Raynor and The Red Sea Pirates

Captain George Raynor and The Red Sea Men

Captain George Raynor, Gentleman

Born 1658 (possibly in New York suggested in an article about the origins of the College of William & Mary in Virginia), he was an extremely wealthy Merchant Seaman, Politician, Privateer, Pirate and was the most affluent resident of Charles Towne society in the early South Carolina Colony. He resided on Johns Island at Old Dock Creek on the banks of the Stono River, owned Kiawah Island and also had a home in the original laid out city of Charleston, South Carolina at Oyster Pointe. He was a Merchant Seaman and trader, his business named Berkely County and Company and he was also a South Carolina Assemblyman. With all his affluence and hierarchal standing in Charleston society, not very much is known about him and his men, his family or his origins. Through this website I hope to shed some light on, and find others connected to, Captain Raynor his exploits, his ships, his crewmen and his family descendants. I have embarked upon my own research of this man who bears my family name and may be the original immigrant to the Carolinas of my family lineage. I am sharing here what information I have discovered so far in order to bring to the forefront of history a new Pirate of the Carolinas who has been only moderately recognized throughout history. He was responsible for transporting many of South Carolinas most notable leaders or their ancestors to the South Carolina shores and was himself a highly significant resident of Colonial South Carolina.

Please note that Captain George Raynor of Carolina who married Dorcas Davis, had a daughter Mary who wed Roger Moore and migrated to the lower Cape Fear in what is now North Carolina, is a completely different individual from Josiah Raynor of New York who married Sarah Higby. I keep finding erroneous postings that assert Captian George Raynor of the Loyall Jamaica and the Bachellors Delight was Josiah George Raynor of New York and this is simply not true. Raynors grandson and only child of his daughter Mary Raynor, George Moore, was the progenator of many Moores of the Lower Cape Fear region. It is my current belief, based on research, that George Raynor was from Jamaica and that his father was William Rayner of Barbados. William Rayner migrated to Barbados directly from England.

If you have any information you would like to share connected to Captain George Raynor or any of the Red Sea Men, Please feel free to contact me with your information on the form provided at the bottom of the page.

Betty Raynor Davis

I have travelled to Johns Island to locate the land mapped out on old maps that once belonged to Captain Raynor. I have stood on the banks at Old Dock Creek and seen the Kyawah and Stono Rivers from Johns Island next to the Fenwick place. I felt the breezes just as Captain Raynor did on a spot almost unscathed by time. I viewed Kiawah on the other side where Raynor allowed his old friend and comrade Capn Samms to live on the spit at the inlet. I believe I descend from this elusive man of history's lost legends.Tying together the pieces of his story is connected to the pieces in mine.

Captain George Rayner - Pirate, Privateer, Wealthy Merchant Seaman, Mariner, Planter

In the age of colonization of the new world, as the triangular trade routes became more traveled with the bounty of new world and old world goods, the era of privateering and piracy flourished for a fraction of time upon the high seas. In 1689 Captain William Kidd took command of a privateer ship, the Blessed William and acted under sanction of the English Crown to safeguard trade routes in the Caribbean from illegal pirates along with French and Spanish shipping. It is believed that one George Rayner was originally part of Kidd’s crew. It is currently unknown whether or not he was a member of the first crew who mutinied and took the Blessed William in 1690 or among a later crew, many of whom were charged along with Kidd for piracy.

Merchant George Rayner of George Rayner, Berkely County and Company, also known as Captain Rayner, was likely settled in Jamaica prior to showing up in records of Colonial Charles Towne and vicinity of coastal South Carolina, the area then known as Carolina. Little is known of this shadowy man called a pirate by Pennsylvania founding father William Penn; and yet Rayner crops up from time to time, a man whose ethereal visage peers intrigeingly through the historical pages and the veils of Carolina history, in triangular trade shipping routes and pirate history. A letter Penn wrote to the Counsel of Trade and Plantations in England specifically mentioned that Carolina harbored pirates in the guise of planters and noted Captain Rayner as one in particular who he believed was in league with the Scottish born and unlucky privateer/pirate, the infamous Captain William Kidd.

