{{short description|18th-century English pirate}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Jeremiah Cocklyn''', better known by the name '''Thomas Cocklyn'''{{efn|Last name occasionally spelled Cocklin. His first name is nearly always listed as “Thomas” in later books, but eyewitness accounts and trial documents make clear that his actual given name was Jeremiah.}} (fl. 1717–1719), was an English pirate known primarily for his association with Howell Davis, Olivier Levasseur, Richard Taylor, and William Moody.
==History== {{multiple image |total_width = 500 |image_style = border:none; | image1 = Pirate Flag of Thomas Cocklyn.svg| | image2 = Jeremiah_Cocklyn_Flag.svg| | image3 = Jeremiah_Cocklyn_Flag_2.svg| | footer = Flags used by Thomas Cocklyn, described as “St. George’s cross with four balls in the quarter”.,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auGOEwHOxu4&t=736s | title=Hoist the Colors: History of the Pirate Flag | website=YouTube | date=21 October 2022 }}</ref> “the skeleton of a human body such as Death used to be represented by, and in the other Side a morthead with two bones across and a sandglass…”<ref name="Jolly Rogers: The True History of Pirate Flags"/> and “a Man’s arm with a dagger in his hand and on the other side a morthead and glass…”.<ref name="Jolly Rogers: The True History of Pirate Flags"/> }}
Cocklyn was among the hundreds of pirates who accepted a royal pardon when new Governor Woodes Rogers arrived in the Bahamas in 1718.<ref name="Gosse - Who’s Who">{{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|access-date=23 June 2017}}</ref> He soon returned to piracy: in early 1719 near Cape Verde aboard ''Rising Sun'', a group of William Moody's sailors led by Cocklyn attempted a mutiny. Moody marooned Cocklyn and 25 others, denying them shares of treasure. Moody's crew, angry over his treatment of Cocklyn, returned the favor by setting Moody and 12 of his supporters adrift in a small boat. The ''Rising Sun’s'' crew elected French pirate Olivier Levasseur as captain.<ref name="Grey - Eastern Seas" /> They returned to meet the marooned sailors, who had overpowered a ship on the river and chosen Cocklyn as their leader. William Snelgrave, one of their captives, reported that they “chose Cocklyn for their commander because of his brutality, being determined they said, never again to have a gentleman commander such as Moody was.”<ref name="Grey - 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|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref>
Soon met by Howell Davis near the Sierra Leone River, the group captured a number of vessels in quick succession, including Snelgrave's ''Bird Galley''.<ref name="Sanders - If a Pirate I Must Be">{{cite book|last1=Sanders|first1=Richard|title=If a pirate I must be: the true story of Bartholomew Roberts, king of the Caribbean|date=2007|publisher=Aurum|location=London|isbn=9781845132095 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7iB_AAAAMAAJ|access-date=18 September 2017|language=en}}</ref> The pirates exchanged ships several times, each keeping best of the lot, finally leaving the captured snow ''Bristol'' to Snelgrave and his crew.{{efn|Snelgrave later wrote a lengthy and detailed recollection of his captivity and further voyages.}} Snelgrave had been fond of Davis, who protected him, but was wary of the cruelty of Cocklyn, having witnessed him caning his own sailors<ref name="Grey - Eastern Seas" /> and torturing captives and slaves.<ref name="Sanders - If a Pirate I Must Be" /> Cocklyn and his 25 men took Snelgrave's ''Bird'', renaming it ''Windham Galley''.{{efn|Cocklyn later renamed it ''Speedwell'', later ''Courage'', and possibly other names as well, leading to some confusion regarding which of the captains had which ship at any one time, and whether they were the original ships or renamed prizes.}} This showed the Jacobite sympathies of Cocklyn and Levasseur, both of whom named their ships (''Windham Galley'' and ''Duke of Ormond'', respectively) after prominent supporters of the exiled James Stuart.<ref name="Jacobitism and the “Golden Age” of Piracy">{{cite journal|last1=Fox|first1=E.T.|title=Jacobitism and the "Golden Age" of Piracy, 1715–1725|journal=International Journal of Maritime History|date=December 2010|volume=22|issue=2|pages=277–303|doi=10.1177/084387141002200212|s2cid=162372700}}</ref>
The three captains eventually quarrelled and went their separate ways.<ref name="Gosse - Who’s Who" /> Cocklyn continued his piracies off the African coast through 1719, operating alongside Richard Taylor. By 1720 he was at Madagascar; at least one source reported that Cocklyn died there, with captaincy of his recently captured ship ''Victory'' going to Richard Taylor, who afterwards sailed with Levasseur, Edward England, and Jasper Seagar.<ref name="Fox - Pirates in their Own Words">{{cite book|last1=Fox|first1=E. T.|title=Pirates in Their Own Words|date=2014|publisher=Lulu.com|location=Raleigh NC|isbn=9781291943993|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_pPkBgAAQBAJ|access-date=17 June 2017|language=en}}{{self-published source|date=December 2021}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}} Another source reports that Cocklyn was hanged for piracy.<ref name="Gosse - Who’s Who" />
==See also== *Paulsgrave Williams - Former pirate captain, later Levasseur's quartermaster; he had earlier sailed with Samuel Bellamy, who had also sailed with Levasseur in early 1717.
==Further reading== *Snelgrave, William. "[https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/7190437#view A new account of some parts of Guinea, and the slave-trade]". London: P. Knapton, 1734.
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{pirates}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cocklyn, Thomas}} Category:18th-century pirates Category:Year of death unknown Category:Pardoned pirates Category:English pirates Category:Piracy in the Indian Ocean Category:Year of birth uncertain