John Pro
John Pro (died 1719) was a Dutch pirate best known for leading a pirate trading post near Madagascar.
History
Pro made his fortune as a pirate cruising the Indian Ocean against Moorish shipping, possibly alongside David Williams or Thomas Collins. They returned to the pirate trading post at Ile Ste Marie off the Madagascar coast to divide their treasure. Adam Baldridge had abandoned the settlement in 1697 after a Malagasy uprising, but Pro remained behind to rebuild. In 1703 Williams and Collins were captured by fellow ex-pirate Aert Van Tuyl after they and the crew of Thomas Howard’s ship Prosperous got into a fight with Van Tuyl and his native allies. Escaping six months later, Williams made his way to Pro’s outpost.[1]
The following year the Royal Navy warships Severn and Scarborough sailed the region on a mission to eliminate piracy.[2] Williams and Pro were captured but escaped shortly afterward, sailing canoes to Mohilla, Johanna, Mayotte, and finally back to Methelage (Messelege) on Madagascar.[3] Afterwards Williams (and possibly Pro) sailed with Thomas White for a time, but they were not among the crew who disembarked at Don Mascarenas to retire from piracy.[4]
By 1707 Pro had returned to Ile Ste Marie, leading the settlement with support of the Malagasy natives. With support from other pirates such as Samuel Burgess he made a business of slave trading. Pro charged trading fees to pirates and merchants who came looking to buy slaves cheaper than they could from the Royal African Company. Collins left to run a similar pirate outpost at Port Dauphin, which he took over after the death of its previous leader, former pirate Abraham Samuel.[3]
In 1717 Pro was visited by Robert Drury, a castaway sailor who survived the wreck of the Degrave in 1701 and had been living among the Malagasy ever since. Drury later write a memoir[a] of his time on Madagascar and described Pro and his lifestyle in detail:
One was a Dutchman, named John Pro, who spoke good English. He was dressed in a short coat with broad plate buttons, and other things agreeable, but without shoes or stockings. In his sash stuck a brace of pistols, and one in his hand. … John Pro lived in a very handsome manner. His house was furnished with pewter dishes, &c., a standing bed with curtains, and other things of that nature except chairs, but a chest or two served for that use well enough. He had one house on purpose for his cook-room and cook-slave's lodging, storehouse, and summer-house; all these enclosed in a palisade, as the great men's houses are in this country, for he was rich, and had many cattle and slaves. … I being interpreter, we settled the manner of trade, and then the captain made presents of a gun or two, &c., and the king presented him with a slave, &c. He also gave me a girl of twelve years old, which I sold immediately to John Pro.[5]
Pro, Collins[b], and John Rivers (another ex-pirate who led the settlement at St. Augustine starting in 1686) all died in 1719.[3] They were among the last pirates on Madagascar, the remainder of which left or were ousted within a few years.[6]
See also
- James Plaintain – another ex-pirate who established a similar pirate outpost on Madagascar.
Notes
References
- ^ Groenendijk, R. L. Van Tuyl and J. N. A. (1996). A Van Tuyl Chronicle: 650 Years in the History of a Dutch-American Family. Decorah IA: Rory Van Tuyl. pp. 114–115. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ Biddulph, John (1907). The Pirates of Malabar: And An Englishwoman in India Two Hundred Years Ago. London: Smith, Elder. pp. 67-28. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ a b c Grey, Charles (1933). Pirates of the eastern seas (1618-1723): a lurid page of history. London: S. Low, Marston & co., ltd. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
- ^ Johnson, Charles (1724). The history of the pyrates: containing the lives of Captain Mission. Captain Bowen. Captain Kidd ... and their several crews. London: T. Woodward. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
- ^ Defoe, Daniel; Oliver, Samuel Pasfield; Rochon, Alexis (1890). Madagascar; or, Robert Drury's journal, during fifteen years' captivity on that island. And a further description of Madagascar, by the Abbé Alexis Rochon. London: London, T.F. Unwin. pp. 296–298. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ Dow, George Francis; Edmonds, John Henry (1996). The Pirates of the New England Coast, 1630-1730. New York: Courier Corporation. pp. 351–352. ISBN 9780486290645. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- v
- t
- e
- Ancient Mediterranean
- Golden Age
- 21st century
- Albanian piracy
- Anglo-Turkish piracy
- Baltic Slavic pirates
- Barbary pirates (corsairs)
- Brethren of the Coast
- Buccaneers
- Cilician pirates
- Child pirate
- Cossack pirates
- Filibusters
- French corsairs
- Jewish pirates
- Moro pirates
- Narentines
- Privateers
- River pirate
- Sea Beggars
- Sea Dogs
- Sindhi corsairs
- Timber pirate
- Ushkuyniks
- Uskoks
- Vikings
- Victual Brothers
- Wokou
- Women in piracy
Atlantic World | |
---|---|
Indian Ocean | |
Other waters | |
Pirate havens and bases |
- Adventure Galley
- Ambrose Light
- Fancy
- Flying Dutchman
- Ganj-i-Sawai
- Queen Anne's Revenge
- Quedagh Merchant
- Marquis of Havana
- My Revenge
- Royal Fortune
- Saladin
- Whydah Gally
- York
- 1582 Cagayan battles
- 1985 Lahad Datu ambush
- Action of 9 November 1822
- Action of 28 October 2007
- Action of 11 November 2008
- Action of 9 April 2009
- Action of 23 March 2010
- Action of 1 April 2010
- Action of 5 April 2010
- Anti-piracy in the Aegean
- Antelope incident
- Anti-piracy in the West Indies
- Attack on Veracruz
- Balanguingui Expedition
- Battle of Boca Teacapan
- Battle of Cape Fear River
- Battle of Cape Lopez
- Battle of Doro Passage
- Battle of Mandab Strait
- Battle of Manila
- Battle off Minicoy Island
- Battle off Mukah
- Battle of Nam Quan
- Battle of New Orleans
- Battle of Ocracoke Inlet
- Battle of Pianosa
- Battle of the Leotung
- Battle of the Tiger's Mouth
- Battle of Tonkin River
- Battle of Ty-ho Bay
- Battle of Tysami
- Beluga Nomination incident
- Blockade of Charleston (Vane)
- Chepo Expedition
- Capture of the Ambrose Light
- Capture of John "Calico Jack" Rackham
- Capture of the schooner Bravo
- Capture of the schooner Fancy
- Capture of the sloop Anne
- Carré d'As IV incident
- Dai Hong Dan incident
- Falklands Expedition
- Great Lakes Patrol
- Irene incident
- Jiajing wokou raids
- Maersk Alabama hijacking
- MT Zafirah hijacking
- MT Orkim Harmony hijacking
- MV Moscow University hijacking
- North Star affair
- Operation Enduring Freedom – HOA
- Operation Atalanta
- Operation Dawn of Gulf of Aden
- Operation Dawn 8: Gulf of Aden
- Operation Ocean Shield
- Persian Gulf Campaign
- Pirate attacks in Borneo
- Quest incident
- Raid on Cartagena
- Sack of Baltimore
- Sack of Campeche
- Salvador Pirates
- Slave raid of Suðuroy
- Turkish Abductions
- African slave trade
- African Slave Trade Patrol
- Amistad Incident
- Atlantic slave trade
- Barbary slave trade
- Blockade of Africa
- Capture of the Veloz Passagera
- Capture of the brig Brillante
- Indian Ocean slave trade
- Trans-Saharan slave trade
popular
culture
Fictional pirates |
|
---|---|
Novels |
|
Tropes | |
Miscellaneous |
Lists | |
---|---|
Categories |
|
- Piracy portal
- Category