The date and location of the birth of John Phillips and early years has been lost to history and with a short carrier in piracy that last less than a year here are a few details. His first mention of being part of a crew that was captured by Thomas Anstis in 1721 until he later commandeered his own vessel. After he became part of the crew of Anstis in a mission in 1722 they seized a ship in Tobago but were soon thwarted when a warship under the flag of Britain arrived. They barely escaped into the woods but when they tried to find the ship it appeared that Anstis left them to fend for themselves. He made the choice for a short period to abandon piracy and with his followers returned to England. This proved to be a flawed decision as some of his former crewmates were caught and jailed in which he was able to again escape and voyage to Newfoundland.

With thoughts of again to take up the mantle of plunder he purloined a ship with a few remaining cohorts and renamed it Revenge in 1723. In the same year this crew secured 2 more vessels and continued his mission of plunder but in a feeling of remorse left another ship that belonged to the original owner of Revenge slip away. In a decision by part of his crew to steal one of the ships from him it the battle for control for a mutiny festered by those Phillips forced into piracy was wounded and lost his leg and fatal head injury. The crew later beheaded him and hung it from the ship and later sent it to Boston in a pickle barrel. His reign only lasted a short period but captured more than 30 ships and was one of a few pirates that believed in the pirate code.


• Awesome Ocean
• Silly History
• Golden Age of Piracy
• Historic Ipswich
• Musee
• Pascal Bonenfant
• Piracy in Mediterranean
• Prezi
• Stronghold Nation
• The History of Maritime Piracy