The name of Captain George Rayner turns up in some of the earliest records of the Southern Carolina Colony of Charles Towne and in records connected to settlement and ownership of lands outside of Charles Towne in Berkely County. From several land grant records it appears that Rayner was among some of the first settlers to the region. It is believed that he first sailed into port at Charles Towne commanding a French vessel in 1691. Interestingly, in 1691, Captain William Kidd was in Long Island, New York being wed to a twice-widowed and well-off 20 year old Sarah Bradley Cox Oort. In view of the fact that Kidd and his crew had British authority to take French vessels, it might partly explain why Captain Rayner had sailed a French merchant ship into port at Charles Towne. Being in the vicinity of the Caribbean and the Bermuda Islands, it seems appropriate that Charles Town or somewhere thereabouts would be a likely place to sail to and anchor a commandeered vessel. The commandeered vessel, it seems, was originally captained by Thomas Harrison of Port Royal Jamaica and Raynor, apparently a member of the crew, took over the ship known as the Loyall Jamaica.

7 June 1692, an earthquake plunged the popular port city of Port Royall into the Ocean and with it the frequency and prestige that this Jamaican port held as a special haunt of both pirates and wealthy merchant seamen. This is about the time Captain George Raynor and several other individuals, whose surnames names have become reknown in South Carolina History, arrived in Carolina.

In April of 1692 Captain George Raynor anchored his ship the Loyall Jamaica in Rebellion Roads just off the coast of Charleston SC. Rebellion Roads lies beteween Crab Island and present day Fort Sumter. The ship sat at anchor riding the waves there for several days. The Loyall Jamaica was a privateer vessel operating under a letter of Marque which officially permitted the crew legal authority to engage in privateering, legal piracy. Rebellion Roads in the 17th century was a pirate refuge, situated just far enough from the coast that ships could safely take anchorage but remain within a safe distance from the guns of Charleston that fortified the city. At times the ship could be seen from shore tacking back and forth across the water. Eventually the ship sailed out of site and turned up later run aground and stripped of its goods and furnishings at See Wee Bay.

Source: Records-Secretary of the Province 1692-1700 by Moore

DEPOSITION: Of Henry PERRY, age 26 years thereabouts-2 ½ years since being at Island of Jamaica belonging to sloop Dyamond, Capt. Thomas HARRISON, Commander. Mentions: Sloop Mary, Capt George AUSTON, commander, castle of Port Agee; Island of Hispaniola; Port Royall; Court of Admiralty; Capt. William PETTIT. P. 44."

"We, Samuell LOWE and John HARRIS of Port Royall, Island of Jamaica, merchants, are bound unto George RANIER of Carolina, merchant, in sum of L1,000 c. m. of said Island. D: 22 Feb 1693. CONDITION OF OBLIGATION: Samuell LOWE and John HARRIS of Port Royall, Island of Jamaica, merchants, shall save harmless the above said RAINER from all manner of actions, suits of law that may arise against him from themselves or from Thomas HARRISON, Capt of ship Loyall Jamiaca, or by said RANIER or any of his ships' company turning the said HARRISON out of his command of said ship, or also save harmless the whole ships' company that were under command of said RAINER. Wit: Edw. SHORY; Samuell SLIGHT; Thomas CUMBER, his mark

1670 Map of Jamaica

The Red Sea and Indian Ocean

The Great Mughal Aurangzebe of India had a lucrative maritime trade business in the 1600's during the height of the Golden Age of Piracy which spanned the years from the mid 1600's to the early 1700's. During this time pirates and privateers frequently plundered the ships of the region for the great wealth that might be had from the Mogul's extravagant cache of trade goods. At this particular time in history a group of pirates/privateers known as the Red Sea Men plied the waters of the region around the Indian Ocean waiting for the magnificent vessels that transported treasure troves of gold, exotic spices, fine silks and ornate jewels to and from Arabia and India. I am currently perplexed as to why this group of Pirates/Privateers was called the Red Sea Men because the Red Sea runs the Western Coast of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. I have not found any information actually placing any of the men in or immediately around the vicinity of the Red Sea. I have gathered information supporting that they found safe haven off the African Coast on the back side of St Maries Island at Madagascar where they would often careen their ship for repairs and to gather available supplies either from Adam Baldridge who primarily ruled St Maries Island or from one of the towns along the Southern tip of Africa.

