William Snelgrave

William Snelgrave (1681-1743) was an English sea captain, slave trader, and ivory trader on the West African coast.

Slave Trader

Snelgrave began transporting slaves with his father, William Snelgrave Sr., who was a first-mate on the Eagle. The elder Snelgrave died in Virginia in 1704. Upon his father's death, Snelgrave soon became a ship captain making numerous voyages including transport of 367 slaves to Virginia in 1720.

In 1734 he published A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea and the Slave-Trade. The book includes a justification and defense of the slave trade. He dedicated his book to the European merchants of West Africa.

Capture by Pirates

Snelgrave was captured by pirate captains La Bouche, Thomas Cocklyn, and Howell Davis along the coast of West Africa in 1719. He was originally attacked by Cocklyn's quartermaster for failing to surrender. He was beaten and shot in the arm, but his men cried out "For God's sake, don't kill our captain, for we were never with a better man." Snelgrave was then spared. Snelgrave wrote about his captivity with the pirates. He described how Davis claimed that "their reasons for going a pirating were to revenge themselves on base merchants and cruel commanders of ships." This probably explains why Snelgrave was spared, despite the fact that he intended to fight the pirates.[1]

In 1727 he arrived at Whydah which had just been captured by Dahomey. His account of this event, which he learned of second hand, has been the main source of many modern historians.

Snelgrave died in 1743.

References
  1. Black Bart Roberts: The Greatest Pirate of Them All by Terry Berverton

Sources


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