| Williamson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital statistics | |
| Title | Pirate
Helmsman |
| Gender | Male |
| Status | Alive |
| Ships | Walrus |
| Relationships | James Flint (captain)
John Silver (quartermaster) |
| Appearances | First: I. (uncredited)
Last: XXXVII. (uncredited) |
| Portrayed by | Robert Bingham |
Mr. Williamson is a pirate who served aboard the Walrus and the Spanish Man O' War under Captain Flint. After the death of the previous one, he becomes the helmsman for the Walrus.
Biography[]
Season One[]
Williamson participates in the boarding of Parrish’s Ship, which attempts to resist the Walrus. The pirates shoot down one of her masts and the merchant sailors attempt to fight back but ultimately surrender. Afterwards, Singleton gives a speech to the captured merchant crew in an attempt to gain recruits loyal to him in his upcoming bid for the captaincy of the Walrus. However, Gates, the quartermaster, only accepts John Silver, the cook. Soon, the pirates are forced to flee when the HMS Scarborough, a Royal Navy man o’ war, is spotted nearby. After they return to Nassau, Singleton formally challenges Flint to a vote. Flint responds by explaining that their hauls have been poor recently because he has been tracking a massive prize, but Singleton stole the page from Parrish’s log necessary to track it, and then stoked the crew’s resentment towards Flint to cover his tracks. Singleton refuses a trial judged by Gates, and opts to duel Flint instead. Flint is almost killed several times, but ultimately beats Singleton to death. Afterwards, he reveals to his crew that they have been tracking the Urca de Lima, the largest Spanish treasure galleon in the New World, to the delight of his crew[1].
Afterwards, the crew goes ashore to celebrate at the Inn and the Tavern. At night, the crew parties on the beach[2]. The next morning, Williamson passes Randall peeling potatoes after procuring a loaf of bread. That night, after Eleanor Guthrie discovers that Max had been kidnapped and raped by the Ranger Crew, she orders them to depose Charles Vane as captain and pledge their ship and services to Captain Flint for the Urca voyage. All but a handful of men abandon Vane[3].
The next day, Billy, the boatswain, is formally elected quartermaster to replace Gates, who is being placed in charge of the Ranger. Billy then brings up the issue of careening. Flint wants them to careen the ship at a spot he found on the island, but De Groot, the Ship's Master, thinks that it is unsuitable and could lead to catastrophe. Flint counters that the delay could mean they miss their window to capture the Urca. The crew puts it to a vote and they vote overwhelmingly in favor of Flint, with Morley and De Groot dissenting. The crew careens the ship with seeming speed and success, however, when the wind starts blowing the ship becomes unstable and they are forced to cut the ropes holding the ship down. During the chaos, Randall becomes pinned beneath the ship after trying to rescue his cat. Flint and Morley are forced to cut off his leg to save him, but Morley is caught as the ship rolls over and is crushed to death. That night, after Captain Dyfed Bryson of the Andromache flees Nassau instead of handing over his 12 pounder cannons, Flint leads the Walrus in pursuit[4].
After a lengthy chase, they finally catch up to the Andromache. Williamson dons his armor while Billy gathers the crew and informs them of the battle plan. They will sail straight at the Andromache when she turns to attack, and Beauclerc, their sharpshooter, will shoot the Andromache’s helmsman, allowing the current to push the Andromache alongside the Walrus, allowing them to board. The Andromache then begins to turn port to attack them, as expected. Bryson and his men fire several volleys from their cannons at the pirates before Beauclerc kills their helmsmen, causing the ship to drift. Williamson waits in the well deck with the rest of the boarding party while they duck down to avoid the musket fire from Bryson’s men. Billy then leads the men in binding the ships together with grappling hooks and over the side of the Andromache. A fierce battle ensues, but ultimately the pirates prevail. Bryson retreats with 20 of his men into a reinforced bunker deep belowdecks. He sends a Slave from the hold up to deliver a message to Flint. When the Slave arrives on the main deck, Williamson watches as he tells them that the Scarborough is on its way, Bryson having informed Captain Hume of their route. Sure enough, the Scarborough is spotted on the horizon, and the Slave charges Flint with a grenade, but is killed by Billy before he can do any harm[5].
