William Condon (pirate)

Condons flag

William ("Billy One-Hand") Condon (* 17th century ; † 18th century ) is considered one of the most successful pirates of his era, but has remained largely unknown. Even his first and last name is given differently in the sources (Condent, Congdon, Condell and / or Christopher, Edmond, John, William).

Life

It seems certain that Condon came from Plymouth , Massachusetts and, like some of his contemporaries , sought salvation in piracy in the Caribbean . In view of the large-scale campaign carried out by the Kingdom of Great Britain against piracy in the Caribbean, Condon and his crew left this region in early 1718. Condon's ship was the well-armed Dragon , a sloop he took off with in March off the Cape Verde Islands raised more than twenty ships. The raid through the Atlantic then shifted further south off the South American coast. Later, in autumn of the same year, the Atlantic Ocean was crossed and several ships were captured off the south-west African coast, including a Dutch ship with 42 cannons, which became Condon's main ship under the name Fiery Dragon .

With a well-armed and experienced crew of 320 men, the Fiery Dragon set out for the Cape of Good Hope and came across lucrative prey: the Maison d'Autriche , coming from China on the way to Ostend , was her 400 tons of cargo single, including valuable porcelain . After the Fiery Dragon fell victim to another sailing ship, Condon decided to sail to the island of Sainte Marie off the northeast coast of Madagascar , which at the time was a hiding place and recruiting place for many pirates.

In August 1720, the Fiery Dragon sailed off the west coast of India and landed a pilgrim ship near Bombay , which was on its way to Surat . This prize is considered to be the most valuable ever captured by a pirate ship. The booty was brought to Sainte Marie in October of the same year; Spices and silk were exchanged at dealers for spirits, gunpowder and ship equipment, valuables and coins were divided.

Since it was mostly the East India Company that suffered from pirate attacks in this region, Condon and his men were soon on the company's blacklist. Support for the pirates finally came from the governor of the French island of Bourbon (today: Réunion ), who - for a corresponding financial consideration - offered amnesty . William Condon and some of his men took this opportunity, got out of the pirate business and settled in 1721 on the island of "Bourbon" (Réunion). In 1723 Condon moved to Europe, where he settled in Normandy as a rich man and worked as a merchant and shipowner.

Web links

• Christopher Condent on Rob Ossian's Pirate Cove