Anstis Crew Mock Trial

This is a print taken from Captain Charles Johnson's 1724 book, A General History of the Robberies and Murders Of the most notorious Pyrates, depicting a mock trial held by the pirate crew of Captain Thomas Anstis. Anstis was a pirate captain active in the Caribbean and the east coast of the American colonies in the early eighteenth century during the "Golden Age of Piracy." He served under Captain Howell Davis and Captain Bartholomew Roberts before he took command of his own vessel, the Good Fortune. Anstis and his crew performed the "Mock Court of Judicature to try one another for Pyracy" in 1722 on a deserted island off the coast of Cuba as they wanted for news from King George II as to whether he would pardon them for their pirating activities.