The crew devises a plan to cover Lars in soot and send him to the lower deck with the bunker, where he is to approach the bunker with a smoke bomb. Upon shoving the grenade into the murder hole, the vanguard would then try and breach the door while Bryson’s crew is choking on the smoke. Lars is able to get close to the bunker but is shot by Hayes. Gates then comes up with the idea to have four men dangle on ropes and breach the bunker from the side of the hull in order to get explosive charges through the hole to cause a diversion. When no one volunteers, Flint orders Logan, Paxton, Bobby and Dooley to do it and Logan dissents. Gates then punches Logan, reminding the crew that the captain’s orders are law when in battle. The crew then notices a rag sticking out through a hole and realize that there are slaves in the hold, and lower a tool into the hold to help the slaves break their chains and begin hacking at the deck with axes to cover up the sound of breaking chains. With the help of the slaves, they are able to kill Bryson’s crew and move most of the cannons onto the Walrus. However, they are forced to flee when an explosive trap set by Bryson is set off by accident, revealing their location to the Scarborough. During their escape, the ship is hit by shots from the Scarborough’s cannons, knocking Billy overboard[6].
After returning to Nassau, the crew elects Dufresne as quartermaster in Billy’s stead, shaving his head and giving him a shark’s mouth tattoo. After restocking on supplies, the crew then sets sail for Florida to hunt the Urca.[7]
The crew sails through a hurricane to get to Florida. When they arrive at Division Bay, Captain Flint gives a speech to the assembled crew. Flint informs the crew that they will sail towards the Urca under Spanish colors, but it will likely only buy them a few hundred yards before the galleon opened fire. He warns the crew that it will be the fight of their lives, but on the other side lies paradise. However, no ship is to be found in the bay. Soon, a Spanish Man O' War to the south. Flint devises a plan to have the anchored Walrus pose as a Spanish merchant ship attacked by the Ranger, which will sail away, luring the warship between the two ships and allowing the pirates to hammer her at both bow and stern. To that end, he orders the Ranger signaled to fire two shots over the bow while sailing away flying the Black and he orders De Groot to drop anchor. Gates then drags Flint into his cabin to talk further.
When Flint exits, he tells the crew that Gates died of a heart attack before ordering Logan to signal Thompson aboard the Ranger that he is in command and to turn hard to port and fire on the Spanish when the Walrus does. When the warship arrives, most of the crew members hide in the gun deck, while Silver communicates with the Spanish Officer. Under Flint's instructions, Silver says that they are the Cazadora, a tobacco ship from St. Augustine. Satisfied with this explanation, the warship pursues the Ranger. Before they can fire on the warship, Dufresne launches his mutiny and reveals Flint's crimes to the crew. Dufresne gives Logan a letter Gates wrote detailing the captain's misdeeds. Logan then acknowledges that the letter matches Gates' handwriting. Flint attempts to fire a cannon himself, but is shot in the shoulder by Dufresne. Silver then uses the distraction to fire a cannon at the Man O' War, which returns fire. Dufresne then has the gun crews fire. Williamson rushes to the gunwales armed with his musket and watches the cannon battle. However, the Spanish Man O' War successfully turns its broadsides on the pirate ships, pummeling them with cannon-fire. Over half the Walrus crew is killed and the Ranger goes down with all hands. The survivors of the Walrus are able to beach the ship on the shores of Florida. However, it is revealed that the Urca was wrecked in the hurricane on a nearby beach, and the Spanish Man O’ War is guarding it[8].
Season Two[]
Williamson survives the disastrous battle with the Spanish Man O’ War. He reacts with anger to Flint’s plan to take the warship for themselves, but Dufresne persuades the crew to listen. Flint’s plan entails himself and another man swimming to the lightly held ship, and eliminating the mainmast watch to signal the rest of the pirates to board. Silver volunteers to be the second man and the crew agrees to the plan. Flint and Silver are captured, but they were able to hoist the signal in time and the rest of the crew arrives and takes the ship[9].