Aurangzebe The Great Mughal Emperor of India/Hindustan

Born 4 Nov 1618, died 3 March 1707. His reign lasted 49 Years from 31 July 1658 until the day of his death 3 March 1707. This powerful monarch was known commonly throughout his empirical reign as Aurangzebe Alamgir. Alamgir means world seizer or universe seizer. The name given him of Alamgir was likely derived from his conquer and expansion of his controlling imperial boundaries. The persistent expansion of the empire literally strained the resources of the region.

Aurangzebe's full issued name was Abul Muzaffer Muhi-u-Din Mohammad Aurangzebe.He was the 6th Mughal Emperor of India.His parents were Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal for whom his father built the well known Taj Mahal named in his mother's honor. To his credit, Aurangzebe built the Mausoleum Bibi Ka Maqbara for his wife Dilras Banu Begum.

In the 17th Century, Emperor Aurangzebe had a rich coffer and the trade between India and other nations provided heavily laden dhows of valuable goods which were transported in and around the Indian Ocean trade routes that offered pirates a ready supply of treasure for the taking.

From Deposition of Adam Baldridge Boston Mass:

October 13, 1691. Arrived the Batchelors delight, Captain Georg Raynor Commander, Burden 180 Tons or there abouts, 14 Guns, 70 or 80 men, that had made a voyage into the Red Seas and taken a ship belonging to the Moors, as the men did report, where they took as much money as made the whole share run about 1100 L. a man. They Careened at St. Maries, and while they Careened I supplyed them with Cattel for their present spending and they gave me for my Cattel a quantity of Beads, five great Guns for a fortification, some powder and shott, and six Barrells of flower, about 70 barrs of Iron. the ship belonged to Jamaica and set saile from St. Maries November the 4th 1691, bound for Port Dolphin on Madagascar to take in their provision, and December 91 they set saile from Port Dolphin bound for America, where I have heard since they arrived at Carolina and Complyed with the owners, giving them for Ruin of the Ship three thousand pounds, as I have heard since.

Depositioin of Capt George Rainer August 22 1692 Carolina:

Capt. George Rainer, aged thirty-four years, swore that

about two years and a half before (ca. 1689) he had sailed out of

Port Royal, Jamaica, in the sloop Mary, Capt. George

Auston, in company with the Dyamond, Capt. Thomas

Harrison, the former sloop being owned by Francis

Walson, President of Jamaica, under the English flag;

that they took a French prize near "Portapee" and carried

it to Port Royal, where deponent heard it was condemned in

a court of admiralty as a French prize and sold and deponent

believed it, for he saw Col. Walker of the regiment of the town

of Port Royal, Capt, Simon Musgrove, their Majesties's

Attorney-General and Capt. Wilson, Reciver, deliver possession

thereof to John Bell & Company and saw the said Receiver

paid their Majesties's tenths of dry and wet goods belonging to

the prize, and that the prize was the same now in possession

of Captain William Petitt as owner and master thereof

and called the Carolina Merchant. (Page 52.)

These affidavits were made August 22, 1692, before

Philip Ludwell, Thomas Smith, Joseph Blake, Richard

Conant and Stephen Bull, Governor and Council1

Off the coast of Bombay, India in January 1692, the pirates of the Bachelors Delight with Raynor as their Captain, captured the sloop Unity. The defeated crew of the Unity were coerced to join with the pirates. The officers of the Unity were put out to sea and James Kelley was elected as captain of the new prize. The pirates entered the port at Bombay and set out to gather needed supplies. It seems, however, that they never paid for their goods. They were sought out by the Moors for this deed. Not only were these ruthless pirates taking their trade goods from their ships, they had the gall to rob their merchants on land as well.

