984, Samuel Bellamy became famous again when the discovery of the wreckage of his flagship Whydah was announced, and would soon become the first authenticated pirate shipwreck ever discovered in North America.

Samuel Bellamy subsequently founded The Whydah Pirate Museum on MacMillan Wharf in Provincetown, Massachusetts, dedicated to Bellamy and the Whydah.