December 1721 |
Edward Low and George Lowther join forces as pirate crew near Cayman Islands |
May 28, 1722 |
Near Maryland, Low and Lowther capture Boston-bound brigantine, Rebecca, which Low keeps as his ship |
June 3, 1722 |
In the Rebecca, the pirate Edward Low captures and destroys three vessels near New England |
June 15, 1722 |
Low’s crew captures several New England fishermen near Nova Scotia, including Philip Ashton and Joseph Libbey |
June – July 1722 |
Low’s crew ransacks a small village in Acadia (Nova Scotia) and captures more vessels near Grand Banks |
July – August 1722 |
Near Azores, Low’s crew captures and keeps a Portuguese pink |
September 5, 1722 |
After more captures near Cape Verde Islands, one of the captured fishermen, Nicholas Meritt, escapes |
November – December 1722 |
Portuguese pink sinks near coast of Brazil and Ashton nearly drowns in the mishap |
February 1723 |
Pirates are fired at and chased by Royal Navy frigate, HMS Mermaid, near Panama |
March 9, 1723 |
Ashton runs ashore on island of Roatan and escapes from pirates when they go ashore for fresh water
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March 10, 1723 |
Low attacks Spanish ship patrolling near present-day Belize and kills close to 50 of men aboard |
May 8, 1723 |
Pirates capture at least six vessels near Cuba, burning the fingers of men aboard to force confessions about hidden valuables |
June 10, 1723 |
One of Low’s two sloops, the Ranger, captured after 12-hour battle with British warship, HMS Diamond, near Block Island |
July 19, 1723 |
Twenty-six members of Low’s crew, captured in battle with Greyhound, are executed in Newport, Rhode Island |
September, 1723 |
Low’s pirates are back at Azores and capture more vessels |
October 27, 1723 |
Pirates capture the Delight Galley near coast of Africa; the pirate Francis Spriggs take the Delight and abandons Low |
November, 1723 |
On Roatan, a mysterious Bayman visits Ashton for three days but is lost at sea |
March 1724 |
Remaining members of the pirate crew abandon Low and set him adrift in a French sloop near island of Martinique |
March 22, 1724 |
English captain Richard Hawkins is captured by Francis Spriggs and his crew of pirates in Caribbean |
June 1724 |
A band of 18 Baymen sail to Roatan where they discover Ashton and take him to their camp on a nearby island |
June – July 1724 |
Spriggs reunites with remaining members of Low’s crew, now under command of Richard Shipton |
August 31, 1724 |
Spriggs and Shipton attacked by HMS Diamond near coast of Belize |
November 1723 |
Shipton’s crew shipwrecked off coast of Florida; survivors include about 12 men, including captives Jonathan Barlow and Nicholas Simmons |
December 27, 1724 |
Captives stage a revolt against pirates from Shipton’s crew and sail back to Newport in ship John and Mary |
December 1724 – January 1725 |
Spriggs’ crew attacks camp on a small island near Roatan, where Ashton was living with Baymen |
January 1725 |
Most Baymen head back to mainland, but Ashton remains near Roatan with two other men |
March 29, 1725 |
HMS Diamond leaves Belize with convoy of vessels, but blown off course towards Roatan by tropical storm |
April, 1725 |
Ashton rescued near Roatan by ship from Salem, Massachusetts, that was sailing with the Diamond |
May 1, 1725 |
Ashton arrives home in Marblehead, Massachusetts |