Thomas Vaughan (pirate)

For other people named Thomas Vaughan, see Thomas Vaughan.

Thomas Vaughan (died 1696) was an Irish pirate and privateer who sailed for France during the Nine Years’ War. His trial was notable as a test of English common law against admiralty law.

History

Vaughan has been a privateer as early as 1692 by raiding Protestant settlements and briefly capturing the Aran Islands.[1] His ship Loyal Clencarty, was captured in July 1695 but escaped the following month, before he could be tried.[2] He was recaptured in Hamburg in early 1696, escaped again and was recaptured and sent to England for trial that June.[1]

English authorities wanted to try Vaughan for piracy by either ignoring his French privateering commission or linking him to ships stolen before he had joined the French. They were warned that English captives in France could face the same fate if Vaughan were tried as a pirate.[1] English subjects were forbidden from serving foreign rulers against England, so he was accused of treason instead. The trial was conducted under common law but before Admiralty judges.[3] Lord Chief Justice Holt remarked, “Acting by Vertue of a Commission from the French King, will excuse them from being Pyrates, tho not from being Traitors to their own State.”[4] Vaughan argued that he was born in Martinique and was thus a French subject, but several witnesses confirmed his Irish citizenship.[5]

He was tried in November 1696 with two of his men and was soon executed.[6] Their trials were conducted the same day as the piracy trial of several Henry Every's crew sailors. Vaughan's counsel, William Oldys, was also present for the piracy trials of John Golden and William Kidd. Golden's trial was similar, and he was convicted of treason, not piracy though his commission had come from the deposed James II, instead of from Louis XIV, as had Vaughan's.[7]

See also

  • Jacobitism, the movement to return James II to the throne of England

References

  1. ^ a b c Finnegan, Oliver John (1724). Pirates in the 'Age of Projects', 1688-1707. Cambridge: University of Cambridge. doi:10.17863/CAM.40708. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  2. ^ Baer, Joel (2007). British Piracy in the Golden Age: History and Interpretation 1660-1730 (Vol.4 ed.). London: PICKERING & CHATTO. pp. 85–86. ISBN 978-1851968459.
  3. ^ Rubin, Alfred P. (1988). The law of piracy. Newport RI: Naval War College Press. pp. 76–78. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  4. ^ The tryal and condemnation of Capt. Thomas Vaughan for high treason in adhering to the French-king and for endeavouring the destruction of His Majesties ships in the Nore who upon full evidence was found guilty at the Sessions-House in the Old-Baily, on the 6th of Novemb. 1696 : with all the learned arguments of the King's and prisoners council, both of. London: John Everingham. 1697. p. 17. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  5. ^ Craze, Sarah (November 2016). "Prosecuting privateers for piracy: How piracy law transitioned from treason to a crime against property". International Journal of Maritime History. 28 (4): 654–670. doi:10.1177/0843871416663987. ISSN 0843-8714. S2CID 159998526. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  6. ^ "The trial of Captain Thomas Vaughan, at the Old-Bailey, for High-Treason on the high seas". A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors. 13 (393, column 485). 1812.
  7. ^ Baer, Joel (2007). British Piracy in the Golden Age: History and Interpretation 1660-1730 (Vol.2 ed.). London: PICKERING & CHATTO. pp. 103–104. ISBN 978-1851968459.

Further reading