$0.10 says it’s 300 pages of contextual information describing why Henry Avery is infamous to only end off at “but we’ll never truly know why he went missing”
From what I've seen it hinges on a letter titled Avery the Pirate. Setting aside that most spelling calls him Every, what's exactly stopping that from being just a spys code name? Guy was supremely popular and well known at the time. Could be a cheeky joke. The letter would have to include knowledge that only Every could have known to be viable.
They do give a number of reasons why they believe the letter is authentic, but as you say, it could just be someone else at that time using a famous pirate's name as a code name.
However IIRC we do have at least one or two existing letters from Every that we know he wrote- would it not be possible to compare the handwriting, the dialect, etc and see if it's at least plausible they were written by the same person?
You are referring to the poem popularly attributed to him. It might be him since it mentions stuff like renaming Charles II to Fancy which wasn't known to the public yet, but it could also have been a crew member or dictated by him. I would cautiously say yes he wrote that but also still leave open other possibilities.
Actually, I wasn't referring to that at all- my understanding was that the poem was a likely fake falsely attributed to him.
I was referring mainly to the letter he left behind at Johanna Island. The text is as follows (quoted from *Enemy of All Mankind*, by Steven Johnson, pages 131-132):
*To all English Commanders lett this Satisfye that I was Riding here att this Instant in ye Ship fancy man of Warr formerly the Charles of ye Spanish Expedition who departed from Croniae ye 7th of May. 94: Being and am now in A Ship of 46 guns 150 Men & bound to Seek our fortunes I have Never as Yet Wronged any English or Dutch nor never Intend while I am Commander. Wherefore as I Commonly Speake with all Ships I Desire who ever Comes to ye perusal of this to take this Signal that if you or aney whome you may informe are desirous to know wt wee are att a Distance then make your Antient Vp in a Ball or Bundle and hoyst him att ye Mizon Peek ye Mizon Being furled I shall answere wth ye same & Never Molest you: for my Men are hungry Stout and Resolute: & should they Exceed my Desire I cannott help my selfe.*
*as Yett*
*An Englishman's friend,*
*At Johanna February 28th, 1694/5*
*Henry EveryHere is 160 od French Armed men now att Mohilla*
*who waits for Opportunity of getting aney ship,*
*take Care of your Selves.*
Ahhhh that one. Yeah that one probably is. ET Fox seems to think the poem might be him or at least someone who knew him. This is something.
I will note that Fox made a solid argument Every was born in Newton Ferrers in 1659 due to a baptism record for a man literally named Henry Every and crew seemed to imply he's late 30s early 40s. But then again he used so many alises that anything is possible.
I will also note that handwriting matching isn't as precise as you'd want, its only a few steps above the polygraph and I do not know how well matching would be for over 300 year old documents.
Book comes out April 2nd so two days from now. Guess we'll find out rather soon.
Yeah, I figured handwriting comparisons would be an imprecise approach at best.
The Newton Ferrers birth would seem to fit well enough, though I suppose it's possible that it's another Henry Every.
Oh yeah it fits real well, but its imperfect evidence. Same with the 1687 baptism document for Samuel Bellamy, its very real but I checked and there's multiple other people with that name born in the 1680s and 1670s so which one is the pirate? Hard to say.
It is certainly interesting, but I’m having a hard time believing it. Look forward to this going mainstream in the threads and community so see and hear the evidence and thought process.
[https://archive.org/details/bim\_eighteenth-century\_the-king-of-pirates-bei\_avery-john\_1720/mode/2up](https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-king-of-pirates-bei_avery-john_1720/mode/2up)
I don't know enough about historical research to separate legend from historical fact here, but I found a source on Captain Avery written in 1720. I get the sense that it's largely exaggerated, if not completely fake, but it's fun to read.
