John Graham (fl. 1683–1686, last name also Grayham) was an English pirate active off New England and the African coast.
History
A merchant captain operating out of Port Royal, Jamaica in June 1683 reported being captured by Graham, and traveled to Boston to deliver a deposition against him.[1] Jamaican Governor Thomas Lynch wrote a year later that Graham was not from Jamaica but was “chief pirate” among the locals.[2]
“Doctor John Graham” was recorded as a ship's doctor aboard a vessel which left Jamaica in 1684 on a trading and privateering mission. Graham led a mutiny, marooning the previous commander and turning the ship to piracy.[3] A captured sailor reported, “Thence they sailed for Virginia and New England, thence to the Guinea Coast (Gambia), and back to Carolina, where she was wrecked.”[4] They had taken several ships off Sierra Leone,[5] possibly under a different captain,[4] possibly under Graham.[3]
After arriving back off the American coast, Graham was captured and jailed in Nantucket.[6] He escaped with the help of some Cape Cod locals.[7]Connecticut and Rhode Island officials put out alerts and warned officers to be ready to arrest him.[8]
Later in 1685 merchant Captain John Prentice put into New London, Connecticut, where a sloop under Captain Veale anchored by his ship. Onshore he observed Veale and his cargo master trying to buy cannons.[9] Another merchant captain recognized Veale as a pirate who had attacked him off Virginia and alerted the authorities, causing Veale to sail away.[10] Prentice set sail a few days later, noticing Veale's sloop alongside a 14-man shallop,[11] which he saw was commanded by Graham.[11] They pursued Prentice, exchanging cannon fire until Prentice was able to escape under cover of a thunderstorm. He sailed to Boston, where Graham's reputation preceded him, and informed officials that Graham and Veale were nearby.[12] Boston authorities sent out a privateer barque under Samson Waters to arrest them,[13] but the pirates had made a getaway toward Cape Ann.[11]
In 1686 Graham and Veale were still sailing in concert, cruising off New England. Samson Waters was again commissioned by Massachusetts to hunt them down, again unsuccessfully.[6]
See also
Thomas Pound, another pirate out of Boston who was active around New England a few years after Graham and Veale.
