Hendrick van Hoven

He was known as “the grand pirate of the West Indies.”[1] Van Hoven had been first mate aboard Thomas Mostyn's ship Fortune,[2] seized for piracy in 1698.

[3] All records of Hendrick van Hoven’s own piracy take place in 1699, beginning in March when he used his brigantine to take a sloop.

[3] With a wife and children in New York, he was often cited as “Hine of New York”; Governor Bellomont of New York described him as “a bloody villain, has murthered several men, and will give no quarter, they say, to Spaniards that he takes.”[3] Van Hoven captured the 22-gun ship Providence of pirate hunter William Rhett (who would go on to capture Stede Bonnet) in April 1699; Rhett made “a very generous defence, but was outdone and taken by the said Pirate.”[4] Van Hoven’s crew was a mix of Dutch, French, English, and other sailors; the English under John James (who may have been with Van Hoven since 1697)[5] staged a mutiny, seizing the Providence and marooning Van Hoven with several others a few miles from Nassau.

[3] Captured by Bahamas Governor Read Elding, Van Hoven was put on trial in October 1699 with several of his crewmates; some of his men had been executed the previous month.

[3] He protested that he had only taken Spanish ships[7] and quoted the Biblical trials of King David and Hezekiah before petitioning for a reprieve: “if it cannot be fifteen days, let it be ten; if it cannot be ten, let it be five … to help me save that dear jewel my soul.”[3] His reprieve was denied and he was hanged in Nassau.