John Halsey

Who was John Halsey?

John Halsey was a colonial American privateer and a later pirate who was active in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans during the early 18th century. Although much of his life and career is unknown, he is recorded in A General History of the Pyrates which states "He was brave in his Person, courteous to all his Prisoners, lived beloved, and died regretted by his own People. His Grave was made in a garden of watermelons, and fenced in with Palisades to prevent his being rooted up by wild Hogs."

Born in Boston, Halsey became a privateer in the service of Great Britain commanding the 10-gun brigantine Charles during the War of the Spanish Succession, or Queen Anne's War as it was known in the American colonies, and raided French fishing fleets in the Newfoundland and later sailed to Fayal in the Azores and the to the Canary Islands where he attacked Spanish ships en route to Barcelona during 1704. During the voyage, several of his men deserted as he put his lieutenant ashore at Cape Verde. However they were subsequently returned to Halsey by the Portuguese governor who recognized the validity of his privateer's commission.