01x05 - The Tale of William Kidd

[bunniefuu]

[Narrator]

Captain William Kidd's life

is shrouded in mystery.

A pirate hunter turned pirate,

who was put to death

professing his own innocence.

The ballad of his life,

trial and tribulations

paints a picture of an evil

and ruthless operator.

[Historian] It basically told

the story of who he was.

He basically sold his soul

to the devil

in order to be able to become

the most powerful pirate ever.

[Narrator] But the truth

tells a different story.

Kidd was commissioned

by King William III

to hunt pirates in the Red Sea.

[Author] Madagascar became

famous as a pirate island.

[Narrator] But when his mission

starts to fail,

a tragic story of m*rder,

theft, hidden treasure

and lost evidence unfolds.

[Historian] Pirate trials

at the time were just a show,

it's pure humiliation.

[Narrator] Kidd is used

as a political pawn

in a scheme which would

ultimately find him on trial

claiming his innocence but

facing execution as a pirate.

♪

♪

William Kidd arrives

in New York in 1690,

already a decorated privateer

from Scotland.

He quickly climbs

the social ladder

within this bustling new city,

which is, for now,

a colony of England.

[Mark Hanna] We know that he had

a pew in Trinity Church,

so he was

a well-respected individual,

was a commercial captain.

[Rebecca Simon] He was

really great at telling stories

about the adventures he had.

So as a result, he was able

to get in with the social elite

who really loved hearing about

his adventures on the high seas.

Kidd was

a very upstanding gentleman.

He had a brilliant reputation of

working in the maritime world.

And from there, he would meet

a very wealthy widow

named Sarah Oort.

And he would marry her,

and this would really put him

into high society.

[Narrator] As part

of New York's social elite,

Kidd cultivates a reputation

as a fearless captain

and forges a successful career

in the maritime world.

♪

[David Wilson]

With his partner in New York,

they travel to London

and they set up this partnership

with the Earl of Bellomont,

who was operating on behalf

of the most influential

politicians of the day.

[Narrator] Gripped by tales

of Kidd's adventures at sea,

the Earl of Bellomont is eager

to employ the Scotsman.

He commissions

a 34-g*n privateering vessel,

the Adventure Galley,

for Kidd to captain.

[Oliver Finnegan] The scheme was

that they were going

to send Kidd

into the Indian Ocean

as a kind of pirate hunter.

[Simon] Pirate hunting

was a pretty lucrative career

in the late 17th

and early 18th centuries.

It was basically a job

where you were set out

to go find a specific pirate.

They're like bounty hunters,

in a way.

[Narrator]

Kidd's instructions arrive

in the form

of a letter of marque,

signed by the king of England,

William III;

Kidd's target,

the infamous Red Sea pirates.

[Finnegan] A letter of marque

will be issued

in the name of a king

or a queen,

and it gives the captain

of a ship and the sailors on it

the right to sail out

and to capture enemy shipping

as is defined

by that king or queen.

[Narrator]

As well as pirate ships,

a second target is detailed

in Kidd's letter of marque.

England is at w*r with France,

and he is given license

to go after any vessel

in service of the French.

Kidd now has two targets,

offering great potential

for wealth and plunder.

[Finnegan] This is quite

an unusual letter of marque

because it was granted

to William Kidd

and it gave him

very particular grounds.

It didn't just say

that he could sail out

and capture French shipping,

it also instructed him

to capture pirate vessels

and bring them in

to be condemned as lawful prize.

He would have got a share

of the goods on that pirate ship

for himself.

The Crown would get

a cut as well.

So it really was

a moneymaking scheme

designed to suppress piracy

in the Indian Ocean.

[people chatting]

[Narrator] Kidd trawls the

taverns and waterways of London

recruiting for this expedition.

♪

[Hanna] You can imagine this

is really easy for him to do.

Kidd showed up with a commission

with the king's signature on it

and a picture of the king

on the commission.

So people flocked to his ship.

[Simon] He was giving them

a lot of promises,

saying, we're going to capture

a lot of pirates.

We're going to be able

to capture

a lot of other enemy ships.

You're going to become

extremely wealthy.

And not only that,

you're going to come home

and have a lot of high wages,

and so it really wasn't

difficult at all

for Kidd to get himself

a very large crew

who were pretty excited

about going onto these journeys

into the Red Sea.

[Narrator] Although Kidd was

respected by his investors

and making connections

in high society,

he now has a crew

of common seamen,

some of whom

were known pirates.

