19. A Rich Planter’s Mid-Life Crisis
Stede Bonnet (circa 1680 – 1718) was nicknamed “The Gentleman Pirate” because he had been a prosperous plantation owner in Barbados and an army major before he turned. He earned his fame – or infamy – not because of his success as a pirate, but because of the remarkable incompetence, he displayed after he took up a career in piracy that he had no business pursuing. In hindsight, it was clear that he should leave such work to roughnecks better suited to its travails and vicissitudes. Born into a rich family of landed gentry, Bonnet had led a peaceful life for years, and lived with his wife in a profitable Barbadian sugar plantation.
Then, out of the blue in 1717, in some type of mid-life crisis, Bonnet came up with a bizarre solution to escape marital difficulties and boredom at home. He bought a ship, named it the Revenge, and outfitted it with cannons. Bonnet hired a crew of 70 sailors, then sailed off into the deep blue to become a pirate. As might be expected from a rich dilettante who took to piracy on a whim, Bonnet was not very good at it. He soon revealed himself an incompetent sailor and worse leader, who managed to seize only a few small prizes off the Carolinas and Virginia. The fact that Bonnet paid his crew regular and generous wages – the only pirate captain to do so – was the only thing that kept them from deposing him and electing another captain in his stead.
