Woodes Rogers

In 1705, he married Sarah Whetstone, daughter of Rear Admiral Sir William Whetstone, who was a close family friend, and became a freeman of Bristol because of his marriage into the respectable Whetstone family. Between 1706 and 1708, Woodes and Sarah had one son and two daughters.

After he was declared bankrupt and their fourth child died in infancy, Woodes and Sarah permanently separated. After his death, a street near the harbor in Nassau was named after him."Piracy expelled, commerce restored" was made the motto of the Bahamas, which remained till the islands gained independence in 1973.

Woodes Rogers was born in 1679 as the eldest son of a successful merchant captain Woods Rogers in Dorset, England. Woodes Rogers spent his childhood in Poole, England, where he attended school. His father owned shares in many ships, and was often away in the fishing fleet. Sometime between 1690 and 1696, Captain Woods Rogers moved his family to Bristol.

In 1697, Woodes Rogers started a seven-year apprenticeship with Bristol mariner John Yeamans to learn the profession of a sailor.

During the War of the Spanish Succession in 1702, Woodes Rogers suffered losses against the French, and to recoup the losses, he turned to privateering. In 1706, his father Captain Rogers died at sea, and Woodes Rogers inherited his ships and business.

In 1707, his father’s friend and navigator William Dampier proposed that Rogers lead a privateering expedition against the Spanish. He thus commanded two ships, Duke and Duchess, and was the captainof Duke.

Woodes Rogers faced several challenges during the expedition. About 40 crew members were deserted or dismissed, so he had to spend a month in Ireland recruiting new crew members, and repairing the ship for the sea. Many of the crew members were foreigners, and some of them mutinied after Rogers refused to let them plunder a neutral Swedish vessel. However, the mutiny was put down.

During the expedition, when the two ships reached the little-known Juan Fernandez Island on February 1, 1709, they spotted a fire ashore, and discovered Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, who had been marooned on the island for the last four years. He was rescued, and later given command of one of the prized ships earned during the expedition.

Rogers captured a number of vessels during the expedition, and attacked the town of Guayaquil, which is located in Ecuador. Due to a sickness on board, six men died, and Rogers lost contact with one of the captured ships. When the ships reached the Dutch port of Batavia, Rogers underwent surgery on his mouth to rectify a wound he suffered during the battle.