As the crew sails back to Nassau in the Man O’ War, they spot a nearby English Merchant Ship. Dufresne asks the crew if they’re up for some hunting, and the Crewman and the rest of the crew yell in assent. They hail the merchantman and raise the Black, and their quarry surrenders. Dufresne leads the vanguard aboard while the Crewman remains on the Man O’ War with the rest of the crew. However, the Merchant Captain realizes Dufresne isn’t Flint and orders his men to attack the pirates. The vanguard is overwhelmed and forced to retreat. Dufresne is paralyzed with indecision, so Flint steps up and orders the crew to sink the merchant vessel, warning that if they escape no one will ever surrender to the Walrus Crew’s flag again. The crew follows his orders, sinking the merchant ship. That night, Flint is reelected captain[10].
As they approach New Providence, Silver gives an Account of Goings-On, where the crew jeers at Joji for masturbating on the figurehead. He then informs them that Flint and Dufresne have chosen a spot northwest of Hog Island for their anchorage, well away from the bay. Dooley objects to the lack of vote and voices his displeasure with Flint once again skirting the rules and his desire to go home. Silver explains that Flint and Dufresne thought it obvious that they would have to go ashore and warn Captain Hornigold in Fort Nassau, whose job is to defend the bay from Spanish warships, that they would be sailing one into the bay. Dooley remains angry, but is calmed down by Logan. That night, Flint gives a speech to the crew where he announces that they are partnering with Captain Hornigold and his crew in order to oust Charles Vane and his men from the fort, saying that they pose a danger to them and would certainly extort the gold from them if they succeed in taking it[11].
After bombarding the walls of the fort until a sizable breach is made, the men move ashore and prepare for the final assault. The men are ordered to wait on the beach while Flint deals with business of his own in town. Williamson has Dooley fix his pistol before Billy Bones arrives. Williamson and the rest of the crew happily greet him, having thought him dead after the battle with the Andromache and the Scarborough. They listen to him talk about his captivity with the Royal Navy on Harbour Island, but Dufresne tells Billy that they all want to know if Flint caused Billy to fall overboard.
When Flint returns, he tells them that the fight is being called off. Hornigold decides to call an election for captaincy over the combined crew.
That night, Hornigold tells the crew that Flint cannot be trusted, for he has betrayed and lied countless times. Hornigold says that he will lead them in retaking the fort and then going after the gold. However, shortly after Hornigold’s speech, the crew receives the news that the Spanish have retaken the gold. John Silver then speaks in favor of Flint, telling the men that since the gold is gone, Flint is the only one offering them a path towards a sustainable future: reconciliation with England. Williamson is one of over 70 men who vote in favor of Flint, out of the total 107 man crew.
The crew travels to Charles Town in order to deliver Abigail Ashe to her father, Lord Peter Ashe, the Governor of Carolina, so he will help them reconcile Nassau with the British Empire. While Flint and Miranda Barlow go ashore to deliver Abigail, Charles Vane assaults the ship, killing many of the crew and capturing at least 50, Williamson included. Vane is prevented from sailing off with the ship when Silver discreetly cuts the forestay before being captured, delaying Vane’s departure.
After learning of Flint’s arrest, Vane leads half his men on a mission into the city to rescue him. The remaining half under the command of Vane’s quartermaster, Jenks, who decides to try and sail away when Vane’s contingent begin their assault. Jenks tries to torture Silver for the names of more men so he can successfully sail the ship, but the Walrus crew rises up and retakes the ship, killing or subduing their captors.