Please note from records Raynor is Captain of the Bachellors Delight. If the Bachellors Delight and the ship Loyall Jamaica were the same ship, why was Thomas Harrison Captain of the Loyall Jamaica and why did Raynor take over command of a ship he already commanded?

The ships were two different ships and likely the Loyall Jamaica was riding in consort with the Bachellors Delight when they took their last known prize in the Indian Ocean.I have found records showing that the Bachellors Delight was destroyed by the Moors - Emperor Aurangzebe's men. It is likely the last person in charge of the ship Bachellors Delight was James Kelly. After the pirates/privateers took the prize and its cache of trade goods, all of the men vacated their ship and most headed back for America. The crew drew straws and traveled on different ships with plans to disembark at various points all along the Atlantic Seaboard.

Immigration to the South Carolina Colony, The original arrivals of the Loyall Jamaica

The following listed names were among the first inhabitants of the original Charles Towne and its vicinity whose descendants still call South Carolina their home and whose names we often associate today as the esteemed and respected familiar names of South Carolina society. The listed individuals arrived from England and the Caribbean on the ship “Loyal Jamaica” commonly called a privateer vessel Captained by George Raynor in April of the year 1692:

John Wattkins

Richard Newton

Roger Goss

Adam Richardson

Edmund Medlicott

William Balloh

Christopher Linkeley

Daniel Horry

Thomas Pinkney

Captain George Reiner

Joshua Wilkes

Robert Fenwicke

James Gilchrist

Francis (Francois) Blanchard

Roger Clare

William Crosslye

Daniel Rawlinson

Robert Matthews

Ralph Wilson

William Walesley (Whaley?)

Richard Abram

John Palmer

Captain Thomas Harrison

George Chicken

Possibly Cap'n Samms

Individuals associated with the Red Sea Pirates

Pirates created commerce as much as any other trades people and their ill-gotten gains often helped to pad the pockets of individuals of high esteem and political prestige. During the golden age of piracy, many a good (or bad) citizen of quality and wealth had his or her hands in pirate booty in one way or another. Additionally, many merchants of the period were actually some of the pirates. Captain George Raynor is an example of this as he was a merchant seaman of the Carolina colony whose connection to piracy was written about in a letter to the Lords of Trade and Plantations by William Penn of Pennsylvania. (Some documentation suggests that Captain Raynor was a privateer-a legal pirate). He was associated with the Colonial Carolina Governor James Moore of Goose Creek, Wassamassaw and Boochawee Plantation. Prior to becoming governor, Moore organized and lead a political faction known as "The Goose Creek Men" and his election as Governor of Carolina was considered by the opposing "Dissenters" to have been "unjust". At that time North Carolina and South Carolina had not been divided. Raynor's daughter Mary Raynor wed the Governor's son King Roger Moore who migrated from Goose Creek to the Cape Fear region of what later became North Carolina and built Orton Plantation there. Roger Moore, his brother Maurice, his brother Nathaniel and his twin sister Rebecca and their spouses and offspring would all settle the Lower Cape Fear around Brunswick to become collectively known as "The Family," the most prosperous, silk-stocking family of the Lower Cape Fear savannah. https://davcarsheros.weebly.com/the-moore-family.html This extremely affluent family alliance connects Pirate/Privateer Captain George Raynor and Carolina Governor James Moore.Both James Moore and George Raynor had been elected to the Colonial Assembly in 1698.

Pirate Captain Thomas Tew offers another example of a pirate who frequently was seen in the company of political figures and men of authority in the colonies. His association with Governor Fletcher of New York was well known and documented. Even the notorious Blackbeard was well connected to Colonial Aristocracy such as Governor Charles Eden and the Secretary of the Governor's Council Tobias Knight. It is from these types of individuals that the romanticized allure and envisionment of piracy has taken on a dapper quality. It was many of those notorious individuals associated with The Red Sea Men who actually fostered the emergence of the aristocratic tone in Charles Towne, SC.