And already their behavior

begins to rub off

on the captain.

♪

[Margarette Lincoln]

As they went past Greenwich,

they failed to do

the customary naval salute.

♪

Warships there

reminded Kidd's crew

that they were supposed

to fire a cannon.

And worse,

what they did, actually,

was climb the masts

and pat their behinds,

which was very insulting.

[Narrator] A disgruntled

naval vessel chases the ship

towards the mouth of the Thames

to punish Kidd's arrogance.

They capture

some of his sailors.

Kidd is forced to return for

a second round of recruitment.

It takes months, but finally

he's ready to begin his crusade

against the Red Sea pirates.

[Wilson] In the Caribbean

by the 1690s,

pirates aren't making the same

sort of wealth they used to.

[Narrator] The Spanish

treasure fleet,

which had been

the largest target

of the pirate attacks

in the Caribbean,

now sails less often,

meaning their chances

for a successful ambush

were dwindling.

[Wilson] So instead,

they start to undertake

massive, long voyages

from North America

around the Cape of Good Hope

in southern Africa

and to the Indian Ocean.

[Hanna]

So, many English captains

began to sail

into the Indian Ocean

to plunder ships that belonged

to the Mughal Empire of India.

These ships would sail

from India

on their way

to the pilgrimage sites

of Jeddah and Mecca

in the Red Sea.

And they were

incredibly valuable.

Massive amounts of luxury items

like calico and silk,

jewels, gold,

and legend grew of the value

of these large ships.

[Wilson] The pirate target

this Mughal shipping fleet

because it's unprotected

at this point in time.

There is no convoys,

no armed convoys

with the Mughal pilgrim fleet.

So the pirates see it

as an easier target,

despite the costs involved

in terms of traveling

from North America

all the way to the Red Sea,

which is a substantial voyage.

[Narrator] Brutal attacks

by the Red Sea pirates

wreak havoc

across the Indian Ocean.

[cannon fire]

[Simon] The Mughal emperor

was so incensed by this

that they blockaded the ports

and they threatened

to block off all trade

and almost cause an all-out w*r.

[Hanna] This was

very frustrating in large part

to the king of England,

who had a long-standing

relationship

with the Mughal emperor.

It was more upsetting

to the East India Company,

which is a company

that had a full monopoly

on trade in the Indian Ocean.

[Narrator] Founded in England,

primarily to exploit

the lucrative spice trade,

the East India Company

is becoming a powerful presence

across Asia.

[Hanna] So, when

the Red Sea pirates came

and started plundering ships

belonging to the Mughal Empire,

this obviously created

a massive rift

between the East India Company

and the Mughal emperor himself.

♪

In fact, the lives of employees

of the East India Company

were threatened because

obviously the Mughal emperor

saw no distinction between

East India Company employees

and pirates.

[Richard Blakemore]

So the East India Company

and the English authorities need

to respond to these pirates.

They need to repair

their international trade

and diplomacy and connection.

And William Kidd

is part of that.

♪

[Narrator] William Kidd sets

sail with a motivated crew,

a state-of-the-art vessel

and royal permission

to hunt Red Sea pirates.

♪

They are about to make

themselves very rich

if they can find their prey.

[Hanna]

The Red Sea pirates originated

in the American colonies.

I think this is important.

One of the first to sail

to the Indian Ocean

actually came

from South Carolina.

But others came

from New York City,

some from Newport, Rhode Island,

one sailed from Bermuda,

and they began to join

each other in armadas,

and they based themselves

on the island of Madagascar,

which was essentially a base to

sh**t out and attack those ships

as they made their way

to the Red Sea.

So Madagascar became famous

as a sort of pirate refuge,

pirate island.

[Narrator]

Kidd and his crew head north

towards the Gulf of Aden,

in search

of the Red Sea pirates

who have been terrorizing

the Mughal convoys.

[Lincoln] So, Kidd's crew

expected to attack

the Red Sea pirate ships

and gain riches.

And this is normally referred to

as a kind of no purchase,

no pay,

whereby you weren't given

any wages;

what you got was

what you managed to steal.

You got your share of the loot.

[Simon] So, this meant

that they really had no choice

but to stay with Captain Kidd

for as long as it took

for them to be able to rob

as many ships as possible,

or else they were

going to go home,

and they're barely going to have

any money given to them at all.

[Blakemore]

So, early in the voyage,

once they've reached

the Indian Ocean,

things start to go quite badly.

