Talk:Calico Jack

Capture
I spent a good deal of time editing the capture section as there were several errors present. Dry Harbour Bay / Discovery Bay, where it was previously stated Rackham was captured, is mentioned in the tryals of Captain John Rackham, but Rackham’s stop there was recorded to be on October 20 which is well ahead of the date of his capture. The document does not provide an exact date for Rackham’s capture but in another document, Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies: Volume 32, 1720-1721, Governor Sir N. Lawes reported that Barnet captured Rackham “about a fortnight ago” in a November 13 entry. This would put the date of his capture on or around October 31. Lawes also wrote that capture took place at the leeward part of the island which is the west coast of Jamaica.

Another clue to the location is Jonathan Barnet's sailing route that's described in the trial document. It's mentioned that Barnet was sailing towards Negril point heading for Cuba. The document goes on to say that Barnet put the pirates ashore at Davis's Cove (referred to as Industry Cove today) which is roughly 13 miles north of Negril. Negril is approximately 75 miles from Dry Harbour Bay and it makes no sense for Barnet to travel that distance, passing numerous towns and cities, just to bring the prisoners ashore. Barnet would have stopped in the closest settlement to turn the pirates over.

I also removed “Barnet's sloop attacked Rackham's ship and captured it after a fight presumably led by Mary Read and Anne Bonny.” because there are no sources that validate that claim. Barnet's account is that Rackhams sloop fired a swivel gun, Barnet ordered a broadside fired in return which destroyed the boom on Rackham's ship, and the pirates called out for quarter. If Mary Read and Anne Bonny were determined to fight they likely would have been killed instead of captured.

I hope I don't come off in a bad light for this edit, but I am a stickler for accurate, fact-based history.

Jack and Lake Michigan?
I have found several websites claiming Jack Rackham had a stint up in Lake Michigan, where he was known to steal everything from "tackle boxes to boats." Due to the nature of the sources I find this dubious, but I also think that his status as a sort of local legend would be an appropriate addition to this article. (The sources in question:, , and .) Cynthia-Coriníon (talk) 09:21, 22 December 2021 (UTC)

Jolly Roger date/authenticity
This article claims that the skull and crossbones flag likely dates back to the early 20th century, but the actual Wikipedia article on Jolly Rogers claims they were used throughout the 1700s. Abelhawk (talk) 19:27, 21 April 2022 (UTC)


 * @Abelhawk The article is talking about Rackham's (supposed) own personal Jolly Roger flag - white skull above crossed white swords on a black background - not about Jolly Rogers in general. The flag that is popularly attributed to Rackham is a modern invention dating to the 1950s. TheLastBrunnenG (talk) 00:14, 22 April 2022 (UTC)

Captain Rackham section
This section is a mess. The first paragraph mentions he capture the Kingston, then the second says he received a pardon, followed by the third paragraph stating he captured the Kingston. So did he capture the Kingston twice, or were there two ships both named "Kingston", or what? On top of that, the dates are all over the place and don't make sense. Paragraph two says he went to obtain a pardon in 1719. It is immediately followed by stating he captured the Kingston in December, which resulted in bounty hunters nearly capturing him in February 1719. Either the year of the pardon is wrong, the year of the near capture is wrong, or for some inexplicable reason the section is not in chronological order and is jumping back and forth between events. 2600:1700:B280:B1C0:ADFC:209C:3C4D:E764 (talk) 11:46, 9 August 2023 (UTC)

Date and place of birth
Removing the 26 December 1682 birth date and England as place of birth. Rackham's birth date is not mentioned in his trial documents or other articles or letters from the period. This date seems to be a confused modern addition. Different modern sources like Peter Lehr's book "Pirates" and websites like "Legends of America" repeat the 26 December 1682 date but they don't say where they got that info. Editing out the date until we can find a primary source or period source that documents this date. If people keep restoring it and only linking to books or sites that don't cite their sources, then at least I can add a warning about the uncertainty of the date. TheLastBrunnenG (talk) 02:51, 7 November 2023 (UTC)