Capt. Bartholomew Roberts, Pirate

ROBERTS, Captain Bartholomew. Welsh pirate was born in 1682, and died 1722. He was known to have captured and taken over 400 vessels, only to be rivaled by Sir Henry Morgan.

Roberts, like many other successful pirates, was born in Wales, not far from Haverfordwest. He was described as being “a tall black man,” and was about 40 years of age at the time of his death. He was remarkable, even among his remarkable companions, for several things. First of all, he only drank tea — thus being the only total abstainer known to the fraternity. Also he was a strict disciplinarian…