Kidd may well have intended

to attack pirates,

but it doesn't seem

like he can find any,

and tensions start to simmer

amongst his crew.

Some of the crew,

according to Kidd's account,

are really keen to start

attacking merchant ships

and to capture plunder.

And there also seem

to be personal arguments.

The crew are not a happy ship,

and Kidd doesn't seem

to have been particularly good

at managing these resentments

and hostilities.

[Simon] To the point

where eventually,

when they would land,

there would be people

who would abandon ship

and decide it wasn't

worth actually sailing

with Kidd anymore.

♪

[Lincoln] You know, these crews

were incredibly difficult

to control.

What they wanted was loot.

They didn't want to be

lingering around

on the open seas

doing a lot of work.

[Simon] Some of the major risks

that would come about,

oddly enough, is boredom.

There are long periods of time

where they might be

in between attacks

or they're just really

far away from land,

and so boredom can set in,

and this could cause

tensions to rise.

It's very hot in the places

that they're going.

They are always at risk

of running very low on water.

And so this meant

they're always going to be

at risk for severe dehydration

because of the lack

of the water.

And so as a result,

you're getting a little weaker,

your immune system

might not be very good,

so you could get sick.

If there was going to be

an illness

that would sweep through a ship,

it would be either scurvy or it

would be an intestinal illness,

and this is because water can

get contaminated very easily.

♪

[Narrator] A sickness ravages

the Adventure Galley's crew.

Kidd heads

for the Comoros Islands,

pausing his mission

for two months

whilst disease takes the lives

of many of his men.

♪

[Finnegan] When Kidd gets

into the Indian Ocean,

the series of events

is in effect disputed,

because there are multiple

accounts of what happened.

[Narrator] Now leading

a skeleton crew,

Kidd sets sail.

Animosity continues to fester

between the captain

and his men.

They're yet to encounter

a single Red Sea pirate,

let alone claim the plunder

they were promised.

He sails towards

the Gulf of Aden,

hoping to find

the Red Sea pirates

in the same waters

where they target and attack

the Mughal fleet.

Kidd gets desperate;

he's been floating

around the Comoros Islands

for months with no result.

[Wilson] But once there,

he is seen to be voyaging

amongst the Mughal

pilgrim fleet.

And it seems like he's acting

just like

the Red Sea pirates are.

[Lincoln] As luck would have it,

he found this hugely rich ship.

[Narrator]

Kidd's crew spots the vessel.

They make their approach.

♪

[Blakemore] There's an account

from an English sailor

who commands

an East India Company ship,

that a convoy of Indian ships,

together with English

and Dutch ships,

is sailing from Mecca to India,

and that Kidd's ship,

the Adventure Galley,

is spotted,

and that at that time Kidd

is flying a pirate flag.

[Narrator] But Kidd's target

is in convoy

with powerful warships

from the East India Company.

Outmatched, he must

rapidly make his escape.

[Blakemore] So it seems

that at that point,

even though he's scared off

by the East India Company ships

and he doesn't attack

the convoy,

he is deliberately signaling

his intentions.

[Narrator] An attack

on the East India Company fleet

would have been

in direct conflict

with his letter of marque.

His mission is

to repair the rift

between the king

and the Mughal emperor,

not make it worse.

[Wilson] Maybe he expected that

if he was able to take a prize

that was worth an extortionate

amount of wealth,

and he was able to bring that

wealth back to his investors,

maybe they would turn

a blind to it.

That seems to be

what he's doing.

[Narrator]

Having escaped the clutches

of the East India Company's

officers,

Kidd and his crew

are still empty-handed.

[Simon] The men on the ship

are threatening to mutiny

because they're so upset

that they haven't captured

any major prizes.

[Narrator] The growing animosity

between Kidd and his crew

is about to reach

breaking point.

[Simon] It all came to a head

when one of the crewmen,

William Moore, spotted

a ship in the distance

and told Kidd,

we should capture this ship.

[Hanna] They see a Dutch ship,

and the crew say,

well, there you go, there's

a ship, let's plunder it.

This sounds great.

And Kidd says, well,

did you notice the image

on my commission?

It was an image of William III.

And, you know, he's Dutch.

So I don't think

this is a good idea.

I think that's probably

a bad idea to attack a ship

that belongs to the same

nationality of our king.

[Narrator] The conflict

breaks out into a fistfight

between the gunner

and the captain.

