Sailing in 1718 as mate in a sloop from Jamaica, he was taken prisoner by the pirate Captain Winter. England joined the pirates, and was given the command of a vessel. In this ship he sailed to the coast of West Africa, and the first prize he took was the
Cadogan snow (Captain Skinner), at Sierra Leone. Some of England's crew knew Skinner, having served in his ship, and, owing to some quarrel, had been handed over to a man-of-war, and deprived of the wages due to them. These men afterwards deserted the man-of-war and joined the pirates. On Captain Skinner coming aboard England's ship, these men took him and bound him to the windlass, and then pelted him with glass bottles, after which they whipped him up and down the deck, eventually one of them shooting him through the head. This brutal treatment was none of England's doing, who was generally kind to his prisoners.
England's next prize was the
Pearl, which he exchanged for his own sloop; fitted her up for the "pyratical Account," and christened her the
Royal James. Captain England was most successful, taking a number of prizes, which he plundered. One ship he captured so took the eye of England that he fitted her up and changed into her, naming her the
Victory. This he did in the harbour at Whydah, where he met with another pirate, called la Bouche. The two pirates and their crews spent a holiday at this place where, according to the well-informed Captain Johnson, "they liv'd very wantonly for several Weeks, making free with the Negroe Women and committing such outrageous Acts, that they came to an open Rupture with the Natives, several of whom they kill'd and one of their Towns they set on Fire." Leaving here, no doubt to the great relief of the negroes, it was put to the vote of the crew to decide where they should go, and the majority were for visiting the East Indies. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, they arrived at Madagascar early in 1720, where they only stopped for water and provisions, and then sailed to the coast of Malabar in India. Here they took several country ships, and one Dutch one, but soon returned to Madagascar, where they went on shore, living in tents, and hunting hogs and deer. While on this island they looked for Captain Avery's crew, but failed to discover them. While the pirates were here they managed to take a ship commanded by a Captain Mackra, but not without a desperate fight. The pirates were for killing Mackra, but, owing to the efforts of Captain England, he managed to escape.
The pirates had several times complained of the weakness, or humanity, of their commander towards his prisoners, and they now turned him out and elected a new captain, and marooned England and three others on the Island of Mauritius. The captain and his companions set about building a small boat of some old staves and pieces of deal they found washed up on the beach. When finished they sailed to Madagascar, where, when last heard of, they were living on the charity of some other pirates.
less
