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Christopher Condent
Born : Unknown
Died : 1770Christopher Condent is best
described as a man who never fought when he could talk, yet never ran when he
had to fight.
Originally he was a privateer for England in the War of
the Spanish Recession, but when the war ended, rather than return to 'honest'
service, he opted to go 'on the account' instead. Plundering anything that
looked interesting in the wasters of the West Indies, he soon created a
reputation for being a bold, creative, and wise opponent. As time proceeded,
however, he heard news of the famed Woodes Rogers' appointment to the Governor
of Jamaica, and in wise bit of insight, decided that the heyday of piracy in
those waters was finally (for the time being) at an end. Calling a meeting of
his crew, he explained to them that he felt the best course of action lay in
sailing across the Atlantic for Africa. From there, they would travel north and
operate out of Madagascar like Thomas Tew, Henry Every, and dozens of others had
twenty years before. When they arrived, though, they spent months looking for
any prize worth taking. Several small ships were captured, mostly out of a sense
that they should be doing some sort of piratical function, but all in all, they
were worthless prizes.
Then, in october of 1720, more than a year after
arriving in the waters off India, they were patrolling outside Bombay when they
sighted a large Arab ship heading east towards an East India Company trading
center at Surat. After a brief chase, the ship surrendered without a fight.
Condent's men ransacked the hold to discover she was laden with a cargo
of silks, spices, drugs, and £150,000 in gold and silver. Condent realized that
the East India Company would be stark raving pissed about this blatant assault
on a ship that it obviously was connected to, so he made sure that all the
passengers were treated fairly and decently until he dumped them on shore.
Immediately upon having done so, Condent raced away to the old pirate sanctuary
of St. Mary's to divide the loot. Each man's share came to about £2,000 apiece.
Leaving a great deal of the ship's luxurious cargo scattered on the beach, he
then absconded for the French Island of Bourbon.
The Governor there gave
French pardons to Condent and his crew for a bribe of the loot. France loved
anyone that helped to inconvenience or embarass the East India Company. Condent
realised that this was a once in a lifetime strike and so retired with his
treasure, eventually moving to France and investing wisely soon became a wealthy
shipping magnate. Many of his crew followed his example (£2000 was more than
most men of that time made in a lifetime of honest naval service) and setlled
down as well. The last documented survivor of the crew died of old age in 1770,
50 years after the taking of the Arab ship. |
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