biography
| name: |
Kidd, William
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known as Captain Kidd
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (c.1645–1701)
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| biography:
| Privateer and pirate, probably born in Greenock, Inverclyde, WC Scotland, UK. He established himself as a sea captain in New York (1690), saw much privateering service, and gained a high reputation for courage. In 1696 he was commissioned to suppress piracy, and reached Madagascar, but then turned pirate himself. After a 2-years' cruise he returned to the West Indies, ventured to Boston, and was arrested. He was convicted of piracy and murder, and hanged in London. The unsubstantiated legends about his buried treasure have often been referred to in literature, especially in Edgar Allen Poe's The Gold Bug (1843) and Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (1883). |
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