Piratical Plunder: A History of Bristol’s Links to Seafaring Outlaws
By Mia Townsend, Year 3 English
From the infamous Blackbeard to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, Bristol has played a key role throughout the history of smuggling and piracy. The Bristol Channel has been a prominent port for pirates, with the shape of the Severn Estuary itself allowing smugglers to hide their bounties in small coves as well as allowing for trading routes to cut through these areas. It is a fascinating piece of history which is preserved today within Bristol’s pubs, Harbourside and (some might say) even in accents!
A Doubleday edition of Treasure Island.
Bristol’s port has grown in significance throughout the centuries, with archaeological findings suggesting that the current area of Sea Mills served as a port during the Roman era. Further north in Aust, we can determine more of the Roman’s naval activities through archaeological discoveries such as Roman coins and pottery.
During the 13th century, Bristol’s port had become busier, and further into the 14th and 15th centuries, exports of woollen cloth and imports of Spanish and French wines became the major trades. Due to customs duties and heavy tariffs placed upon the highly demanded export of wool, the incentive for smuggling was heightened. At this time, the estuary was infamous for piracy, with smugglers depositing freight onto smaller vessels and writing off cargo as lost or damaged, before continuing on their journey to Avonmouth, in order to avoid declaring their exports.
By the mid-16th century, the significance of trading illicit goods became more prominent. Bristol was importing a variety of goods from oil to fruit to iron. However, concerns surrounding inflation led to the monarchy heavily regulating overseas commerce through creating licences for the trading of food produce and leather. Due to the expensive charges added to the cost of goods after the enforcement of licences (sometimes up to 60%), a surplus in illicit trading activity evidently occurred.
Between the 17th and 18th centuries, more than 5000 pirates were estimated to be at sea. This led to a period known as the ‘Golden Age of Piracy’, which can be split into three different eras: the buccaneering period, the Pirate Round and the post-Spanish Succession period.
Between 1650 and 1680, these buccaneers were essentially pirates who attacked Spanish colonies in the Caribbean Sea (specifically Jamaica and Tortuga, Haiti) for goods. Then, in the 1660s to early 1700s, the Pirate Round was a route taken by pirates to rob the East India Company in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. It is well known that this route was profitable and provided pirates with chances to attack wealthy merchant ships, but this route was also long and dangerous.
The period following the War of the Spanish Succession allowed for the rise of the British Empire as a dominant naval and commercial power. However, it also resulted in naval militants being relieved from their duties who, due to their unemployment, instead turned towards piracy.
Bristol has not only been a place of emerging pirates, but also a place of suppressing them. During 1717, a surge in pirate attacks on British merchants trading around the Caribbean and North America resulted in a demand for naval protection. Petitions endeavoured to reduce piracy in specific regions and the first petition appeared in May 1717, in Bristol.
The Society of Merchant Venturers of the City of Bristol complained to King George I of their ships being plundered and attacked. This led to the 1717-1718 Acts of Grace, where a series of pardons were granted by the British government to pirates who surrendered themselves to the correct authorities. This act aimed to reduce piracy through reformation and reintegration for pirates into society.
Let’s fast-forward to the present. What still remains of Bristol’s piracy legacy? Some of Bristol’s frequently visited pubs, such as the Llandoger Trow or the Hole in the Wall, are landmarks within Bristol’s piracy history.
Not only did the Llandoger Trow regularly serve notorious pirates such as Blackbeard (Edward Teach), it also served as the inspiration for novelists, such as Daniel Defoe and Robert Louis Stevenson. After Defoe met a Scottish privateer named Alexander Selkirk (who spent four months as a castaway on an uninhabited island), he felt inspired to write Robinson Crusoe in 1789. Additionally, the Hole in the Wall is said to have been Robert Louis Stevenson’s inspiration for The Spyglass Inn in his novel Treasure Island. Aside from pubs, many other buildings in Bristol have been associated with piracy. For example, The Customs House in Queen Square was the place where taxes and duties were collected from ships.
The Llandoger Trow as pictured in the 1920s.
Next time you are walking around Harbourside or along King Street for the next pint, take a look around to notice Bristol’s piratical history. There is an abundance of hidden gems across the city to keep an eye out for.
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Edited by Scarlett Bantin