Pirates

Pirates captured by the British in Virginia and imprisoned in England provided funds important to the College of William and Mary when it was founded. Lionel Wafer, surgeon; Edward Davis, captain of the Batchelors Delight; and John Hingson, a shipmate on the Batchelors Delight were together fined 300 pounds, which was donated towards the founding of the College.

Material in the Special Collections Research Center

• "Chronology 1691-1692" and "Pirates" folders, University Archives Subject File Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, William & Mary.
• Scrapbook of Leonard Born includes photographs of sites associated with Blackbeard the pirate; , Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, William & Mary.
• Lloyd H. Williams Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, William & Mary.

External Links

• Pirates at the College, Flat Hat 28 November 2011.
• The Unreliable Legend of the Batchelor’s Delight: How Three Imprisoned Pirates Helped Fund the Wren Building, Ben Kennedy, William & Mary Alumni Magazine, Summer 2010.
• William and Mary College Quarterly

In the News

• William and Mary proved to be resilient, Richmond Times-Dispatch 22 March 2007.
• "The Pirates' Penance," Information on sources is online, the article is available in Early American Life December 2008 and a copy is available in the University Archives Subject File Collection.
• W&M endowed with pirate plunder, Virginia Gazette 30 May 2012. The letter referred to in the article was probably dated 2/27/1691/1692; see William Perry Stevens, Historical Collections Relating to the American Colonial Church, Volume 1, pages 8-9.

Need help?

To search for further material, visit the Special Collections Research Center's Search Tool List for an overview of the Special Collections Database, W&M Digital Archive, Flat Hat-William & Mary News-Alumni Gazette index, card catalogs, and other tools available to help you find material of interest in William & Mary Libraries Special Collections Research Center.

Questions? Contact the Special Collections Research Center at spcoll@wm.edu or 757-221-3090, or visit the Special Collections Research Center in the Earl Gregg Swem Library at William & Mary.

A Note About The Contents Of This Wiki

The information available in this wiki is the best available from known documents and sources at the time it was written. Unfortunately, many of the early original records of William & Mary were destroyed by fires, military occupation, and the normal effects of time. Information in this wiki is not complete as new information continues to be uncovered in Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center and elsewhere. Researchers are strongly encouraged to use the Special Collections search tools for their research as the information contained in this wiki is by no means comprehensive.