Background
Richard was born in England, possibly in London, United Kingdom, around 1609 into a Protestant family that schooled him.
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Richard Ingle
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His family schooled him.
Career
As master of the ship Eleanor of London he appeared in Maryland in March 1641/2, bringing with him Thomas Cornwallis, an important figure in the province. The following year he was again in the colony, suing for debts. On January 18, 1643/4 a warrant charging him with high treason was issued. He was arrested and his ship, the Reformation, was seized with its cargo. Through the connivance of Cornwallis and the sheriff, Parker, Ingle and his ship were released.
Various juries repeatedly refused to convict Ingle of treasonable utterances against the King. An indictment for piracy also failed. Having deposited powder and shot to guarantee his appearance in court the following year, he resumed his trading in the province and was granted a small island upon which he put hogs "to inhabit it. "
After his departure for London it was discovered that he had failed to pay the customs and other dues, and his goods in Maryland were sequestered. Cornwallis was found guilty as an accessory to Ingle's escape and was fined one thousand pounds of tobacco, a fine from which he was temporarily respited.
In February 1644/5 Ingle, armed with letters of marque from the Lord High Admiral under authority of Parliament, appeared off the Virginia coast. He proposed to the crew to change to a "man of war cruize" to Maryland and offered them a sixth of all plunder. Sailing to the mouth of St. Ignatius Creek he attacked and captured the Speagle, a Dutch ship loading for Holland. With two armed ships, he had the province in his possession. He took St. Thomas' Fort and forced Governor Calvert to flee into Virginia. He burned houses, seized tobacco, guns, and other goods, and scattered the inhabitants. While professing to represent Parliament and to protect Protestants he plundered the province. Against Cornwallis he now bore a deep hatred, and pillaged his estate. Nor did he forget those who had been active in his arrest the previous year. When he sailed to London with the Speagle and the Reformation he carried off three of them as prisoners.
Once again in England he sued to have the Speagle as a prize, but there is no record of a decision. A long series of suits and counter-suits between Cornwallis and Ingle were settled after several years when Ingle transferred certain bills to Cornwallis and empowered him to collect them. Meanwhile Ingle had carried on a long struggle to deprive Lord Baltimore of legal title to Maryland, and various petitions in regard to the matter were presented to Parliament. At length, in December 1649, he sent a long petition to the Council of State, but after many postponements he was found "unprovided to prove his charges" and his petition was dismissed.
In February 1649/50 he informed the Council that enemies of the Commonwealth were about to sail to Virginia. In April the Council awarded him £30 for his services in the keeping of Captain Gardner, arrested for treason. The last record of him is in November 1653, when he several times wrote Edward Marston for a settlement of prize money due him, since, "having been sick, my need of money is great. "
