# Ben Pease

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Slave trader (c.1834–1870)

Ben Pease Born c. 1834 Edgartown, Massachusetts Died 1870 The suspicion is that Bully Hayes disposed of Pease during a voyage to the Caroline Islands and Marshall Islands Occupations Ship's Captain Trader Blackbirder Parent(s) Henry A. and Mary A. (Fisher) Pease

**Ben Pease** (c. 1834–1870) or Benjamin Pease, was a notorious [blackbirder](/source/Blackbirding), engaged in recruiting and kidnapping [Pacific Islanders](/source/Pacific_Islander) to provide labor for the plantations of [Fiji](/source/Fiji).

Pease was born in about 1834 in [Edgartown](/source/Edgartown), [Massachusetts](/source/Massachusetts). He was youngest of seven children of Henry A. and Mary A. (Fisher) Pease.[1] Pease was a ship's captain operating in the [Pacific](/source/Pacific) during the 1850s and 1860s. His elder brother was Captain Henry A. Pease Jr., (1824–1892), who became a whaling ship master[2] and was involved in the [whaling disaster of 1871](/source/Whaling_disaster_of_1871) and was later the U. S. Consul to Santiago, Cape Verde (1882–1892).[3]

## Life

Pease was described as "a satanic looking rascal with a black spade beard – [who] was a more openly piratical operator than [\[Bully\] Hayes](/source/Bully_Hayes)".[4] Pease may have greater claim than Bully Hayes as being a South Sea [pirate](/source/Pirate) and "the last of the [buccaneers](/source/Buccaneer),"[5][6] as Pease appears to have been engaged in [filibustering](/source/Filibuster_(military)) in his activities in the [opium](/source/Opium) trade after [China](/source/China)'s defeat in the [Second Opium War](/source/Second_Opium_War) in 1858, when it was forced to legalize opium and allow the importation of opium. However details of Pease's involvement in this trade is uncertain. There are stories told that he was a captain of a [gunboat](/source/Gunboat) in the [Imperial Chinese Navy](/source/Imperial_Chinese_Navy); and that he was engaged in action against [pirates](/source/Pirate) along the coast of China; as well there are stories of Pease raiding trading [junks](/source/Junk_(ship)) along the coast of [China](/source/China).[4][7]

On 5 July 1865 Pease received the first license to providing 40 laborers from the [New Hebrides](/source/New_Hebrides) to Fiji.[4][8] [Alfred Restieaux](/source/Alfred_Restieaux), an island trader who had dealings with both Hayes and Pease writes that in late in 1866 or early 1867, Pease was introduced to Mr. C. A. Williams, a ship owner of [New London, Connecticut](/source/New_London%2C_Connecticut) who bought a [schooner](/source/Schooner) that he renamed the *Blossom*. As captain of the *Blossom*, Pease traded in the [Marshall Islands](/source/Marshall_Islands).[9][10]

Pease purchased the *Water Lily*, a 250-ton [brig](/source/Brig) that was built for the opium trade into [China](/source/China), and later fitted it out to engage in the blackbirding trade in the [Pacific](/source/Pacific). While there was some voluntary recruitment of Pacific Islanders, the activities of blackbirders predominantly involved kidnapping, coercion and tricks to entice islanders onto ships, on which they were held prisoner until delivered to their destination. In 1868, while the *Water Lily* was in [Manila](/source/Manila) in the [Philippines](/source/Philippines) being repaired, he renamed it the *Pioneer*.[4]

## Ben Pease & Bully Hayes

In 1870, Pease assisted in [Bully Hayes](/source/Bully_Hayes)' escape after he was arrested in [Apia](/source/Apia), [Samoa](/source/Samoa) on charges of piracy, arising from his blackbirding activities. The accounts of the adventures of Hayes and Pease differ in detail,[4][9][10] but what is consistent between the accounts is that Hayes escaped from Samoa on 1 April 1870 aboard the *Pioneer*.[4] Hayes and Pease proceeded on a trading cruise in the [Caroline Islands](/source/Caroline_Islands) and the [Marshall Islands](/source/Marshall_Islands). According to [Alfred Restieaux](/source/Alfred_Restieaux), Hayes and Pease argued over the ownership of the cargo: Hayes claimed the cargo was his and that Pease was merely carrying it as freight, while Pease claimed a half share in the cargo. The cargo was sold in [Shanghai](/source/Shanghai);[9][10] what happened to Pease is uncertain, except that he never returned to Apia. Restieaux recounts the two stories that he had been told: the first was that Pease drowned after jumping overboard from a Spanish [man-of-war](/source/Man-of-war), the second, that he was killed in a fight in the [Bonin Islands](/source/Bonin_Islands).[9][10] In any event, when the *Pioneer* arrived back to port, Hayes was in sole command. His explanation for this change was that Pease had sold him the ship and had retired to China – an explanation that many doubted, but would not or could not challenge.[4]