Season Three[]
Williamson continues to serve under Flint as part of the crew of the Walrus. After sacking Hazzard’s colony, the crew finds Captain Hallendale’s ship, the Straight Arrow, seemingly abandoned. Upon quartermaster John Silver’s insistence, they stop to investigate. While Flint and the vanguard investigate, Silver spots the Orion, a British privateer ship sailing for them. They cut themselves loose and sail away, but the British ship has the wind and catches up to them. They are surprised to hear Captain Benjamin Hornigold promise them Royal Pardons in exchange for their surrender. While they ponder this, Flint gives an impassioned speech, telling the crew not to surrender to something weak that fears them. They cannot run away, nor can they fight due to Hornigold’s superior position, so Flint directs them into a storm that De Groot dubs “a ship killer.” In the storm, the previous helmsman apparently dies in the storm or from Hornigold’s cannon fire, so Williamson takes his place. The ship barely makes it through, with Flint having to cut away the tops of the main and foremast because the sails couldn’t be raised. Despite surviving the storm, the ship is becalmed in the Sargasso Sea with little food or water.
The crew starves for three weeks in the Doldrums. A slow trickle of food is brought in by Dooley’s eel traps, but not nearly enough. During this time, Palmer and Oates, who had the watch over the food supply, are accuse each other of stealing food after a full day’s rations are found missing. Silver says the punishment for such a crime is severe, and requests that the guilty party admit his crime, to repair in some way his relationship with the rest of the crew. Williamson watches as both parties insist they are innocent and continue to accuse the other. While Silver thinks on what to do, Flint walks up and shoots both Palmer. Williamson and the rest of the crew watch in shock as Flint reloads his pistol and executes Oates. The crew is saved when Flint and Silver harpoon several sharks that provide the crew with fresh food.
Shortly thereafter, the wind returns, and the crew sails to what they believe to be an uninhabited island. However, they are captured by a large group of heavily armed Maroons, who take them to their secret city deep in the jungle. The Maroon Queen asks Silver how they got to the island, and he tells her the story of Hornigold and the storm. She chooses one to be tortured to ascertain the truth of Silver’s story. The pirates are then led into cages.
After Mr. Scott, the Maroon King, returns to the camp slowly dying of a gunshot wound to his gut, Flint is eventually able to convince the Maroon Queen to ally with them to fight colonial rule in the New World, and to free the slaves held in bondage. The Walrus crew then travels to Ocracoke Island, where Teach, Vane and the rest of the pirate fleet are residing. Williamson continues to serve as the helmsman. When they arrive, Williamson lands on the shores with most of the Walrus crew and watches Flint’s duel with Blackbeard. He stands in the back, holding a blunderbuss. Flint is almost killed, but is saved at the last minute by Charles Vane. The crew returns to the Maroon Island, and they plan to retrieve Jack Rackham and the Urca cache from the governor and lure him to committing all his forces to a battle on the island.
The Walrus travels back to Nassau, and Silver leads the vanguard to give a speech proclaiming Flint’s return while Madi and her men retrieve her father’s weapons stockpile from Eme. The Walrus then travels to the eastern shore to wait for recruits. However, Woodes Rogers is waiting for them, and Flint goes ashore to parley with him.
The Walrus then sails below the horizon and furls her sails to give the appearance of having sailed away from Nassau. Meanwhile, Flint, Billy and Vane lead a squad of men to rescue Jack Rackham and take the Urca cache of gems from Rogers. However, their hiding spot is found by Benjamin Hornigold, and they are forced to flee shortly after Rackham and Flint return. Billy, Wayne and Ben Gunn remain behind to try and free Vane, who had been captured by the governor’s forces. As they sail back to the Maroon Island, Williamson steers while Flint and Silver decide to execute a daring maneuver to drive Hornigold away. Once the ship is sailing in water at a depth of five fathoms, Flint orders Williamson to steer hard to port, and then hard to starboard, which Williamson complies. The Walrus is then quickly turned perpendicular to the approach of the Orion. Hornigold breaks off his approach rather than sail right at the Walrus’ broadside. He then decides to retreat to Nassau after the Maroon army emerges on the beach. The pirates then go ashore to the camp.
Williamson captured by Redcoats.
