![]() ![]() His body was displayed in chains on a gibbet for twenty years as a warning to others who chose to follow the occupation of piracy. Despite his previous semi-official work on behalf of the authorities of that country he was convicted, partially through perfidy, and he was hanged on. He was deported to England and questioned by parliament. Despite precautions, Kidd was arrested, imprisoned and temporarily lost his wits. On the journey back to America, Kidd found that he was now a declared pirate and had to tread carefully. The Quedah Merchant was renamed the Adventure Prize, and was retained by Kidd. Kidd and his crew captured the ship, which had a cargo estimated at £70000. They captured a ship named the Quedah Merchant near India. In 1698 it is said that Kidd’s crew forced him into undisguised piracy. Later duties included ridding the Indian Ocean of bona fide pirates, but in this manner of line the line between poacher and gamekeeper was perilously thin. During the English-French war at the end of the 17 th century Kidd acted as a privateer for the authorities. He cannily married a well off widow named Sarah Bradley Cox Oort and quickly made a fortune, including in the mercantile trade. Kidd went to the colonies and became a leading merchant in New York. Proponents of Kidd’s Dundonian origins state that his father was a seaman named John Kidd and his mother Bessie Butchart. Noell in the High Court of the Admiralty), William Kidd stated that he was indeed born in Dundee. What other links are there? Kidd certainly named his cabin boy Dundee, and in a case where he gave evidence in court (Jackson and Jacobs v. It has been suggested that the putative link with Greenock was actually derived from an error and the actual place he was linked to was the village named Carnock, near Dundee. There is also a preponderance of the surname Kidd in Fife, just across the River Tay. 1811, a legal writer and politician who was born in Arbroath. Another notable Angus native was Stewart Kyd, d. Another, later notable man with the same surname is Colonel Robert Kyd (1746-1793), a British army officer from Angus who served in India. Also in 1534 there is a record of Williame Kidd, ‘reidare at Dundie’. This branch were in possession of Craigie from around 1534 until the middle of the 18 th century. ![]() Patrick’s brother also married a Wedderburn (in fact sister of his brother’s wife). ![]() Other branches of the family flourished at Craigie, where Patrick Kyd, married Margaret, daughter of Andrew Wedderburn of Blackness in the 17 th century. This voyage now unfinish’d, he’s unrigg’d A scout around the graveyards of Angus leads to evidence of the maritime connection for instance at Broughty Ferry we find the memorial of John Kid, ship-master who died on 15 th April 1806, aged 61. A well known Dundee publisher which flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries was William Kidd. Those of a certain vintage who are familiar with the Lochee area of Dundee will well know that Kiddie’s is the popular appellation of the public house officially called the Albert Bar (occasionally frequented by this author in the distant past.). In 1841 the surname Kidd (or variants) was the 70th most common surname in Angus. Among the other notable Angus natives who bore the surname was Stewart Kyd, a libertarian, lawyer and native of Arbroath who died in 1811. Notable members of the family with some sort of maritime connection include John Kyd, Dundee shipmaster (died 1796), the mariner Richard Kyd of Dundee (who died in 1783), and Robert Kyd, ship-master in Montrose (died in 1794). In the Register of Testaments in the Commissariat of Brechin records for the 17th and 18th centuries there are some 45 people with the surname Kyd or Kidd, most of them around the southern Angus coast and Dundee. Before looking at his life, we can consider how common the family name is in God’s Own County. The legend of his life degenerated to the extent that he was eventually lampooned in the extremely non-classic film ‘Abbott and Costello meet Captain Kidd.’ Another grievous slur against him was that he was actually a native of Greenock – only joking! For those who wish to examine the evidence about his possible west coast origins, please consult the excellent Tales of the Oak blog site.įor others interested in his true, Angus origins, read on. It was the fate of Captain William Kidd (1645-1701) to be mis-remembered after his dishonourable death and slandered in the centuries since as a common pirate.
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