The Proclamation for Suppressing of Pirates (also known simply as the Act of Grace, though not an Act of Parliament) was a royal proclamation issued by George I of Great Britain on 5 September 1717. It promised a pardon for acts of piracy committed before the following 5 January, to those pirates who surrendered themselves to the correct authority before a deadline. Originally, the surrender had to occur on or before 5 September 1718; this was later extended by a second proclamation to 1 July 1719.
The proclamation also included bounties for the capture of pirates who failed to surrender before the deadline, as well as offering rewards for pirate crew members who facilitated the capture of their captains.
In December 1718, a further extension of the deadline was suggested, in hopes of dissuading pirates from entering Spanish service during the War of the Quadruple Alliance. (780, 9 December 1718)
Background
Precedent
Kings James I, James II and William III issued similar pardons or proclamations in the prior century.
Pardons under James I With the end of the first Anglo-Spanish war under James I, and the corresponding end to English privateering in 1603, English sailors resorted to piracy. In 1611, Captain Richard Bishop became one of the first notable pirates to be pardoned, having surrendered partly due to qualms about attacking English ships. He was allowed to keep his plunder.
In 1611, the English government was willing to offer a general pardon to pirates, on condition that they surrender their ships and goods. (214, 11 August 1611) The following year, the privy council of James I offered a general pardon without this condition. At least 12 pirate crews surrendered to the general pardon, though a large portion of Baughe's crew would shortly return to piracy. Captain Roger Middleton, who sailed first to Ireland then to Mehdya to deliver the pardon, extracted bribes from pirates in exchange for their pardon.
The lack of competing pirates in Ireland due to the general pardon saw Henry Mainwaring become notorious in 1613 as leader of a pirate fleet. He would receive offers from Tuscany, Savoy, Tunis and Spain of a pardon should he surrender; however, consistent with his not attacking English ships, in June 1616 he instead accepted an English offer of pardon, having sought one since the previous year (as too had Lording Barry).
Clive Senior suggests that the government had an incentive to pardon pirates, since this would keep these potentially useful seamen available in case of war.
Proclamations of 1687–1688 Around the 1670s, an expedition to suppress piracy in the Spanish West Indies using pardons was planned, but never went ahead..
On 22 May 1687, James II renewed the proclamation for the suppression of pirates, offering a limited time in which any pirate who surrendered would receive a pardon. That August, he commissioned Sir Robert Holmes to suppress piracy in a squadron sent to the West Indies. On 20 January 1688, James II issued a proclamation (offering pardons to pirates who surrendered to Holmes or to an appointee of his) in order to ensure that colonial governors would cooperate with Holmes and his agents. Holmes' fleet achieved a temporary reduction in piracy, but the number of pirates had increased again by 1693.
1698 proclamation
On 8 December 1698, William III issued a proclamation offering pardons to pirates east of the Cape of Good Hope who surrendered to Captain Thomas Warren. Henry Every and William Kidd were specifically exempted from receiving this pardon.
By the time that Warren arrived in Madagascar, the Act of Grace had expired. By promising to extend the deadline for surrender, Warren obtained the surrender of Robert Culliford, among others; however, these pirates were taken to trial and all except Culliford were hanged. The fact that pirates such as Joseph Bradish and those in Kidd's company were not offered amnesty by the authorities contributed to scepticism regarding acts of grace, including among the crew of Bartholomew Roberts more than two decades later.
Peace of Utrecht
With armistices in 1712, followed by the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, the state of war (which had existed since 1702 as part of the War of the Spanish Succession) between England/Great Britain on one side and France and Spain on the other came to an end. Employment for sailors became difficult to find and poorly paid, as privateering commissions became useless and as the Royal Navy discharged over 36,000 men (nearly three-quarters of those it had employed). In spite of the peace, Spanish guarda costa continued to seize English ships (based on their possession of Spanish coin), harming and imprisoning English sailors, as well as discouraging the merchant shipping which would otherwise have offered legitimate employment. This led some sailors to resort to piracy.
Anti-piracy campaign In 1715, a Royal Navy anti-piracy campaign began in earnest. No pirate ships were captured till 1717, the year that caused the destruction of a pirate galley and a sloop near Saint Croix, but failed to capture the crew. (484, 1 March 1717) At this time, some 20–30 pirate vessels remained at sea.
The reasons for the campaign's ineffectiveness till 1718 included the vastness of the seas in which pirates operated, pirates' better knowledge of those seas, outdated intelligence, and a desire to cut costs (which resulted in a lack of ships, maintenance and seamen). The campaign's initial lack of success saw the British government resort to offering pardons to pirates by issuing the proclamation of 1717.
