Bartholmew Roberts (Black Bart)

Bartholmew Roberts (Black Bart) 12” X 18”   These are high quality pirate flags. They are Outdoor quality- screen printed.  The flags listed here are double sided (two pieces of nylon) and silk screened on both sides.   Bartholomew Roberts (born John Roberts on May 17, 1682 – died February 10, 1722) was a Welsh pirate who raided shipping off the Americas and West Africa between 1719 and 1722. He was the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy, capturing far more ships than some of the best-known pirates of this era such as Blackbeard or Captain Kidd.[1] He is estimated to have captured over 470 vessels.[2] He is also known as Black Bart (Welsh: Barti Ddu), but this name was never used in his lifetime. Roberts was born in 1682 in the village of Casnewydd-Bach,[4] (Little Newcastle), between Fishguard and Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales. His name was originally John Roberts, and his father is thought to have been George Roberts.[5] It is unknown why he changed his name from John to Bartholomew,[6] but pirates often adopted aliases, and he may have chosen that name after the well-known buccaneer Bartholomew Sharp.[7] He apparently went to sea at the age of 13 in 1695 but there is no further record of him until 1718, when he was mate of a Barbados sloop.[8] In 1719 he was third mate aboard the slave ship Princess of London, under Captain Abraham Plumb. In early June that year the Princess was anchored at Anomabu, then spelled Annamaboa, which is situated along the Gold Coast of West Africa (present-day Ghana), when she was captured by pirates. The pirates were in two ships, the Royal Rover and the Royal James, and were led by captain Howell Davis. Davis, like Roberts, was a Welshman, originally from Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire. Several of the crew of the Princess of London were forced to join the pirates, including Roberts. Davis quickly discovered Roberts' abilities as a navigator and took to consulting him.[9] He was also able to confide to Roberts information in Welsh which kept it hidden to the rest of the crew