Bartholomew Roberts: Black Bart
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c. 1682-1719
Wales
An Honest Sailor
Bartholomew Roberts was born in Casnewydd Bach, Wales, around 1682. For nearly four decades, he lived the hard but honest life of a merchant sailor, working his way up through the ranks of the Royal Navy and slave trading ships. He was deeply religious, well-read, and disciplined—the very last man you would expect to become the most prolific pirate in history.
June 1719
Gold Coast, Africa
Captured by Pirates
In June 1719, Roberts was serving as third mate aboard the slave ship Princess when it was captured by the pirate Howell Davis off the coast of Ghana. Roberts was forced to join the crew against his will. He reportedly despised piracy—but he also recognized that an honest sailor's life offered only poverty and abuse. "A merry life and a short one," he later declared.
July 1719
Principe Island
Captain in Six Weeks
When Captain Davis was killed in an ambush on Principe Island, the crew held an election. Roberts had been a pirate for just six weeks, but his navigation skills, calm authority, and tactical brilliance were already evident. He won the vote decisively. His first act as captain was to sail back to Principe and burn the town in revenge for Davis's death.
1719-1722
Aboard Ship
The Pirate Code
Roberts drafted the most famous set of pirate articles in history. Every man had a vote. The captain and quartermaster received two shares of plunder; all others received one. Gambling was forbidden. Lights out at eight o'clock. Musicians got Sundays off. The articles guaranteed compensation for injuries—losing a right arm was worth 600 pieces of eight. It was democracy decades before revolution.
1719-1722
Caribbean & Atlantic
Terror of the Caribbean
Roberts swept through the Caribbean like a hurricane. He captured over 400 vessels in just three years—a record no pirate has ever matched. He raided from Newfoundland to Brazil, once sailing into the harbor of Bahia and capturing the entire Portuguese treasure fleet of 42 ships under the noses of two men-of-war. Governors trembled at the mention of his name.
1721-1722
West Africa
Crossing to Africa
When the Caribbean grew too dangerous, Roberts crossed the Atlantic to raid the slave trade routes off West Africa. He plundered European trading posts, captured slave ships, and terrorized the colonial outposts along the Gold Coast. The Royal African Company reported that Roberts had single-handedly disrupted the entire transatlantic slave trade for months. No shipping lane was safe from Black Bart.
1719-1722
At Sea
The Dandy Pirate
Roberts was unlike any pirate before or since. He dressed in crimson damask waistcoats, wore a diamond-studded cross around his neck, and carried two pairs of pistols on a silk sling. He drank only tea while his crew guzzled rum. He held Sunday prayer services aboard his ship. He was vain, brilliant, and utterly terrifying—a gentleman who happened to be history's most successful thief.
February 10, 1722
Cape Lopez, Gabon
Death at Cape Lopez
On February 10, 1722, the Royal Navy warship HMS Swallow caught Roberts off Cape Lopez, Gabon. Roberts dressed in his finest crimson silks for battle, but a grapeshot blast struck him in the throat during the opening exchange. He died instantly. His grieving crew honored his standing order: they wrapped his body in his ship's flag, weighed it with cannonballs, and cast him into the sea. No grave would ever be found.
The Greatest Pirate You've Never Heard Of
Bartholomew Roberts's death marked the effective end of the Golden Age of Piracy. His massive trial—where 52 of his crew were hanged—sent a chilling message across the Atlantic. Yet despite capturing more ships than Blackbeard, Bonny, and Morgan combined, Black Bart remains strangely forgotten. Perhaps history prefers its pirates wild and drunk—not sipping tea in silk.
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