Kidd grabs a heavy bucket

and strikes Moore.

♪

[Simon] And Moore dies the next

day from the head injury.

[Narrator] Having k*lled

one of their fellow crewmen,

Kidd's crew loses

any faith they had left

in his leadership.

But Kidd claims his actions

were justified.

[Hanna] If you actually

pay attention

to international law

at the time,

if you could perceive him

as threatening and mutinous,

I think many officers at

the time could have understood.

[Simon] Now that he's k*lled

a crew member,

he knows that he's pretty much

lost control of everything.

[Hanna] Really nothing about

Kidd's story makes any sense.

There's nothing about it

that seems logical

or smart or a good idea.

So you could see Kidd is

in a position

where he is not sure what to do.

His crew is being mutinous.

They haven't had any prey, and

he's getting very frustrated.

So he finally he sees a ship

in the distance

and they say, that's it,

let's go after it.

[Narrator] November 18, 1697,

Kidd spots another Dutch ship--

the Rouparelle.

Facing pressure from his crew,

Kidd agrees to attack.

♪

Kidd needs to do

whatever he can

to bring his crew back on side.

With his letter of marque

in hand, he formulates a plan.

[Wilson] What's important to

remember at this point in time

is in the Indian Ocean

all the vessels that are

operating in the sea

are carrying multiple passes,

so any vessel can claim to be

French, Dutch or English.

The European powers

that operated

implemented this pass system,

so the first to implement it

were the Portuguese.

And what it meant

was that any vessel

passing by Portuguese waters,

or at least waters

that they claimed,

those vessels had to carry

what was called a pass.

Basically the merchants

had to pay for this pass

at the Portuguese port,

and it gave them protection

against any

Portuguese reprisals.

So if you didn't have

a Portuguese pass

and a Portuguese vessel

approached you,

they could claim you

as a legitimate prize.

Once the Portuguese

instituted that system,

the English quickly instituted

the system,

the Dutch instituted

the same system,

and the French instituted

the same system,

which meant

that most merchant vessels

operating in that region

had to carry a pass of every

single one of these nations

to stop them being claimed

as a legitimate prize.

♪

But Kidd uses that system

as a means to dupe those vessels

to claim that they are French.

♪

[Narrator]

Kidd runs a French flag

and sails straight

for the Rouparelle.

His disguise works.

The Rouparelle's captain

believes Kidd is an ally,

so presents a French Pass.

It's a fatal error.

[Wilson] They present

themself as French,

and then they fall

under his commission.

[Finnegan]

Because his commission says

he has the right

to seize French ships

or to seize pirates,

there are some grounds,

he believes,

that he can actually seize

that ship legally.

[Wilson] It's interesting

because it's not

technically piracy.

Kidd does have a commission

to take French vessels.

That vessel presented itself

as French,

so therefore it's legitimate.

[Narrator]

Kidd and his crew celebrate.

They have finally taken

a significant prize

using cunning

instead of violence.

Will they now stick

to their royal commission

and begin tracking down

Red Sea pirates?

Or will they attack any ship

Kidd believes is carrying

valuable goods?

[Narrator] Whilst traversing

the southern tip of India,

Kidd and his crew

face great temptation

when he spots

the Quedagh Merchant.

It's a legendary vessel

carrying priceless cargo,

belonging to one of the

wealthiest Mughal merchants.

[Simon] The Quedagh Merchant

was one of the largest

ships in the entire region.

It was one of those ships

known to have loads of coins,

gold and silver.

It's going to be carrying

tons of goods

such as linens and silks

and other textiles,

which were always

really desirable.

It's going to have

loads of sugar.

Sugar was one of the most

lucrative goods during the time.

It was intended to be

one of the largest prizes

that one could ever capture

in the Indian Ocean.

It was an Armenian ship that

was being used by the French.

So the ship had what were known

as French passes,

meaning that France

had given them jurisdiction

to sail wherever they could.

[Narrator] A French flag

hangs from the mast

of the Quedagh Merchant,

making it fair game for Kidd.

If he's able to repeat

his bloodless takeover

of the Rouparelle,

this could be easy pickings.

Kidd hoists a French flag,

once again identifying himself

as an ally.

If the captain

of the Quedagh Merchant

falls for the ruse,

he will present Kidd

with a French pass,

giving him legal authority

to take the ship.

[Simon] Pirate attacks,

for the most part,

were pretty orderly.

Most ships,

such as the Quedagh Merchant,

which as a merchant ship

is not going to have

very many weapons on it

for defense purposes.

