Edward Seegar

By Crusader1307

Born in Ireland around 1685, Edward Seegar was known to be an “educated man” and raised Catholic. He served as an English Privateer (legal Pirate under commission from The King) – and  fought in The Spanish War for Succession. Based in The Bahamas, he reportedly made over 150,000 USD in claims of capture. Offered a pardon, he and his crew declined (finding Piracy a more lucrative way of making large amounts of cash). England (as he was now known as), concentrated on the South African Coast. He commanded “The Pearl” (which he renamed “The Royal James” ) - a Sloop-of War. Often uniting with other famous Captains in a “Wolf Pack” brotherhood – he and others took many hundreds of slave and cargo ships. England had lost a leg in battle, and got around on a wooden peg leg.

Seegar also attempted to circumvent his crews share of bounty – which got him removed from command and marooned on a small island off Mauritius (off the African Coast). He (and those loyal to him) were stranded for 4 months until they were able to build a small vessel to escape. Shipless and without means, he survived into old age working the coastal towns – telling tall tales and receiving charity from other privateers and Pirates. He died in 1721 of an unknown illness. England was been said to have served as the model used by Robert Louis Stevenson in his tale “Treasure Island” - the personage of Long John Silver.