Background
John Quelch was born in London, England, United Kingdom about 1665.
John Quelch was born in London, England, United Kingdom about 1665.
John claimed public notice in the summer of 1703. In July of that year the brigantine Charles, owned by a number of respectable Boston merchants, was commissioned by Governor Dudley as a privateer to sail against the French in Acadia and Newfoundland. On August 1 the ship lay off Marblehead, fully manned, but the sailing was delayed by the illness of Capt. Daniel Plowman. The crew showing signs of the disorder, Plowman wrote the owners to come and safeguard their interests, but before anything could be accomplished, the crew took possession of the ship and locked Plowman in his cabin. John Quelch, the lieutenant-commander, then came aboard, and acquiescing in the arrangement, was chosen captain, probably because of his knowledge of navigation over one Anthony Holding, who was the ringleader of the plot. The vessel sailed immediately and shortly after it had gained the open sea, Plowman was thrown overboard.
Instead of heading north, the Charles was turned south to the coast of Brazil, where between November 15, 1703, and February 17, 1704, nine vessels were captured and looted by the crew. All these vessels were Portuguese, and as Portugal was at peace with England, the acts constituted flagrant piracy specifically covered by Article XVIII of the Treaty of May 16, 1703, between England and Portugal. While the captures were small, the booty included valuable quantities of provisions: cloth, silks, sugar, rum, and slaves together with gold dust and coin to the value of £1, 000.
Following a notice in the Boston News-Letter of May 22, 1704, that the Charles had arrived at Marblehead, the owners filed charges with the authorities that led the attorney-general to set out to capture Quelch and his crew, who in the meantime had deserted the vessel and had begun to scatter. By May 25 the attorney-general had safely lodged in Boston jail Quelch and six of his companions, and several more of the malefactors were later captured. Most of the prisoners were arraigned on this day, several pleading guilty and turning Crown witnesses. On June 19, Quelch was brought to trial.
On June 30, 1704, the culprits were brought to the gallows. The efforts of several Boston ministers, led by Cotton Mather, to bring the prisoners to repentance continued to the very foot of the gallows, but in the case of Quelch, at least, were unavailing. His only remarks were to warn the people to "take care how they brought money into New England, to be hanged for it", and to complain of conviction on purely circumstantial evidence. While Quelch was clearly involved in the acts of piracy, no evidence appeared that he was directly responsible for the death of Plowman or any of the Portuguese captives. The speed and questionable procedure of the trial, together with the evident eagerness of the authorities to confiscate and divide the treasure between themselves and the Crown, led a later official report to characterize it as "one of the clearest cases of judicial murder in our American annals" He died on June 30, 1704.
