| Henry Avery | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital statistics | |
| Title | Captain |
| Gender | Male |
| Status | Presumed Deceased |
| Ships | Fancy |
| Relationships | Gates (former crew mate; deceased)
Mr. McCoy (former crew mate; deceased) |
| Appearances | First Mentioned: VI. |
| Portrayed by | N/A |
Henry Avery, also Evory or Every, (baptised 23 August 1659 – after 1699), was an English pirate who operated in the Atlantic and Indian oceans in the mid-1690s. He probably used several aliases throughout his career, including Benjamin Bridgeman, and was known as Long Ben to his crewmen and associates.
Biography[]
Background[]
Avery was born in Newton Ferrers in the south west of England and likely a member of the local Every family. He served in the Royal Navy from 1689 to 1690. Following his discharge from the navy, he began slave trading along Africa's Slave Coast. In 1693, he was again employed as a mariner, this time as first mate aboard the warship Charles II. After leaving London in August 1693, the Charles II anchored in the northern Spanish harbor of Corunna. The crew grew discontented as Spain failed to deliver a letter of marque and Charles II's owners failed to pay their wages. On 7 May 1694, the restless sailors mutinied; Charles II was renamed the Fancy and Every elected as the new captain. The Fancy sailed south to the Indian Ocean, soon plundering five ships off the West African coast.
In early 1695 the Fancy had reached the Comoros Islands, where Every's crew raided a French vessel and narrowly escaped capture by three East Indiamen. The Fancy sailed north to the Arabian Sea, where a 25-ship convoy of Grand Mughal vessels was making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, including the treasure-laden Ghanjah dhow Ganj-i-sawai and its escort, the Fateh Muhammed. Joining forces with several pirate vessels, Every found himself in command of a small pirate squadron. As the pirates gave chase, the smaller vessels in the squadron gradually fell behind, and at some point Tew was killed in an engagement with a Mughal ship. Every had more success capturing the Fateh Muhammed and later overtaking the Ganj-i-sawai, snapping its mainmast in a cannonball volley. Following several hours of ferocious hand-to-hand combat on deck, the pirates emerged victorious. Although many pirates were killed, Every captured up to £600,000 in precious metals and jewels, making him the richest pirate in the world.
Avery and his crew, after a continuous manhunt by the Privy Council of England and the East India Company, fled to the Bahamas. They briefly sheltered in New Providence, making it the pirates' "home". They bribed the colonial governor to ignore their crimes, beginning the use of Nassau as a base by pirates.
After adopting aliases, the crew broke company, most choosing to sail home to the British Isles and the rest remaining in the British West Indies or taking to the North American colonies. Twenty-four of the pirates were eventually captured, and six were tried, convicted, and hanged in London in November 1696. Yet Avery eluded capture, vanishing from all records in 1696; his whereabouts and activities after this period are unknown. Unconfirmed accounts state he may have changed his name and retired, quietly living out the rest of his life in either Britain or an unidentified tropical island, dying sometime after 1696.
At some point, Avery and his crew discovered Skeleton Island. The Spanish had been using it to hold illegitimate transactions for decades. Avery and his crew of 44 sailed inland, planning on lying in wait for the Spanish. As they moved up the inlet, they found a Spanish ship, but not the one they'd be hunting. This ancient ship's captain's log said that she'd set sail from Havana in 1636, 31 men aboard. Avery found the remains of all 31, slaughtered, with evidence that many of them had been dismembered while still alive. All the bodies were found still on the ship, inside the hold which was locked from the inside. The crew ate each other alive. Avery claimed to have read the captain's log, which said that the crew refused to go inland and search for food or fresh water. He said it was written that the first men in had returned, reporting sounds coming from the forest, which sounded like the voice of God, warning them to stay away. It is unclear how much of this story is actually true[1].
Season One[]
While discussing ways to breach the bunker of the Andromache, Gates comes up with the idea to have four men dangle on ropes and cut into the hull with axes and augers and then throw charges into the hole. Gates mentioned that he saw Avery try it once. An incredulous Logan then asks if it worked, and Gates repeats that he saw it tried[2].
When Max returns to the Inn, Idelle remarks that all the other girls are wondering how Max got the last eight members of Charles Vane's crew to disappear. Max answers that they left for Port Royal, and Idelle sarcastically replies that she is Henry Avery[3].
Gates and Flint reminisce about an old crew mate of theirs named Cregg. Gates remarks that Cregg sailed with him as a child under Avery. Cregg was Gates' first bunkmate, and he later joined the Walrus crew with Gates before he was killed in action[4].
Season Two[]
In a flashback to 1705, Thomas Hamilton and Lieutenant James McGraw work on reforming Nassau. Hamilton says that the problem started with Avery, who sailed into Nassau, bribed the governor to look past his sins, and set up camp on the beach[5].
Season Three[]
When Edward Teach asks Jack Rackham why he is so determined to defend Nassau, Rackham answers because Avery set up camp there and said "this is a place for free men."[6]
Teach later mentions to Flint that he sailed with Henry Avery, Sam Bellamy and Benjamin Hornigold and tells Flint that he always knew what Nassau was, while Flint did not[7].
Jack Rackham tells Woodes Rogers that he heard Avery's name as a boy, and was determined to have his name spoken with the same sense of awe. He then remarks that it's going to happen differently than he thought given his current circumstances[8].
Billy Bones, in order to successfully start a resistance movement in Nassau following the execution of Charles Vane, writes a Black Spot letter to Captain Throckmorton. It is placed at the foot of his bed while he sleeps. It says that they offer to the first pirate to surrender to Woodes Rogers the first chance to repent, demanding the removal of Vane's body from the gibbet in the square by night fall. Throckmorton shows the letter to Max who has him bring it to the attention of Eleanor Guthrie and Mr. Soames. Soames asks what it is and Eleanor explains the Black Spot's history, calling it an "old wives tale." Throckmorton dismisses it, saying he knew men who sailed with Avery it is was nonsense then and now and Soames agrees. Max and Eleanor are more wary of the note and Eleanor demands to have the body removed in three days[9].
Season Four[]
Woodes Rogers finds Henry Avery's Journals in Flint's cellar in the Barlow Estate. They were Gates' most prized possession and he'd given them to Flint for safekeeping. Rogers and Billy Bones use the journal to find Skeleton Island, where they intend to hold the transaction where they exchange Madi for the cache of Urca de Lima gems.
To find Skeleton Island so they can kill Flint and fulfill their deal with Marion Guthrie, Jack Rackham and Featherstone use Mr. McCoy, for he is the last man on New Providence Island who sailed with Avery.
Flint tells Dooley the tale of Skeleton Island, and Avery having been the first Englishman to set foot on it. When he concludes, Flint tells him that it's an open question how much of the story was invented, but that it was enormously effective in creating a story- an image of Skeleton Island as a dark and mysterious place[1].
Quotes[]
"They say it started with a man named Henry Avery. Sailed into the port of Nassau, bribed the colonial governor to look past his sins, encamped his crew upon the beach, and thus began the pirate issue on New Providence Island." - Lord Thomas Hamilton to James McGraw in IX.
Appearances[]
- VI. (First mentioned)
- VII. (Mentioned only)
- VIII. (Mentioned only)
- IX. (Mentioned only)
- XX. (Mentioned only)
- XXIV. (Mentioned only)
- XXXVI. (Mentioned only)
- XXXVII. (Mentioned only)
