Jonathan Barnet

As part of the ongoing series of articles that introduces the real life characters of Pirate Queens we now meet one of the most feared types among the British navy, Captain Jonathan Barnet.

Captain Barnet was one of the King's pirate hunters, and not only that but he was one of the most successful of them as well.  Captain of the British Man-o-War named the Albion (not to be confused with the later christened HMS Albion), Barnet was fiercely loyal to King and Country.  Not only was he a sailor and a pirate hunter, but he was a patriot as well.  And that made him very dangerous to his prey.  He could not be bought, bribed, or diverted from his cause.

A British Man-o-War was a powerful warship that was powered by sail and armed with 124 canons, 4 at the bow, 4 at the stern, and 56 at each broadside, this was typical of the type of ship that the Albion was.

Jonathan Barnet was relentless in his duty and would not stop until his prey was either brought in for trial and punishment or killed at sea.  This is not to say that Captain Barnet was a bloodthirsty killer of pirates, but he was not shy about doing what needed to be done to get his job done either.

Towards the end of the Golden Age of Piracy, when John Rackham and a handful of other pirate captains were left in the Bahamas, King George wanted a definitive end to the pirate nuisance and sent Captain Barnet to finish cleaning things up.  Barnet's reputation preceded him, so his mere presence there was enough to cause some of the established pirate captains (such as Edward England) to flee the Bahamas and leave for Madagascar.

Calico Jack, however, was not one of those captains.  He and the Revenge's crew, including Anne and Mary, chose to remain in the Bahamas despite the arrival of Captain Barnet.  This of course led to their inevitable meeting.

The story of Anne and Mary, and to a lesser extent, Jack, is one that should be told.  Pirate Queens is an original play in three acts that entertained audiences at seated readings and now needs to be put on stage.  And we can do it with your help!

Please click on the link above and visit our GoFundMe page to see how you can help and how we will gladly reciprocate your generosity!  Also, visit the links below to learn more about this original work, Pirate Queens