PAST CRIMESintended as a copy of the famous Tyburn‘Triple Tree’, with each arm eleven
feet long, to accommodate mass hangings. It was sited in a very visible place
with easy access. Many artefacts dating from the eighteenth century were
found at the base of the structure, including coins. The researchers believe that
this was the gallows upon which up to thirteen members of the crew of the
pirate Blackbeard were hanged in 1719. The famous pirate himself had died
the year previously in a battle with HMSPearl, and the Navy vessel had
sailed back into harbour with Blackbeard’s head hanging from the bowsprit.
There are no records of the trial and executions, and it is unclear how many of
the accused were actually hanged, or where the executions took place. One
theory suggests some of the men had received a Royal Pardon.
In the 1980s, archaeologists found the burial of a man nearby at the former
Customhouse Point. He was buried face down between high and low water
marks, a local custom for the disposal of buccaneers and pirates. Local legend
says Blackbeard’s head was displayed on a stake nearby.
Pirates and smugglers
Piracy continued to be a problem well into the eighteenth century. Two of the
most infamous were women–Anne Bonny and Mary Read. A certain Captain
Charles Johnson (who was probably, in reality, Daniel Defoe) wrote a number
of accounts of pirates of the day in 1724, entitledA General History of the
Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates.According to this
Figure 28. Executions at Tyburn from a seventeenth century illustration