Richard Ingle (b. c. 1609 – d. 1653) was an English sea captain, tobacco trader, and privateer in colonial Maryland. Along with William Claiborne, Ingle revolted against Maryland Catholic leaders in the name of English Parliament and Puritans in a period known as the Plundering Time. Ingle and his men attacked ships and captured the colonial capital of the proprietary government in St. Mary's City.
Captain Richard Ingle | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1609 |
| Died | 1653 (aged 43–44) |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging? |
| Nationality | English |
| Other names | Mr. Inglee,[1] "Jugle"[citation needed] |
| Occupation(s) | sea captain, tobacco trader, privateer |
| Known for | Making war with the Catholic colonial Governor Lord Baltimore and Catholics in the Province of Maryland in the name of English Parliament and the Maryland Puritans, plundering ships and attacking and seizing the colonial capital of St. Mary's City |
| Opponents |
|
| Piratical career | |
| Allegiance | Commonwealth of England  Commonwealth Parliamentary Navy |
| Years active | 1642–1653 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Base of operations | Chesapeake Bay, St. Mary's City, Province of Maryland |
| Battles/wars | Plundering Time (1644–1646) Capture of St. Mary's City, Province of Maryland (1645) |
Early life
editRichard Ingle was born in England, possibly in London, into a Protestant family that schooled him. He became a trader and ship captain, transporting the goods of Maryland colonial traders from England and back,[2] and later became a prominent trader of tobacco. Ingle's name appears in records in 1642, when he arrived in Boston captaining the Eleanor with a shipment of tobacco from Virginia.[1]
Ingle's Revolt
edit
When the English Civil War broke out in the early 1640s, Ingle sided with the Puritans. He fell out with the Catholic leaders of the province of Maryland. Royalist proprietary governor Leonard Calvert seized his ship, but Ingle escaped.[when?]
In January 1643/4, Ingle was reported as part owner and master of the trading ship, Reformation.[3] A warrant for his arrest from William Hardrige was made to be carried out by Thomas Cornwallis.[4]
Ingle returned in February 1645 with the ship Reformation and assailed the Maryland colony in the name of English Parliament. Ingle attacked the settlement of St. Mary's City, the colonial capital, and imprisoned leaders of the colony. Governor Calvert fled to Virginia. Ingle's men built a palisade around Leonard Calvert's property and named it "Pope's Fort" in tribute to Colonel Nathaniel Pope, the owner of the Calvert property.[5][6][7]
Plundering Time
editCaptain Richard Ingle took control of the Maryland colonial government and along with fellow Protestant William Claiborne, an Anglican church adherent, ushered in a period of unrest and lawlessness from 1644 to 1646 known as the "Claiborne and Ingle's rebellion", or "Plundering Time".[8] Under Ingle's leadership, his men looted property of wealthy Roman Catholic settlers. Ingle claimed that he had a letter of marque to cruise the waters of Shesapeake (Chesapeake Bay) by permission of the new Long Parliament in England.[9] Local settlers regarded him as a pirate.[2] He put two Jesuit priests, Andrew White and Thomas Copley, in chains and transported them back to England.
Governor Calvert returned in August 1646 with a military force and re-established his control of the colony.[10] Calvert died in June 1647 due to illness. In 1648, Richard Ingle was called a "notorious and ungrateful villain" by Maryland leaders.[11][12]
Death
editThough most of his men were granted amnesty, Richard Ingle, according to some sources, was specifically exempted from being released, made an example of, and executed as a pirate in 1653.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ a b Winthrop, John. Winthrop's Journal, "History of New England, " 1630-1649. United States, C. Scribner's sons, 1908.
- ^ a b "Exploring Maryland's Roots: Library: Richard Ingle (1609-1653)". mdroots.thinkport.org.
- ^ Henry F. Thompson, "Richard Ingle in Maryland" Maryland Historical Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 2 (June 1906). MSA SC5881-1-2
- ^ Ingle, Edward. Captain Richard Ingle, the Maryland "pirate and Rebel," 1642-1653: A Paper. United States, J. Murphy & Company, 1884.
- ^ Rose, Mark. "The Forgotten Fight for America." Archaeology, vol. 58, no. 1, 2005, pp. 46–51. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41779871. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.
- ^ Beale, G. W. “Col. Nathaniel Pope and His Descendants.” The William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, vol. 12, no. 3, 1904, pp. 192–96. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1915552. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.
- ^ "Colonial Encounters: The Lower Potomac River Valley, 1500-1720 AD". colonialencounters.org.
- ^ Maryland State Archives Governors of Maryland 1634 – 1689
- ^ Jonas, Manfred. “The Claiborne-Calvert Controversy: An Episode in the Colonization of North America.” Jahrbuch Für Amerikastudien, vol. 11, 1966, pp. 241–50. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41155175. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
- ^ "Leonard Calvert |".
- ^ Bozman, John Leeds. The History of Maryland: From Its First Settlement, in 1633, to the Restoration, in 1660 ; with a Copious Introduction, and Notes and Illustrations. United States, J. Lucas & E.K. Deaver, 1837.
- ^ Council Proceedings from 1636 to 1657, pp 205
Further reading
edit- Donnelly, Mark P. and Daniel Diehl. Pirates of Maryland: Plunder and High Adventure in the Chesapeake Bay. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2012.
- Maloney, Eric John. "Papists and Puritans in Early Maryland: Religion in the Forging of Provincial Society, 1632–1665". PhD. Dissertation. Stony Brook, NY: State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1996.
- Riordan, Timothy B. Plundering Time: Maryland and the English Civil War, 1645–1646. Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2004.