Pirate ships,

on the other hand, will.

They're all going

to have pistols,

they're all going to have

swords and cutlasses,

and if they're lucky,

their ships are going

to have cannons.

So what a pirate is going to do

is eventually,

as they get close to the ship,

they're going

to identify themselves

by eventually raising up a flag.

And around the turn

of the 18th century,

there were two flags

a pirate might raise up:

a red flag, which means

we will take no mercy,

we are going to fight

to the death;

or a black flag,

and this meant that they

would be willing

to negotiate and give mercy

if the people surrendered.

And this was to give

the other ship kind of time

in order to prepare themselves.

[Narrator] Kidd st*lks his prey

and suddenly raises

the black flag.

Grappling hooks are thrown

from the Adventure Galley

so Kidd and his crew can board.

♪

Kidd demands to see

the captain's pass.

It's handed over.

Kidd's gamble is paying off.

But then something strange

happens.

[Lincoln] The so-called French

captain of the merchant ship

wasn't really the captain.

They had a captain underneath.

It was a double bluff.

And the captain

was actually English.

So Kidd had done

a terrible thing.

He'd actually captured a ship

that was captained

by an English person,

which wasn't what he

was licensed to do.

[Narrator] Despite this, Kidd

seizes the Quedagh Merchant,

along with all its treasures.

[Hanna] And Kidd kept

that French commission

and put it in his pocket

and held it

because he knew if he ever

got in trouble,

he'd need that commission.

♪

[Wilson] The problem

is that he's taken a vessel

which is extremely rich

and extremely wealthy,

but is also owned by

an extremely influential figure.

[Simon] The value of these goods

in today's money

would be hundreds of thousands

of dollars or pounds,

or perhaps even going

into the millions.

This was the type of capture

that would set up every single

one of these sailors for life.

[Narrator] Kidd and his crew

ransack the ship

and take her to Madagascar,

where they split the prize.

[Wilson] You're not meant

to split up the plunder

until you get

to the admiralty court,

but Kidd does it anyway.

[Simon] Being the captain,

Kidd would get the lavish share

and then the next below him,

such as the quartermaster

or lieutenant,

would get

a slightly smaller share,

but still substantial, perhaps

maybe a share and a half.

And then you would have

the skilled workers

like the carpenter

and the surgeon,

the navigator, the gunner,

they might get

a share and a quarter,

and then everybody else

below them would get a share.

So because it was

so equally divvied up,

everyone looked forward

to being able to get

their portion of the spoils.

[Narrator]

Despite their newfound wealth,

many of the crew are growing

tired of Kidd's captaincy

and desert him on the pirate

island of Madagascar.

Left with a depleted crew

and three ships to command,

he abandons two vessels

including his original ship,

the Adventure Galley.

Keeping the Quedagh Merchant,

he renames it

the Adventure Prize

to avoid suspicion.

But word of his

legally murky behavior

finds its way back to England.

[Simon] Kidd is in Madagascar

looking to re-outfit his ship

and get more supplies

when he finds out

that he's wanted as a pirate

from the English government.

[Wilson] And it must have showed

Kidd at that point in time

how infamous his name had become

and how other individuals

were acting against him

and against his name.

[Simon] Now, Kidd adamantly

believed he was not a pirate.

He adamantly denied this.

He said that he was charged

to rob French ships

and that the Quedagh Merchant

had French passes on it.

And so what he did is he decided

he had to kind of offload

his goods.

So he sails to the West Indies,

and there he writes letters

to Lord Bellomont,

his friend and financier,

basically saying, I am being

falsely accused of piracy.

I need your help.

I need you to help me convince

the British government

that I did not betray anybody

and that I did not violate

the letter of marque.

♪

[Narrator] Desperate to prove

his innocence,

Kidd sends the French passes

from the Quedagh Merchant

to his investor,

the Earl of Bellomont,

who is currently

visiting Boston.

[Hanna]

While Kidd was out at sea,

the Earl of Bellomont

was actually appointed

the joint governor

of New York and Massachusetts.

And Bellomont had heard

suspicious rumors

that Kidd might have been

a pirate.

♪

[Lincoln] But while Kidd

had been away

for a number of months,

things had changed

back in London.

[Narrator] The two most

prominent political parties

are fighting for power

in England.

♪

[Lincoln] And the Whigs

were losing power,

and the rival party, the Tories,

were gaining power,

and Bellomont was a Whig.

