Bristol is a bustling, vibrant city with deep historical roots thanks to its link with the water. The most infamous and feared pirate of all the seas was from Bristol and if you haven’t guessed already, that pirate was Blackbeard. His name was Edward Teach and he was born in the city around 1680. Little is known about his early life but it is thought that he was most likely a sailor during Queen Anne’s War in the early 18^th century.

He was soon to settle in the Bahamas, I can certainly see the attraction, and joined forces with Captain Benjamin Hornigold in 1716. The two began a career in piracy with four ships at their disposal. When Hornigold retired and took two vessels with him, Teach decided to commandeer a French boat and renamed her Queen Anne’s Revenge. She was decked out with forty guns and became a much feared vessel.

His beard was said to have almost covered his whole face and to instill fear and awe in his enemies, he would place lit fuses under his hat and wrapped them up in his beard. He wenas rumoured to have been a man of large stature and many a victim would have surrendered merely at the sight of him approaching. Much of what the famed pirate got up to is myth and conjecture but we do know that after causing considerable trouble in South Carolina, he received a Royal pardon and settled down for a short time.

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Even though Blackbeard has become synonymous with swashbuckling, bloodthirsty pirates, it is known that he chose the use of force wisely and preferred to rely on building up his reputation as a fearsome and frightening persona. There is no actual evidence that he harmed any of his crew and seems to have commanded them with full cooperation from them. There is also no evidence that he murdered those whom he held captive.  We think if there were pirates around these days that they probably would have to have a Fire risk assessment Bristol company check their boat for any potential hazards which thanks to technology you can do through companies like keloscape.

The 17^th century rise of colonies in the America’s belonging to Britain and the rapid rise of the slave trade had put Bristol firmly on the map as a crucial international sea port. Edward Teach could almost certainly read and write which suggests that he may have been born of a wealthy, respectable family. At his peak he could have been in charge of at least 150 men over three vessels. He was once described as “such a figure that imagination cannot form an idea of a fury from hell to look more frightful”.

By 1718 he had given himself the title of Commodore and was at the height of his reign over the ocean. He was killed in the same year after a large battle with Captain Maynard of the U.S Navy. He was cornered and cut across the neck, unable to fight back, he was attacked and killed by several of Maynard’s crew. His body had been shot more than five times and cut about twenty times. His head was chopped off and displayed on the mast of Maynard’s boat so the reward could be collected.