Upon his father's death, Snelgrave soon became a ship captain making numerous voyages including transport of 367 slaves to Virginia in 1720.
Snelgrave and his crew were captured by pirates on 1 April 1719, while their vessel was anchored in the mouth of the Sierra Leone River in West Africa.
[1] The 45 sailors on board were taken by surprise when a small pirate band led by Thomas Cocklyn pulled alongside and scaled the side of their ship.
"[1] Some of the crew eventually intervened to beg that the pirates not kill their captain, upon which the badly injured Snelgrave was dragged before Cocklyn who told him his wounds were simply "the fortunes of war."
Additional pirate vessels arrived over the course of the day, led by captains Howell Davis and Olivier Levasseur.