And he could see that he was on

a very dangerous position here.

[Simon] Bellomont knows that his

political standing and career

will be ruined if they know

that he is in cahoots now

with this accused pirate.

[Blakemore] So the people

who were protecting him before

are now trying

to disassociate themselves

from these accusations

of piracy.

♪

[Simon] We have to go

back in time a little bit

to understand why.

In 1695, the English pirate

Henry Avery

captured loads of Mughal ships.

And the problem is

Britain was never actually able

to capture Henry Avery.

He disappeared.

And so, once again,

the Mughal Empire

basically tells

the East India Company

you have one chance

to go after Kidd

and you have to make

an example of him.

You have to capture him,

or else we will

cut off all trade

and consider this to be

an act of w*r.

[Narrator]

Kidd finds himself caught

in a clash of bureaucracies.

His capture is being used

to make an example

of the famous pirate

regardless of his innocence.

A manhunt is underway.

Hiding in the West Indies,

Kidd pens letters to Bellomont

pleading for assistance.

♪

[Lincoln] He thought that

if he was able to talk to him

and explain that he thought

this was a French ship,

he could smooth it over.

[Simon] Bellomont writes

a letter back to Kidd,

promising him protection

if he comes to Boston.

[Narrator] Deciding to trust

his former patron,

Kidd sails for Boston.

Anxious to retain the fortune

he's risked everything to gain,

he devises a plan

to protect his loot.

[Hanna] And he stopped off an

island called Gardiner's Island.

Gardiner's Island was owned

by a man named Mr. Gardiner,

who is himself a former pirate.

And while he was there,

Kidd decided

maybe he would leave

some of his treasure.

[Blakemore] So that he then

has a bargaining chip to use

with the authorities in London.

If they let him go, maybe he'll

hand over some of the treasure

to the English government.

[Wilson]

And it's really from here

that this idea of Kidd's

buried treasure appears.

[Narrator] Kidd continues

his voyage to Boston,

expecting to be welcomed

by his old friend Bellomont.

[Simon] Once he steps on shore,

he is captured and thrown

into Stone Prison in 1698,

where he will spend

the next two years.

[Hanna] One of the most

important things

in the entire history of piracy

happened while Kidd

was in prison.

Kidd told the prison guard,

"I buried some of my treasure,

and if you let me out,

I'll give you some of it."

That seems like

a very small thing,

but the entire history of piracy

has changed

ever since that one moment.

[Narrator]

Having shared his secret,

rumors of Kidd's

buried treasure

soon escape the prison.

[Simon] And so Bellomont

actually did arrange

an expedition to go search

for all these goods.

And they were so desperate

to find all of these

really expensive items

that they even arrested

Kidd's wife

and all of their servants

to try to find out

where this might be.

[Hanna]

It becomes a massive craze.

And, in fact,

you could call it a mania.

[Simon] And so this has led

to all kinds

of treasure excavations

going all up and down

the American seaboard,

as far north as Canada,

and even going as far inland

into Upstate New York.

[Hanna] They come up

with all these strange

paranormal strategies

to find the treasure,

because the treasure isn't

just sort of something

sitting in the earth,

somehow has

mystical elements of it.

They had to use divining rods

to find the treasure.

There's other strategies,

you go in groups of three.

Somehow it's a magical thing.

You have to go

in groups of three.

And the best way

to find pirate treasure

is you find it around midnight.

You have to be silent,

because if you say anything,

the treasure can move.

[Narrator] In the weeks

following Kidd's arrest,

Bellomont tears up

Gardiner's Island,

desperately seeking

buried treasure.

[Wilson] Now a box of silver was

recovered from Gardiner's Island

by the Earl of Bellomont.

So it might be that

that was the box itself.

So it's already been recovered.

But regardless,

there was clear knowledge

that there was some treasure

buried in Gardiner's Island.

[Lincoln] Which actually

the Crown didn't dare keep.

It was so controversial.

Queen Anne dedicated it

towards the Greenwich Hospital

for seamen,

as if it was a patriotic act.

[Narrator] Nobody believes

this single box of silver

can be all Kidd left.

The search continues.

[Narrator]

Meanwhile, Kidd rots in jail.

The world outside is changing,

and not for the better

for a man accused of piracy.

[Blakemore] Around the time

of William Kidd's voyages

and trial,

the government is also

bringing in legislation

which gives British officers

the right to prosecute pirates

anywhere in the world.

