paul williams/paul snelgrave williams?

Back in October 1716, Samuel Bellamy and Oliver La Bouche were sailing around the Isle of Saba, when they took 2 ship`s. Cpt Richard`s "Sultan" and Cpt Toser ship?

They dismist Cpt Tosers and made a man o war out of the sultan. Which Bellamy took command of, and a one Paul Williams became master of Bellamy`s old sloop.

All three sailed on to Isle of Saba taking on route the "St Michael" then onto Isle Blanco at the end of Dec 1716, staying til 9th Jan 1717. At which point La Bouche parts company with the others.

As the Bellamy story has already been covered by the taking of the "wydah" I wish to ask what ever happened to Paul Wiliams? Did he perish? Or did he loiter about america for a year, eventually turning up at sierra leone in March/ April 1719 under a new guise.

I have some confusion as to who this Cpt Moody/ Paul Snelgrave is being reported as being up that way when Howell Davis and La Bouche arrive at Sierra Leone river. It has been said that paul snelgrave was also known as williams.

If so then this pirate was reported as being seen in Charleston in oct 1718 , by a correspondant of cocklyn.

In essence i am asking was Paul Snelgrave also Cpt Moody in 1719 and Paul Williams in 1716/1717?

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Hi Arfieboy,

thanks, i was basically trying to see if this idea held some weight, ideally from articles, or other credible sources from that era , to see if it is correct or just a nonsense thought.
Considering the amount of wealth of knowledge here on this site,i had hoped some viewers may have random little pieces floating about possibly about this guy via samuel bellamy.With that in mind a potential build up of him may emerge or is it just a dead end idea.

wuzneme

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Names tend to differ depending on who has written it down. Woodward seem to refer to him as Paulsgrave Williams.

I don't have an answer to your question, but here are my notes regarding him:


Paulsgrave Williams

Born on Rohde Island. His father died when he was 11 and his mother then moved to Block island, which was a center for smugglers and black market. [1]

1715 Williams and Sam Bellamy sailed to Florida in a small boat looking for treasure in ship wrecks. But with no luck, and they instead began to plunder ships. [1]

1716 Mar, Williams and Bellamy had a gang of 50 men [1]

1717, The crew had grown to 250 men (where 25 were former slaves), with the flag-ship Whydah of 28 guns. [1]

Williams later commanded the Marianne, a well-armed former French sloop. His crew was of 30 Brits, 5 French, 5 Africans, 1 Indian, all equal members. [1]

1717 Mar, Williams and Bellamy became separated in fog. Williams sailed to Block Island, and stayed for some days. He then sailed to Damariscove, where he and Bellamy were supposed to meet up on May 20 and waited two weeks. Bellamy was however dead. Williams went to Nassau. [1]

1718 Feb, Williams was still in Nassau, (report from Vincent Pearse of HMS Phoenix) [1]

1720 Apr, He was in Sierra Leone serving as an officer at La Buse’s ship[1]

Williams and a Dutch captain Pro, were captured by an English ship. They both escaped and ran a small plantation at Methulage, Madagascar.  [2]

Williams was Levasseur’s quartermaster. [?]


[1] – Republic of pirates, Woodward
[2] - The Pirates' Who's Who. Giving Particulars of the Lives & Deaths of.. - Philip Gosse



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I see your dilema after reading a bit on Williams. What a confuzing mess. Having been out of the game for a bit this was good fun digging into.

As to Snelgrave being Moody I can find no trace as yet. As to Palgrave Williams being William Snelgrave I have doubts. When Howell Davis and Le Bouche capture Snelgrave in 1719, if he was Palgrave Williams the men should have known one another from earlier joint efforts.

Now it could be that Snelgrave could have been hiding his identity at first (assuming he was also Palgrave) since he was spared by them (after being shot and cut) but why would he have tried to fight? He could have been trying to stay legit I suppose or perhaps didn't recognize them but I think that's unlikely. Unless something convincing turns up in my opinion they seem two different men.

I did read one snippet on a geneology site claiming Palgrave Williams was hanged in 1728 for piracy but I cannot substantiate it as yet. Since Snelgrave was around to at least 1734 that would be a problem if they were the same man.   

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