New York Governor Benjamin Fletcher Captain Mason

Captain Thomas Tew Capt Robert Seabrook

Thomas Pinkney George Medicott

Landgrave Thomas Smith Captain William Petit

Dirk Chivers Captain George Austin

Henry Perry Captain Thomas Harrison

Captain Coats Col James Moore

Maj Maurice Moore Roger Moore

Governor James Moore Captain William Davis

Documenting the Red Sea Pirates

Deposition of Samuell Perkins August 25 1698 ( Regarding pirates in the East Indies 178)

This informant farther saith That he had heard upon Madagascar, That a little before his arrivall there That 14 of the Pyrates (belonging to Captain Tew, Captain Rayner, and Captain Mason and Captain Coats or some 178 of them)[17] had by consent divided themselves into two sevens, to fight for what they had (thinking they had not made a voyage sufficient for so many) and that one of the said Sevens were all killed, and five of the other, so that the two which survived enjoyed the whole Booty. And this Informant further saith, that he hath heard and believeth, that not only the ship Resolution to which he formerly belonged, but also the Mocha Friggat,[18] which run away out of the service of the East India Company, the Charles and Mary, and severall other ships manned by English and other European Nations, were about nine months since, when he came from Madagascar, and still are playing the Pyrates in the Streights of Mallaca, in the Red Sea and other Parts in the East Indies.

Madagascar was a popular pirate hideout, supply and transitioning location in the Red Sea vicinity that the Red Sea pirates frequented. The Island of St Marie's which was situated just off the North East coast of Madagascar offered a safe harbor location for careening ships between the Western side of the island and the coast of Madagascar. A former pirate Adam Baldridge had established a trade and supply post on St Marie's Island where many pirate and privateer vessels would take harbor and trade some or all of their newest acquired booty for alcohol and supplies.

The Red Sea Men were responsible for the construction of some grand log structures on the cliffs of Madagascar overlooking the Indian Ocean. From the vantage point of the cliffs they had a great view of the ocean and of any ships, trade ships or pirate ships, that were entering the area. This provided the Red Sea Men sufficient time to plan an attack or escape whichever might be necessary at any given time.

Red Sea Pirates

Robert Fenwick

Thomas Pinkney

George Chicken

John Wattkins

John Blackmore

Daniel Horry

William Crosby

Francois Blanchard

Captain Thomas Tew

Nathaniel North

John Bowen

George Booth

William Bollough (Balloh)

Captain George Raynor Berkeley County and Company; associates

Adam Baldridge – St Marie’s Island, Madagascar ex pirate who provided pirate provisions

William Kidd

James Kelley-Quartermaster and Commander Bachellors Delight

Edward Lowe

Samuel Lowe - Merchant

John Harris - Shipwright

Captain Thomas Harrison-Commander The Loyall Jamaica

William (Will) Prince - Commander of the Sloop Dyamond

Cap'n Samms - Kiawah Island, Cap'n Samms Spit

Ships

currently known to be associated with Captain George Raynor or any of the Red Sea Men.

The Sloop Dyamond, Captain Thomas Harrison (Left the Mary and Went to The Dyamond)

The Sloop Mary, Captain George Auston

The Loyal Jamaica, A Commandeered French Vessel

The Bachelors Delight, multiple sources indicate A Dutch Caravel, Frigate, Corvette or Pink

The Revenge. a Commandeered French Vessel

The Bachellors Delight

The Bachellor's Delight was once an ornate Dutch Caravel (or possibly the original Portsmouth Pink) captured or taken as a prize in a card game by Captain John Cooke and his men off the coast of Sierra Leone. A caravel was a small lateen-rigged vessel about 80 feet long used as a trading vessel. It was built with a deep full hull to accommodate a large amount of cargo. The Batchelor's delight was colorfully painted in Dutch style and decorated with a carved figure head at the stern. This particular ship had three known Captains, John Smith, Edward Davis and George Raynor, with a possible fourth being James Kelly who was Quartermaster for Raynor. The last raid of the Bachelors Delight resulted in the ship and its crew being taken by the Moors and burned.