This is a global expansion

of jurisdiction.

It is an enormous assertion

of authority and power.

It's a crucial part of the way

in which the empire

is expanding and

developing at this time.

[Narrator] As of 1700,

piracy trials are now allowed

to take place in America,

but Kidd's capture

predates the new law.

He's sent to London.

A trial there will be

a public spectacle

with a much larger audience.

[Wilson] And that's quite rare

because of the fact

that a lot of the times pirates

who are captured in the Americas

tend to escape

from imprisonment.

So Kidd is quite rare

in terms of actually a pirate

being taken back to London

for piracies

committed elsewhere.

Kidd is really a turning point

whereby you see

that crackdown on piracy

that is at least attempting

to be made by the English.

[Narrator]

1700, Captain William Kidd

is shipped home to London

in chains.

Many powerful people

have much to lose or gain

from his trial.

The leadership of both

the Whigs and the Tories,

the East India Company

and Bellomont;

everything is stacked

against Kidd.

[Wilson] Kidd is isolated

and kept in confinement

in Newgate Prison.

And the reason for that

is because both the Whig party

and the Tory party,

as well as

the East India Company,

are all trying to use Kidd

to advance their own interests,

either to clear their name.

The Whig party who had invested

in this voyage

are really wanting

a speedy trial

and execution of Kidd

to clear their own names

because they are now being

accused of supporting a pirate,

and the Tory party

are using this as a means

to undermine and slander

the Whig party as well.

And it's only after a year

that he's given

some of the evidence

that is put against him

and given access to materials

to start to make his case.

[Narrator] The trial

is fast approaching,

and Kidd realizes he's been

betrayed by his former allies.

He writes to Bellomont, begging

for the Quedagh Merchant's

French passes.

They may be his only chance

for freedom.

Bellomont doesn't respond.

Giving up hope, Kidd asks

the prison guards for a knife;

taking his own life

now his only way out.

His request is denied.

[Lincoln] His trial was held

in the Old Bailey,

and he was tried

for m*rder and for piracy.

♪

[Simon]

Pirate trials at the time

were pretty much show trials.

By law in England, everybody

had to have their fair trial.

And so pirates got this as well.

But the thing is,

pirates were considered

to be kind of enemies

of humankind.

The idea is a pirate

robbed a ship,

and therefore they were trying

to destroy their country,

they're trying

to destroy their king,

and therefore they are

violating God in a way.

So it's really just a show.

It's pure humiliation.

[Narrator] Despite being labeled

as a pirate,

some of Kidd's

character witnesses

highlight his previous

military service.

However, this period

of Kidd's life

took place a long time ago.

The statements are dismissed

as irrelevant by the court.

[Simon] One might think

this would add to his character

and make it so he

could get off easy.

No, it had the opposite effect.

If anything,

he should have known better.

He should have been

setting the example.

[Hanna] Throughout his trial,

Kidd never said

that he was anything

but innocent.

[Simon] He is constantly

telling the prosecution

that he had a letter of marque

stating that he

could take French ships

and that the Quedagh Merchant

itself had French passes

and that he himself

had taken the passes

and they just needed to be

reproduced for the trial.

[Blakemore] Except that he left

the French passes

with Lord Bellomont.

These documents are never

produced in evidence

at Kidd's trial.

♪

[Simon] And he is told

over and over in the trial

you had time

to get them together.

You didn't get them together.

There's no way we have them.

In fact, they've been lost.

No one can find them.

[Narrator] Kidd goes quiet,

refusing to name his investors,

confident that his silence

will be rewarded

once he's acquitted.

In this misplaced act

of loyalty,

he refuses to tell the court

that the passes

were sent to Bellomont.

[Simon] And then Kidd

thinks he's lucky

because several members of

his crew do come to the trial.

And so he thinks this will help.

But instead,

what actually happens

is they all speak out

against him.

We have to remember,

Kidd k*lled one of their

crewmates in a fight,

and no one is going

to forgive him for that,

even though they themselves got

a lot of wealth out of it.

It doesn't matter.

Kidd k*lled one of them.

[Narrator]

Enraged by their betrayal,

Kidd pushes back, claiming

his former crewmates

had threatened him

into carrying out the attacks.

It's his word, that of one man,

against all of theirs.

[Simon] Here's what's

really interesting.

Kidd is not actually found

guilty for piracy.

The evidence is just

a little too shaky to do that.

But instead, he is found guilty

of robbery,

having robbed many ships.

