Robert Sample

{{Short description|Pirate (died 1719)}} {{Infobox pirate | honorific_prefix = | name = Robert Sample | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = | baptised = | disappeared_date = | disappeared_place = | disappeared_status = | death_date = 1719 | death_place = | death_cause = | body_discovered = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | monuments = | residence = | nationality = | other_names = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = Pirate | years_active = | era = | employer = | organization = | agent = | known_for = Sailing with Edward England | notable_works = | style = | home_town = | salary = | net_worth = | height = | weight = | television = | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | movement = | opponents = | boards = | criminal_charge = | criminal_penalty = | criminal_status = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | callsign = | awards = | website = | nickname = | alias = Richard | type = | allegiance = | serviceyears = | base of operations = Coast of Africa and in the Caribbean | rank = | commands = ''Flying King'' | battles = | wealth = | laterwork = | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | footnotes = }}

'''Robert Sample''' (died 1719, first name occasionally Richard, last name occasionally Semple) was a pirate active off the coast of Africa and in the Caribbean. He is best known for sailing with Edward England.

==History==

In late 1718 Edward England, aboard his ship ''Royal James'' (renamed from the recently captured ''Pearl'') had been looting ships between Cape Verde and the Azores.<ref name="Eastern Seas">{{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|url=http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/library/documents/1D30004CA384A81381DD3C8F45CAE3B216713B01.html|accessdate=26 June 2017}}</ref> He took a number of ships off Cape Coast Castle near Gambia in spring of 1719.<ref name="General History Vol 1">{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=Captain Charles|title=A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE PYRATES|date=1724|publisher=T. Warner|location=London|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/40580/40580-h/40580-h.htm|accessdate=18 June 2017}}</ref> Several he plundered and let go, a few he burned, but he refitted two for piracy.<ref name="Eastern Seas" /> One of them was the 6-gun, 14-man ''Elizabeth and Katherine'', commanded by Captain Bridges out of Barbados, which he captured on 27 June.<ref name="TWJ24OCT1719">{{cite news |last1=Mist |first1=Nathaniel |title=The Weekly Journal, or Saturday's Post |date=24 October 1719}}</ref> Four of the ''Elizabeth and Katherine''{{'s}} crew joined England's pirates. England refitted and crewed the ''Elizabeth and Katherine'' and renamed it ''Flying King'', naming Richard Sample as captain.<ref name="Black Flag">{{cite book|last1=Seitz|first1=Don Carlos|title=Under the Black Flag: Exploits of the Most Notorious Pirates|date=1925|publisher=Dial Press|location=New York|isbn=9780486421315|page=167|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i7NLrJnuzHQC&pg=PP6|language=en}}</ref>

Lane and Sample's ship names were likely Jacobite in origin: ''Flying King'' was a reference to the Stuart King James II, deposed in the 1688 Glorious Revolution, who "flew" to France in exile.<ref name="LI">{{cite web |last1=Hull |first1=Eleanor |title=James II in Ireland - History of Ireland and Her People |url=https://www.libraryireland.com/HullHistory/JamesII1.php |website=www.libraryireland.com |access-date=28 May 2025}}</ref> "Queen Anne's Revenge" was another nod to James II, brother of Queen Anne; Anne was the last Stuart monarch.<ref name="BFB">{{cite web |last1=Duffus |first1=Kevin |title=Blackbeard’s Final Battle: Sorting Facts, Fiction |url=https://coastalreview.org/2020/11/blackbeards-final-battle-sorting-facts-fiction/ |website=Coastal Review |access-date=28 May 2025 |date=20 November 2020}}</ref>

Sample sailed with Robert Lane, who captained England's other refitted vessel. They looted several ships in the Caribbean then stopped to careen their vessels.<ref name="General History Vol 1" /> In November they sailed toward Brazil "and did a great deal of mischief" among Portuguese shipping.<ref name="General History Vol 1" /> A Portuguese man-of-war ("a very unwelcome guest to them") chased them soon after.<ref name="General History Vol 1" /> Lane escaped, but he and his crew died when their ship was lost offshore. Sample was unable to evade the warship and tried to escape by beaching the ''Flying King''.<ref name="Gosse">{{cite book|last1=Gosse|first1=Philip|title=The Pirates' Who's Who by Philip Gosse|date=1924|publisher=Burt Franklin|location=New York |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19564/19564-h/19564-h.htm|accessdate=23 June 2017}}</ref> Twelve of its crew had been killed; the Portuguese captured the rest, hanging 38, almost all of whom were English.<ref name="General History Vol 1" />

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sample, Robert}} Category:Year of birth missing Category:18th-century pirates Category:British pirates Category:1719 deaths Category:Caribbean pirates