1717 proclamation
Support for a pardon For several months, piracy in the West Indies – particularly around Jamaica – had been such a problem for the merchants and masters of ships of Bristol that they petitioned the king for its suppression. Following receipt of this petition, in May 1717, Secretary of State Joseph Addison asked the Council of Trade and Plantations to recommend to the king how best to achieve this. (587 and 587 , 27 May 1717) Having consulted merchants and other interested parties, the council agreed that the issue was urgent, replying that "the whole trade from Great Britain to those parts" was "in imminent danger of being lost". The council heard that piracy even reached the seas near the northern continent, and that at least one fourth-rate or two fifth-rates were required to suppress it. In addition, the consultees proposed a royal pardon for pirates who surrendered themselves; the council hoped that this would reform the pirates into law-abiding subjects. Finally, the council recommended that the Bahamas be settled and fortified to prevent pirates from sheltering there. (596, 31 May 1717)
Meanwhile, in Virginia, Lieutenant-Governor Alexander Spotswood recommended reducing the number of pirates either by force (to serve as a deterrent), or by offering a pardon to those who would submit – although he doubted that all the pirates would accept such an offer. (595, 31 May 1717)
In August 1717, soon-to-be Governor of Jamaica Nicholas Lawes advocated both royal clemency and an increased presence of warships to reduce the number of pirates and protect Jamaican trade. (54, 29 August 1717) The pirates themselves threatened to attack Bermuda and (according to Lieutenant-Governor Bennett) "make a new Madagascar of it" if they were not offered a pardon, communicating this through the masters of captured ships. (551, 31 May 1718)
Contents
Following a justification for the proclamation, the text defines who it is pirates may surrender to and by what date.
The proclamation also defined the following bounties for the capture of pirates who failed to surrender before the deadline.
It further offered the following rewards for pirate crew members facilitating the capture of their captains.
1718 proclamation Support for a new proclamation Given the preparation of commissions to pardon acts of piracy which had occurred before 23 July 1718 (as opposed to 5 January, as in the original proclamation), that month the Council of Trade and Plantations directed governors to issue proclamations with this new date, and suggested that the king do the same. (640, 25 July 1718) On 9 December, the council also recommended a further extension of the date, hoping to dissuade pirates from entering Spanish service during the War of the Quadruple Alliance.
Response
Legal opinion In November 1717, Attorney General Edward Northey and Solicitor General William Thomson provided their legal opinion regarding the proclamation: The proclamation did not contain a pardon, but promised one; Murders committed during acts of piracy could be pardoned; Pirates would not have to forfeit their property, but property taken unlawfully could be retaken by its lawful owner; No pirate who surrendered before the deadline was excepted from the promise of a pardon. (201, 14 November 1717)
Furthermore, by late February 1718, it was decided that governors would require a commission under the Great Seal in order to grant royal pardons as promised by the proclamation. (390, 20 February 1718 and 466, 27 March 1718) Such commissions were ordered and prepared that July; in addition, governors were then permitted to pardon acts of piracy which occurred before 23 July 1718 (as opposed to the original date of 5 January 1718). (589, 1 July 1718; 614, 11 July 1718; and 638–642, 23–25 July 1718) (Lt. Governor Spotswood and Governor Rogers received commissions for which this date was 18 August. (33, 30 January 1719)) In the days following the 1718 proclamation, updated commissions were once again ordered and sent. (801, 23 December 1718 and 803, 24 December 1718)
New Providence When news of the proclamation reached Bermuda, Lieutenant-Governor Benjamin Bennett sent his son in December 1717 to the Republic of Pirates on New Providence. (345 and 345 , 3 February 1718) The arrival of Bennett's son with copies of the proclamation caused the pirates there to divide into two factions, depending on whether they planned to accept the pardon. The faction rejecting the pardon included Jacobites,: "This anti-pardon crowd included... pirates who held... "Jacobite" sympathies" and was led by Charles Vane.: "Their undisputed leader was Charles Vane." Those rejecting the pardon supported fortifying the island, as did those wishing to secure their plunder, but when a general council was called, no action was agreed on.
While the Jacobites sought support from George Camocke, other pirates sailed to nearby British colonies to receive a pardon, including Henry Jennings and around 150 others who sailed to Bermuda, most of whom would return to piracy. The likes of Christopher Condent, Christopher Winter and Nicholas Brown fled New Providence, with Winter and Brown sailing to Spanish Cuba.
On 23 February 1718, Captain Vincent Pearse arrived at Nassau, having sailed from New York on .: "On... February 23, the Phoenix arrived" Pearse's crew was informed of how to find Vane by pirates intending to accept the pardon. Although Vane's crew was apprehended and his sloop, the Lark, taken, pirates Hornigold, Leslie, Burgess and Nichols persuaded Pearse to release Vane and his crew as a show of good faith.
Though Pearse lacked the authority to issue pardons, he offered signed certificates to pirates who would surrender to him. 209 accepted this offer, less than half of the pirates on New Providence. Pearse produced a list of their names:
Having already returned to piracy and attacked the crew of the Phoenix, on 4 April, Vane left New Providence on the recaptured Lark. Pearse and the Phoenix left four days later. Vane would return in late April, and again in July.
Arrival of Governor Rogers