And he's also found guilty

for m*rder--

the m*rder of William Moore,

the member of his crew.

As a result, he was sentenced

to hang by the neck until dead

at Execution Dock in Wapping,

East London, on the Thames.

And this occurred May 23, 1701.

[Finnegan] This is a copy,

a speech that was given

by Captain Kidd

around the year 1700

when he was standing trial

for piracy.

And it really,

it's a very emotive statement

designed to pull

at the heartstrings

of the person receiving it,

who was perhaps the judge

of the High Court of Admiralty.

[Narrator]

Kidd pleads to the court:

"My Lord, it is

a very hard sentence.

For my part,

I am the innocentest person

of them all,

only I have been sworn against

by perjured persons."

♪

[Finnegan] He states

that because of other events

such as the capture

of Mughal shipping

by the previous pirate

Henry Avery in the Red Sea,

because Henry Avery

was never captured,

Kidd implies that he

is being ex*cuted

to placate

the East India Company

and placate the Mughal emperor.

He also states in it

that he's being ex*cuted

so that other people who are

more powerful than him

can effectively be acquitted.

But the speech really, really

lays out Kidd's case

that he's a victim

of political circumstance

and misunderstanding

and the deliberate withholding

of evidence

rather than somebody that's

guilty of any kind of piracy.

♪

♪

[Narrator] May 23, 1701.

Kidd is taken from his cell,

transferred east

through the cobbled streets

of Wapping

to his fate,

at the rope of the hangman.

♪

The noose is placed

around Kidd's neck;

his body drops,

but the cord snaps.

[Wilson] So for a split second,

Kidd escapes execution.

But he's quickly taken back up

the ladder and put off again,

and this time, is ex*cuted.

♪

[Simon] There is

a wide amount of interest

amongst these pirate trials

because they were all

publicized very well.

Kidd's trial

was printed and published

the day after his execution,

and within another day

after that

they had to do a second printing

because that's how fast it sold.

[Lincoln] I think really

it's the print of Kidd

being hung at execution dock

that grabs the imagination

because whenever

you see pictures

of pirates being ex*cuted,

it's normally Kidd that you see.

[Narrator] It is not only

the image of Kidd

at the hangman's noose

that lives on.

His legacy and actions

continue to inspire writers and

storytellers across the world.

[Simon] Every single idea

we have to this day

about pirates burying anything

really stems from the rumors

that were put forth

by Captain Kidd.

A lot of this was inspiration

for Robert Louis Stevenson's

book Treasure Island,

which was published in 1883

and was an absolute smash hit.

It's about a treasure hunt,

and it was a smash hit

in Britain and

in the United States.

It's never gone out of print.

It's been adapted

many, many, many times.

So the novel Treasure Island,

which was inspired a lot

by piracy

and Captain Kidd specifically,

is also what inspired what we

think about in terms of pirates.

The eyepatch, the peg leg,

the parrot as a pet,

and of course,

the buried treasure and the map

and X marks the spot.

♪

[Hanna] Ballads were sung

on board ships,

ballads were sung in taverns.

It's one of the more popular

musical cultures.

And Kidd's ballad

became incredibly famous.

The story of Kidd

is incredibly complicated

and complex and nuanced.

In reality,

by writing the ballad,

they made it uncomplicated.

They made it about him

giving up his soul,

which is not remarkably true

of the real story.

He bought a pew

in Trinity Church

where his daughters

prayed on Sundays.

The idea that he was

a hellish figure

who sold himself to the devil

was a mythology

of the 19th century

and it came out of the ballad.

The reality was

he was a successful person,

well-respected in New York,

had a family,

never thought he committed

an act of piracy.

He k*lled his gunner,

but his gunner was mutinous,

and he k*lled his gunner because

he was trying to keep his gunner

from forcing him

to attack allied shipping.

He was trying to do

the right thing.

I'm not saying it's okay

to k*ll his gunner,

but there's a reason

why he did it,

which had to do with him

trying to not be a pirate.

[Narrator]

Kidd is best remembered

as a murderous pirate

deserving of his execution.

But in reality, was he a man

trying to follow the law

caught in a tangle of politics

or a gentleman pirate,

corrupted by greed?

[Hanna] Whether he's

a pirate or not

we could argue to this day,

or you could say he had

a French commission,

but he lost it.

I think he would have

been exonerated

had he had the commission.

A historian in the 19th century

found the commission.

So we know it's true.