# Richard Want
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{{Short description|Pirate (fl. 1692–1696)}}
'''Richard Want''' ([fl.](/source/floruit) 1692–1696){{efn|First name occasionally given as William. He should not be confused with [William Wanton](/source/William_Wanton), who was involved with privateering in the New England area at the same time, and who would later go on to be Governor of Rhode Island.}} was a pirate active in the [Indian Ocean](/source/Indian_Ocean). He is best known for sailing alongside [Thomas Tew](/source/Thomas_Tew) and [Henry Avery](/source/Henry_Avery).
==History==
Thomas Tew's first voyage from [Rhode Island](/source/Rhode_Island), around the [Cape of Good Hope](/source/Cape_of_Good_Hope), and into the Indian Ocean to plunder Moorish ships using [Madagascar](/source/Madagascar) as a staging base was wildly successful.[{{cite web|title=A get rich quick scheme|url=http://cranstononline.com/stories/a-get-rich-quick-scheme,81194|website=Cranston Herald|accessdate=2 July 2017|language=en}}] Want had been Tew's first mate aboard the ''Amity'' for that 1692 cruise.[{{cite book|last1=Office|first1=Great Britain Public Record|title=Calendar of State Papers: Preserved in the State Paper Department of Her Majesty's Record Office. Colonial series|date=1904|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|location=London|page=260|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IWgzAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=2 July 2017|language=en}}] Want had previously been a [buccaneer](/source/buccaneer), serving with [George Raynor](/source/George_Raynor_(pirate)) aboard the ''Batchelor's Delight'' when Raynor returned to [Charles Town](/source/Charleston%2C_South_Carolina) in the [Province of South Carolina](/source/Province_of_South_Carolina).[{{cite book|last1=Rogoziński|first1=Jan|title=Honor Among Thieves: Captain Kidd, Henry Avery, and the Pirate Democracy in the Indian Ocean|date=2000|publisher=Stackpole Books|location=Mechanicsburg PA|isbn=9780811715294|pages=71–75, 247|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MUVD7KLa2FoC|accessdate=2 July 2017|language=en}}]
Tew's crew convinced him to go back for a second cruise to try repeating his prior success. This time Want took command of his own 6-gun 60-man[{{cite book|last1=Selinger|first1=Gail|title=Pirates of New England: Ruthless Raiders and Rotten Renegades|date=2017|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|location=Guilford CT|isbn=9781493029303|page=60|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p20mDwAAQBAJ|accessdate=2 July 2017|language=en}}] Spanish [brigantine](/source/brigantine) named ''Dolphin'', fitted out in [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia), and he obtained a [privateering](/source/privateering) commission from the governor to cover his activities. In 1694 Tew and Want sailed out alongside another [Providence](/source/Providence%2C_Rhode_Island) companion, [Joseph Faro](/source/Joseph_Faro) in the ''Portsmouth Adventure''.[{{cite web|title=Thomas the Pirate notes|url=http://hollygardens.com/hollingsw/Thomas_the_Pirate_notes.html|website=hollygardens.com|accessdate=2 July 2017}}] they were joined by [Thomas Wake](/source/Thomas_Wake_(pirate)) and [William May](/source/William_May_(pirate)), where they also met Henry Avery.[{{cite book|last1=Grey|first1=Charles|title=Pirates of the eastern seas (1618-1723): a lurid page of history|date=1933|publisher=S. Low, Marston & co., ltd|location=London|pages=130–132, 158, 192–193|url=http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/library/documents/1D30004CA384A81381DD3C8F45CAE3B216713B01.html|accessdate=26 June 2017}}] They waited for the [Mughal Empire](/source/Mughal_Empire)'s treasure-laden convoy to pass; most of the Mughal ships slipped by in the night but the pirates caught two stragglers. Tew's ''Amity'' sailed ahead to attack the smaller ''Fateh Mohammed'' but a cannon shot killed Tew early in the battle. Once the others defeated and looted ''Fateh Mohammed'', they turned on the larger ''[Gunsway](/source/Gunsway)'', a personal treasure ship of [Emperor Aurangzeb](/source/Emperor_Aurangzeb). Tew's ''Amity'' under ship's master [John Ireland](/source/John_Ireland_(pirate)) sailed back to [Adam Baldridge](/source/Adam_Baldridge)'s pirate trading post near Madagascar. Wake's ''Susannah'' was too slow and missed the battle. Want's ''Dolphin'' proved slow and unseaworthy - "an ill sayler" - and was abandoned.[{{cite book|last1=Jameson|first1=John Franklin|title=Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period by J. Franklin Jameson|date=1923|publisher=Macmillan|location=New York|pages=165–171|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24882/24882-h/24882-h.htm|accessdate=26 June 2017}}] Avery took its crew aboard his ship ''Fancy'' and burned the empty ''Dolphin''.