The Loyal Jamaica

One of the ships connected to the Red Sea Men was the Loyall Jamaica. It has been historically described as a French vessel taken as a prize of war and Captained by merchant seaman George Raynor of Berkeley Cty. and Company. Raynor was previously of Port Royall, Jamaica who had migrated to the coastal region of Carolina and settled along the Stono River at John’s Island. This move seems to coincide with the 1692 Earthquake that tumbled Portt Royall into the ocean.

It is written the Loyal Jamaica was first seen in the colonies riding the waves along the Atlantic seaboard after its last raid on the Indian Ocean in 1692. Following a successful raid of one of Aurangzebes trading ships in the Indian Ocean, the Loyal Jamaica and crew was pursued from the coastal waters of colonial Pennsylvania to the southern end of Carolina just off shore from the new colony of Charles Towne. Early Colonial Carolina had developed a reputation for permitting the thieves of the high seas to take refuge along the Atlantic shores of their where the enormous rewards of pirate plunder had helped to make the Charles Towne and Bath prosperous.

Although these region were known as a ports of refuge for pirates and the like, when the Loyall Jamaica arrived to Charles Towne the authorities and the few inhabitants of the new colony did not welcome the suspected pirates to their little village in Carolina and the authorities refused to allow the crew to disembark their ship. They hoped to put an end to the once flourishing pirate trade from their prosperous new town and vicinity. Whether or not it was the desire of the residents and merchants who had accepted and welcomed both the commerce and the Red Sea Men to the area, the local authorities sought to rid the area of any suspected pirates, buccaneers and privateers along the Carolina coast.

The Loyal Jamaica had a crew of about 70 individuals on board. Captain Raynor and his crew trekked across the bay of the Carolina province likely planning a strategy for escape from possible arrest by the local authorities. The ship weighed anchor along the coast at the rear of Sullivan's island in April of 1692. The ship was later discovered where it had been run aground at Sewee Bay. The Loyal Jamaica had been stripped of her furniture and plunder and Captain Raynor and his entire crew had abandoned their ship and disappeared scattered into the Carolina low country.

Please note that there is a maritime researcher posting information that the Loyal Jamaica and the Batchelors Delight are the same ship. I believe this to be false as I have found information to support there were two ships. The Batchelors Delight was confiscated by Aurangzebes military and destroyed. The crew, including James Kelly who had control of the ship, was arrested while in India, at least that part of the crew that left with the ship Batchelors Delight following their last raid. The capture of the crew did not take place when the Indian trading vessel was taken, but rather later when part of the crew docked at a port in India and disembarked from the Batchelors Delight into the town to gather supplies and possibly spend some of their ill-gotten gains. The ship and crew was recognized as being involved in the plunder of Aurangzebes trading vessels and they were immediately captured. Aurangzebe ordered the ship destroyed and it was set ablaze. By this time the Batchelors Delight was an old ship.

The Loyall Jamaica was a French Prize that was transferred by the Court of Admiralty in Jamaica to Samuel Lowe,John d'Harriett and Captain Thomas Harrison. One record lists Capt. Thomas Harrison as the sole owner of the ship. It was later acquired by Captain George Raynor in Jamaica who sailed the ship to St Johns Island in Carolina. I believe capt. Raynor took the ship from Jamaica between Jan 1 and July 1 of 1692. Between July 7, 1692 and September 10, 1692, the owners of the ship Loyall Jamaica sent an agent, William Prince,on the Dyamond, to Carolina to locate and collect their money from Captain Raynor. On September 10, 1692 the records show that Capt. George Rainer, Berkeley Cty,. and Company, sell to said Capt, Rainer ...the ship called 'Loyall Jamaica.' After it participated in another raid on Aurangzebes richly laden trading vessels, the Loyall Jamaica was run aground at See Wee Bay in South Carolina.

“Page 140: p 482-80 (inverted entry): 10 Sept 1692 Carolina SS

"William Prince, late of Port Royall, Jamaica, Master of the sloop Dyamond, now riding before the Port of Charles Town, constituted attorney by and to Samuel Lowe, merchant, John Harris, shipwright, and Capt. Thos. Harrison, all now or late of Port Royall, for the sum of L2000 current spanish money for Capt. George Rainer, Berkeley Cty., and Company sell to sd Capt. Rainer all their interest in the ship called 'Loyal Jamaica' and late belonging to the island of Jamaica and where sd Capt Rainer and Co., sailed out of and since arrived within the Port of Charles Town. Will Prince (s). Wit: John Weir, Will. Smith. Mem: receipt for L2000 Will Prince. Proved 9 Sept 1692 by Hobson and Will Smith, vitner, before Joseph Blake.”

