{{short description|18th-century Bermudan pirate}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{one source|date=December 2021}} {{Infobox pirate |name=Nathaniel North |birth_date={{circa|1671}} |death_date=1716 |image= Captain Nathaniel North from the 1933 World Wide Gum Co. "Sea Raiders" trading card series.jpg |caption=Captain Nathaniel North, as depicted in the 1933 World Wide Gum Co. "Sea Raiders" trading card series |nickname= |type= Privateer, pirate |birth_place = Bermuda |death_place = Madagascar |allegiance= |serviceyears= {{c.}} 1689 – 1703/4,<br /> 1707–1716 |base of operations= Atlantic Ocean, Red Sea, Indian Ocean |rank= Quartermaster / Captain |commands= Brigantine ''Defiant'', frigate ''Charles'' |battles= |wealth= |laterwork= Occasional slaver<ref>Seitz, Don Carlos. For the remainder of his life... ''Under the Black Flag: Exploits of the Most Notorious Pirates'' Mineola, New York: Courier Dover Publications, 2002. {{ISBN|0-486-42131-7}}</ref>}}
'''Nathaniel North''' (c. 1671–1716) was a pirate during the Golden Age of Piracy, operating in the Indian Ocean under John Bowen and then as captain of the ''Defiant'' following Bowen's retirement in 1704. After losing the ''Defiant'' he ruled a pirate colony at Ambonaivo made up of his former crew before returning to sea. North reportedly retired with great wealth in 1709, settling in Madagascar and marrying a local woman, but was later murdered by her family.
==Early life== In 1689 North was a crewman aboard an English privateer attacking French shipping during the War of the Grand Alliance. He was impressed into the Royal Navy but made his way to Jamaica. There he again met British press gangs, but escaped by jumping overboard and swimming to shore. By 1696 North was a crewman in a band of privateers (which included future captain George Booth) who captured the 18-gun brigantine ''Pelican'' off Newfoundland. While the privateer under new captain Robert Colley obtained a commission to attack French holdings in West Africa, they instead travelled to Madagascar where they searched for ships based out of ports on the Arabian and Swahili coasts. When they failed to find any ships, the ''Pelican'' instead raided villages on the Comoro Islands.
Upon returning to Madagascar, North was elected quartermaster by the crew after Colley and a number of others died of illness; ship's cooper Joseph Wheeler was made captain. The ''Pelican'' then joined Dirk Chivers and Robert Culliford and the three ships together captured the ''Great Mohammed''. Chivers and Culliford, however, refused to share the spoils from the ''Great Mohammed'', claiming that the ''Pelican'' had not taken part in the battle. Following this event, the ''Pelican'' left the trio and later captured three small ships, keeping one and renaming her ''Dolphin''. Damage caused to both ships in a hurricane forced a return to Madagascar, where the plunder was divided, with each of the pirates receiving around £700.
==Early career== In 1699, North served again as quartermaster under captain Samuel Inless, who had been given command of the ''Dolphin''. After taking a large Danish ship they sailed to Île Sainte-Marie and divided the plunder with each man receiving around £400. While at the Île Sainte-Marie, however, four British warships under Commodore Thomas Warren arrived, forcing Inless to burn the ''Dolphin''. While a pardon was offered to the pirates – several of whom accepted it – North instead fled in the ship's longboat, escaping to Madagascar.
In 1701, North turned to raiding settlements on land, leading a plundering expedition ashore in the Comoros Islands. His raiding party looted villages on Ngazidja and held the sultan of Mayotte for ransom before returning to sea.<ref>{{cite journal | last =Newitt | first =Malyn | title =The Comoro Islands in Indian Ocean Trade before the 19th Century| journal =Cahiers d'Études Africaines | volume =23 | issue =89 | page =158 | publisher =EHESS | year =1983 | jstor =4391844 | doi = 10.3406/cea.1983.2260}}</ref>
==Later career and death== It was not until 1707 that North joined John Halsey as quartermaster on the brigantine ''Charles''. During this period two British ships were captured, one of which Halsey took for himself and returned to Madagascar, leaving North in command of the ''Charles''. This proved to be short-lived, as the ''Charles'' ran aground shortly after. North then returned to Madagascar and lived with the King of Maratan. In 1709 North returned to Ambonavoula where he traded with Mauritius and occasionally acquired slaves from Johanna. At some period after this, during a native conflict he was reportedly captured and later murdered by the opposing natives.<ref name="Johnson - A General History Vol 2">{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=Charles|title=The history of the pyrates: containing the lives of Captain Mission. Captain Bowen. Captain Kidd ... and their several crews|date=1724|publisher=T. Woodward|location=London|url=https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/17002|accessdate=26 July 2017|language=en}}</ref>
While some historians claim North never existed, as his story is mostly known from the factually questionable 1724 ''General History of the Pyrates'', witness accounts do survive describing his piracy. A 1708 letter from the English settlement at Fort St. George, India describes how North lost the ''Charles'', having "lost all his Anchors and Cables amongst the Maldiva Islands, and was obliged to run the Briggantine ashore at Maratan." The writer had been captured by the pirates and noted, "we had been very secure had either White lived, or North their Quartermaster been there."<ref name="DCBFSG1708">{{cite book |title=Diary and consultation book of 1708 |date=1929 |publisher=Printed by the Superintendent, Govt. Press |location=Madras |page=33 |url=https://archive.org/details/diaryconsultatio1708madr/page/32/mode/2up |access-date=6 May 2024}}</ref>
==See also== *Robert Colley (pirate)
==References== *Seitz, Don Carlos, Howard F. Gospel and Stephen Wood. Under the Black Flag: Exploits of the Most Notorious Pirates. Mineola, New York: Courier Dover Publications, 2002. {{ISBN|0-486-42131-7}}
===Notes=== {{reflist}}
{{pirates}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:North, Nathaniel}} Category:1670s births Category:Year of death missing Category:Bermudian pirates Category:18th-century pirates Category:17th-century pirates Category:Murdered criminals Category:1710s deaths