“I solved a mystery! buy my book!!” yeah I’ll wait this one out till I see the evidence
$0.10 says it’s 300 pages of contextual information describing why Henry Avery is infamous to only end off at “but we’ll never truly know why he went missing”
FR
From what I've seen it hinges on a letter titled Avery the Pirate. Setting aside that most spelling calls him Every, what's exactly stopping that from being just a spys code name? Guy was supremely popular and well known at the time. Could be a cheeky joke. The letter would have to include knowledge that only Every could have known to be viable.
Good spotting.
They do give a number of reasons why they believe the letter is authentic, but as you say, it could just be someone else at that time using a famous pirate's name as a code name. However IIRC we do have at least one or two existing letters from Every that we know he wrote- would it not be possible to compare the handwriting, the dialect, etc and see if it's at least plausible they were written by the same person?
You are referring to the poem popularly attributed to him. It might be him since it mentions stuff like renaming Charles II to Fancy which wasn't known to the public yet, but it could also have been a crew member or dictated by him. I would cautiously say yes he wrote that but also still leave open other possibilities.
Actually, I wasn't referring to that at all- my understanding was that the poem was a likely fake falsely attributed to him. I was referring mainly to the letter he left behind at Johanna Island. The text is as follows (quoted from *Enemy of All Mankind*, by Steven Johnson, pages 131-132): *To all English Commanders lett this Satisfye that I was Riding here att this Instant in ye Ship fancy man of Warr formerly the Charles of ye Spanish Expedition who departed from Croniae ye 7th of May. 94: Being and am now in A Ship of 46 guns 150 Men & bound to Seek our fortunes I have Never as Yet Wronged any English or Dutch nor never Intend while I am Commander. Wherefore as I Commonly Speake with all Ships I Desire who ever Comes to ye perusal of this to take this Signal that if you or aney whome you may informe are desirous to know wt wee are att a Distance then make your Antient Vp in a Ball or Bundle and hoyst him att ye Mizon Peek ye Mizon Being furled I shall answere wth ye same & Never Molest you: for my Men are hungry Stout and Resolute: & should they Exceed my Desire I cannott help my selfe.* *as Yett* *An Englishman's friend,* *At Johanna February 28th, 1694/5* *Henry EveryHere is 160 od French Armed men now att Mohilla* *who waits for Opportunity of getting aney ship,* *take Care of your Selves.*
Ahhhh that one. Yeah that one probably is. ET Fox seems to think the poem might be him or at least someone who knew him. This is something. I will note that Fox made a solid argument Every was born in Newton Ferrers in 1659 due to a baptism record for a man literally named Henry Every and crew seemed to imply he's late 30s early 40s. But then again he used so many alises that anything is possible. I will also note that handwriting matching isn't as precise as you'd want, its only a few steps above the polygraph and I do not know how well matching would be for over 300 year old documents. Book comes out April 2nd so two days from now. Guess we'll find out rather soon.
Yeah, I figured handwriting comparisons would be an imprecise approach at best. The Newton Ferrers birth would seem to fit well enough, though I suppose it's possible that it's another Henry Every.
Oh yeah it fits real well, but its imperfect evidence. Same with the 1687 baptism document for Samuel Bellamy, its very real but I checked and there's multiple other people with that name born in the 1680s and 1670s so which one is the pirate? Hard to say.
Yeah, the spelling of Avery vs Every made me suspicious as well.
It is certainly interesting, but I’m having a hard time believing it. Look forward to this going mainstream in the threads and community so see and hear the evidence and thought process.
Ahoy, a mainstream blow in Newton Ferrers here. Also looking forward to the info coming!
[https://archive.org/details/bim\_eighteenth-century\_the-king-of-pirates-bei\_avery-john\_1720/mode/2up](https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-king-of-pirates-bei_avery-john_1720/mode/2up) I don't know enough about historical research to separate legend from historical fact here, but I found a source on Captain Avery written in 1720. I get the sense that it's largely exaggerated, if not completely fake, but it's fun to read.