| Nicholas Trott | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital statistics | |
| Title | Governor of New Providence Island |
| Gender | Male |
| Status | Presumed deceased |
| Ships | None |
| Relationships | Henry Avery (colleague) |
| Appearances | Mentioned in: IX. |
| Portrayed by | N/A |
Sir Nicholas Trott was the Governor of New Providence Island, serving between 1694 and 1697. He was known for accepting bribes from Henry Avery, thus beginning the pirate presence in Nassau.
Biography[]
Background[]
Sir Nicholas Trott was appointed the Governor of New Providence Island in 1694. He renamed the capital city Nassau, in honor of William of Orange. He also worked hard to formally lay out the town after it had been destroyed in 1684 by a combined Franco-Spanish raid. Trott also built Fort Nassau in order to defend the island from future attacks. He also had a reputation for allowing and even inviting the presence of privateers to bolster the island's defenses.
In 1696, the pirate Captain Henry Avery arrived at the island under an assumed name. They claimed to be unlicensed traders and offered Trott a bribe of £860 (nearly three times his salary) and the use of their ship if he allowed them ashore without reporting them. Despite knowing that they were pirates, he decided to let them stay, hoping to use their numbers and ship to help defend the sparsely populated town in case of attack. Eventually, Trott was informed of the warrant out for Avery's arrest, and he alerted the authorities of Avery's presence in Nassau, but not before tipping Avery off, thus allowing him to flee. After stripping everything of value, Trott had Avery's ship run aground in order to destroy any evidence of wrongdoing.
Trott was eventually removed as governor due to his actions. However, he lived out his days a wealthy man due to the accumulated bribes from Avery's crew. His friendly actions towards pirates and privateers led to Nassau becoming a pirate haven.
Season Two[]
In a flashback to 1705, Lord Thomas Hamilton and Lieutenant James McGraw meet in order to discuss a plan to end the pirate problem in the Bahamas and restore commerce to the area. Hamilton mentions that the pirate problem began when Henry Avery sailed into the port of Nassau, bribed Trott to ignore his crimes and set up camp on the beach.
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."
- Thomas Hamilton in IX.
Trivia[]
- Trott's nephew, also named Nicholas Trott (a cause of occasional confusion) was famously the judge who sentenced Stede Bonnet to death.
- The dates provided are from Wikipedia. It is unclear if this timeline remains true with the Black Sails timeline., which often differs from actual history.