Hayes renamed the ship the *Leonora*, and it later was wrecked in a storm while in Lelu Harbor, in what is now the [Utwe-Walong Marine Park](/source/Utwe) on [Kosrae](/source/Kosrae).[11]

## Bibliography

- *Daily Mirror* (Sydney, Australia) 23 June 1858

- B. Lubbock, *Bully Hayes, South Sea Pirate* (London 1931)

- A. T. Saunders, *Bully Hayes* (Perth 1932)

- James A. Michener & A. Grove Day, *Bully Hayes, South Sea Buccaneer* in *Rascals in Paradise*, (London: Secker & Warburg 1957)

- F. Clune, *Captain Bully Hayes* (Sydney 1970)

## Popular culture

- The 1983 film *[Savage Islands](/source/Savage_Islands_(film))*, (also known as *Nate and Hayes*), is an [adventure film](/source/Adventure_film), which starred Australian actor [Max Phipps](/source/Max_Phipps) as the main antagonist in a fictional portrayal of Pease.

- In the TV show *[Eyes of Wakanda](/source/Eyes_of_Wakanda)*, Season 1 Episode 4, Wakandan agent Kuda mentions that he was responsible for Ben Pease's death.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["The Pease Family of Martha's Vineyard by Richard Bart"](http://history.vineyard.net/pease2.htm).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["The Pease Family of Martha's Vineyard: Eighth Generation by Richard Bart"](http://history.vineyard.net/pease3.htm).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Martha's Vineyard Museum, Captain Henry Pease Papers, 1867-1893. Record Unit 331 ["Archived copy"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100703041518/http://www.mvmuseum.org/documents/CaptainHenryPease--RU331.pdf) (PDF). Archived from [the original](http://www.mvmuseum.org/documents/CaptainHenryPease--RU331.pdf) (PDF) on 2010-07-03. Retrieved 2011-05-18.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_archived_copy_as_title))

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-M&D_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-M&D_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-M&D_4-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-M&D_4-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-M&D_4-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-M&D_4-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-M&D_4-6) James A. Mitchener & A. Grove Day (1957). "Bully Hayes, South Sea Buccaneer". *Rascals in Paradise*. Secker & Warburg.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Julian Dana, *Gods Who Die* (1935)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-JRB1_6-0)** Resture, Jane. ["Alfred Restieaux: Stories of Bully Hayes and Others"](http://www.janesoceania.com/restieaux_hayes/index.htm). Retrieved 2011-08-06.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-JRB_7-0)** Resture, Jane. ["The Story of Blackbirding in the South Seas - Part 1"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100115143953/http://janesoceania.com/oceania_blackbirding/index.htm). Archived from the original on January 15, 2010. Retrieved 2011-08-06.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-JRB2_8-0)** Resture, Jane. ["The Story of Blackbirding in the South Seas - Part 2"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110906214920/http://www.janesoceania.com/oceania_blackbirding1/index.htm). Archived from the original on September 6, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-06.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-AR1_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-AR1_9-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-AR1_9-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-AR1_9-3) Restieaux, Alfred. *Recollections of a South Seas Trader – Reminiscences of Alfred Restieaux*. National Library of New Zealand, MS 7022-2.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-AR2_10-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-AR2_10-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-AR2_10-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-AR2_10-3) Restieaux, Alfred. *Reminiscences - Alfred Restieaux Part 2 (Pacific Islands)*. National Library of New Zealand, MS-Papers-0061-079A.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Kosrae Nautilus Resort"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110713165647/http://kosraenautilus.com/attractions.html). Archived from [the original](http://kosraenautilus.com/attractions.html) on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2011-06-18.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ben Pease](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Pease) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Pease?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.