Woodes Rogers was born in 1679 and was the son of Woods Rogers in England where he spent most of his childhood years until they relocated to Bristol. In 1697 Rogers was tasked to be tutored by John Yeamans in the hopes of becoming a mariner with a possible reason for this was to attain a prominent member of society. After the initial period of garnering knowledge of Yeamans, he chose to wed Sarah Whetstone, daughter of Rear Admiral Sir William Whetstone and a close family acquaintance. When his father passed away at sea, he was bequeathed the family enterprises and later both he and his wife Sarah had a son and two daughters. When the opportunity arose in 1707 to sail with Captain William Dampier to combat the Spanish presence he accepted and with combined with other ships began the expedition. With the ships that were owned by his father and now armed with letters of marque they could legally plunder ships of Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession.

On the voyage to ensure the prolonged health of his crew Rogers purchased citrus fruit of limes to ward off the effects of scurvy among the men while at sea for prolonged periods. The small fleet was successful in plundering ships and even chose to lay siege to the town of Guayaquil when a pardon was granted for previous offenses considered piracy in return for hunting those that did not accept the terms Rogers accepted. He was given the position of Captain General and Governor in Chief and thereafter commenced a voyage that proved successful in encountering a ship under the control of pirate Charles Vane. Rogers became the royal governor of the Bahamas in 1717 and after exhausting the funds once available to him petitioned England for monetary support by was denied. With bills accumulating and no assistance for even local merchants, he was sentenced to debtor's prison until some took pity on his plight and paid his outstanding debts. With his health waning chose to recover in Charleston, South Carolina but instead died in 1732 never fully regaining his health both physically and mentally.


• All Thats Interesting
• Britannica
• Concerning History
• Famous People
• Golden Age of Piracy
• Pirates and Privateers
• Pirate's Cove
• The Way of the Pirates
• World History Encyclopedia