“p. 139: p 476-7, July 1692. Jamaica: Samuel Lowe, late of Port Royall in the island aforesd...merchant, and John Harris, the same place, shipwirgt and the said Lowe as attorney for capt. Thos. Harrison, sole owner of the ship "Loyall Jamaica", (or howsoever since named) appoint Capt. William Prince of the place aforesd...mariner, their attorney to demand and receive from Capt. George Raynor or any other all money and merchandise whatsoever'd to them. Samuel Lowe (s), John Harris (s), Samuel Lowe (s). Witness: Adam Moore, David Hart, John (J.Y.) Yong, Proved 6 Sept. 1692 before Phill Ludwell, Thomas Smith, Joseph Blake and Ste: Bull"

A faulty article posted on Wikipedia online. The information contained in this article is incorrect. Everyone should realize that the true story of history is only as good as the people who write the history. Documents I have uncovered negate what is contained here.

For other people named George Raynor, see George Raynor (disambiguation).

George Raynor (1665-1743?, first name occasionally Georg or Josiah, last name also spelled Raynor, Reiner, or Rayner) was a pirate active in the Red Sea. Before he was briefly a pirate captain, he was a sailor on the Batchelor’s Delight which circumnavigated the globe with William Dampier.

History[edit]

In 1683 near Guinea, privateer John Cook captured the Dutch merchantman Batchelor’s Delight, which itself had been the Portsmouth when captured by Dutch privateers from its English owners.[1] With Cook were William Dampier and Edward Davis, who would later captain the ship after Cook died in 1684,[2] as well as sailor George Raynor. They sailed around South America raiding Spanish shipping and towns in concert with Charles Swan's Cygnet and others.[2]

After scarce success and meeting defeat near Panama, the buccaneer fleet broke up in August 1685.[2] Davis took the Batchelor’s Delight westward to the East Indies,[3] eventually returning to the West Indies in 1688 and Philadelphia by that May. [4]

Shortly afterwards the 14-gun, 80-man ship was sold to its former crew,[5] and Raynor had now become Captain the Batchelor’s Delight, taking ships in the Indian Ocean.[6] He put in at Adam Baldridge’s pirate trading post near Madagascar in late 1691. After resupplying and repairing the ship, renamed Loyal Jamaica,[1] they shared out treasure from their voyage and sailed back to the Province of South Carolina.[6] Raynor ran the ship aground and gave its guns to Charles Town. Absolved of piracy by 1692, he and the crew settled locally.[7] Records show him recognized as a merchant, having been indemnified against accusations stemming from his pirate days;[8] he eventually moved to Cape Fear.[4]

Raynor’s name appears again as an associate of Thomas Tew and Henry Every.[6] Raynor may have signed aboard for Thomas Tew’s second voyage alongside Every in 1694, which resulted in Tew's death. Eventually making his way back to New York City around 1700, possibly with William May, Raynor was suspected of piracy and had to petition a friend to intercede with Governor Benjamin Fletcher to release his treasure chest.[9]After selling his Long Island property he settled in Connecticut.[9]

Some sources show the Batchelor's Delight in the hands of former crewman (and associate of Cook's) James Kelley after Raynor's departure; Kelley continued his piracy in the Indian Ocean before he was captured by Moorish pirates in 1692. They burned his ship, but Kelley and his crew escaped their captors in 1696 and made their way home alongside William Kidd; subsequently they were arrested, transported to London for trial, and executed.[4][5] However, there were known to be multiple ships of the same name (Bachelor's Delight / Batchelor's Delight) operating in the same time period.[10]

Raynor and The Red Sea Pirates [email protected]

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Captain George Raynor and The Red Sea Men

1670 Map of Jamaica