John Golden (pirate)

His trial was important in establishing Admiralty law, differentiating between privateers and pirates, and ending the naval ambitions of the deposed James II.

John Golden was born in Dublin circa 1646, he was the nephew of James Walsh, a Jacobite and Captain in the French navy.

Golden moved with his Uncle to Port Louis, France when he was 10 years old as the Walsh family had been expelled from Ireland for siding with the Irish Catholic Confederaction in the War of Three Kingdoms.

[2] En route to France they were recaptured by the English vessel Prince of Orange, then returned to England and imprisoned at Marshalsea to await trial.

[5] Other officials disagreed and removed Oldys, replacing him with Fisher Littleton, who agreed to prosecute some of the prisoners as pirates but tried Golden and a few supporters for treason instead.