During the Battle of the Maroon Island, Williamson mans the defenses on the beach with the rest of the pirates and Maroons. Rogers’ fleet fires on them using their cannons before deploying the ground forces in longboats. The pirates and Maroons are initially able to hold them back as they exchange volleys of musket fire, but the Redcoats bring their mortars to bear on them. Soon, Flint calls for a retreat, Williamson is captured by the Redcoats, along with about a dozen other men. Dobbs approaches the British camp. Having been tasked with killing Benjamin Hornigold, who is leading the ground forces. However, he betrays the pirates, offering to lead the British forces safely through the jungle to the Maroon Camp. To prove his loyalty, he is asked to kill a Pirate Prisoner. Williamson watches as Dobbs executes his former brother in arms. Dobbs’ betrayal is revealed to have been a ruse, and when he leads Hornigold and his men to the camp, an ambush is launched and the British forces are routed. Williamson and the rest of the prisoners are freed after the British retreat.
Season Four[]
Williamson continues to serve as helmsman for the Walrus when the Pirate Fleet attempts to invade Nassau. However, the Walrus, along with the Defiant and the Eagle, are grounded on scuttled ships in the bay. Rogers’ soldiers in Fort Nassau then open fire on the pirates, who are powerless to fight back. Eventually, Flint gives the call to abandon ship.
Williamson makes it into a longboat with Flint and Madi. However, while John Silver is climbing down a rope ladder, his prosthetic leg becomes tangled in it. As he struggles to get free, a cannonball hits near him, and his ladder is dragged into the ocean by a swivel gun. As Flint prepares to swim in and rescue Silver, the pirates are set upon by one of Rogers’ sloops, and forced to retreat to the fallback position on the eastern shore.
Williamson survives the battle at the Underhill Estate, which leads to infighting between Flint and Billy and the men loyal to them. When the New Providence Militia arrives, Flint leads his men in retreating.
Flint and Silver lead their men in assaulting Rogers’ forces in Nassau, led by Captain Berringer. With help from reinforcements from the citizens of Nassau rallied by Madi, and the timely arrival of Billy Bones and his men, the British forces are routed, but Eleanor succeeds in retreating to Fort Nassau with several dozen Redcoats.
Williamson survives the Rogers-backed Spanish invasion of Nassau, and retreats aboard the Walrus, which he steers to the Maroon Island, When they arrive, they find that dozens of pirate crews and Maroon contingents have rallied to join Flint’s war[12].
Williamson continues to serve as helmsman when the Walrus returns to Nassau in order to rescue Madi, who had been captured by Roger's forces. Rogers demands the cache of gems in exchange for her release, but Flint refuses, knowing that it will break up the pirates' alliance with the Maroons. Instead, Flint and Silver send Kofi and half a dozen men on a reconissance mission to find out where Madi is being held. The next morning, Rogers is revealed to have sailed behind them during the night, and has captured Kofi and his men, who he displays on deck alongside Madi. Williamson stands at the helm and steers the ship towards the Eurydice, while Flint and Silver watch as Rogers begins executing Kofi and his men. Rogers stops at Madi when he sees that Silver has brought the cache of gems, which was done without Flint's knowledge. Rogers' then sails away with Williamson steering the Walrus in pursuit[13].
Williamson continues to steer as the two ships sail through a rainstorm and De Groot tries to plot the correct course to Skeleton Island. Once there, Flint and Dooley abscond with the chest, and Silver has to get Rogers to allow them until sunrise the next day while Silver sends his best men after Flint to reclaim the gems and kill him[14].
Williamson remains on the Walrus, standing ready at the helm for orders with De Groot in command. However, the ship's hold is set on fire by Rogers' men, and despite the crew's best efforts, De Groot calls them to abandon ship. As the pirates struggle to swim to shore while the ship is engulfed by flames, Rogers and his men row their boats out and begin shooting the defenseless pirates[15].
Quotes[]
“Hard to port, Mr. Williamson.”
“Aye, sir.”
- Flint and Williamson inXXVII.
“Hard to starboard if you please, Mr. Williamson.”
- Flint to Williamson in XXVII.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Williamson is portrayed by Robert Bingham, and the character is only addressed by name once and has one line of dialogue in XXVII. However, the character can be spotted in most episodes and the actor's IMDB says he was in all 38 episodes.
- Williamson is the longest surviving secondary pirate appearing in the first and last episode, surviving at the final battle. He is also one of secondary pirates to survive at the end of the series.