Peter Easton

Peter Easton (born in 1570 - died in 1620?) was a Pirate beginning of the 17th century having reigned with Newfoundland of the littoral between Port Harbor Grace and Ferryland of 1611 with 1614.

Career with the service of the King

Peter Easton was English faithful to the crown; its ancestors were useful during the Croisades. The Easton family had been also distinguished against the Invincible Armada. In 1602, Peter Easton carried a letter of mark of the queen Elisabeth of England, ordered a convoy of Corsaire S English, raising the house of the kingdom of England, the Croix of saint Georges, and had the role of protecting the flotilla from English fishing off Newfoundland. Indeed, at that time, the fishing vessels were armed with small guns to defend their fish cargo against the foreign pirates and ships. Thanks to his letter of mark, Peter Easton could requisition the local fishermen with the service of the crown. He could also attack the enemy ships, flotillas and ports; he fought in particular the Spaniards.

Piracy

Easton became a pirate in 1603, after Jacques I {{er}} succeeded Elisabeth I {{Re}} on the throne of England. The new king made peace with Spain and withdrew all the letters of mark to the corsairs. This order did not arrive in Easton, which then continued its attacks on the foreign ships. It continued to undertake its activities as if nothing had changed, being unaware of the new order of the queen. Thus it passed from the stage of corsair to that of pirate.

Easton continued to attack the flotillas transporting the gold and the Spanish treasures of the the Mediterranean Caribbean and all while taking some of its plunderings the money intended for the protection of the English ships. In 1610, it foamed the Canal of Bristol-board, blocking the passage with effectiveness and letting the Western English ports preserve their power. Easton generally acted in the name of a powerful family of Killigrews of Falmouth, of Cornwall. Killigrews financed its forwardings and also touched a share of its benefit. In 1612, Easton takes ten pirate boats of the Harbor Grace . It plunders the English ships, the foreign ships and the wearing of Newfoundland, and enlisted of force of the fishermen.

During a forwarding, it plundered thirty boats with St John' S and made captive the magistrate Richard Whitbourne. It released it in the condition that Whitbourne goes to England and obtains royal forgiveness to him. The king granted his forgiveness, but during this Easton time had moved towards the Côte of Barbaresque the to badger the Spaniards.

At Newfoundland, one estimates that Easton enlisted 1500 fishermen for its flotillas, of which some voluntarily join it, but the majority were enlisted of force. Easton with continued to protect the colony from John Guy in Cupids Cove but however did not enable him to establish another colony with Newfoundland and Labrador.

At the time of one of his incursions to the the Caribbean, one says that he would have managed to open a breach at the height, considered unattackable, Fort of Moro, with Puerto Rico, which had in the past resisted the seat of the pirate Francis Drake. Easton captured the Spanish boat San Sebastien , also making control on the treasures that it transported.

Easton lined up thereafter with Villefranche in Savoy, acquiring the title of Marquis of Savoy.

Caption

The Irish princess Sheila NaGeria was captured by Easton at the time of the attack of a man-of-war Dutch. During its captivity, it fell in love with the one with lieutenants d' Easton, Gilbert Pike . They married thereafter and Gilbert left Easton to become farmer in a plantation in a place called Mosquito, now called Bristol' S Hope.

External bond

'' Dictionary off Canadian Biography Online ''

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