William Cotter (pirate)

William Cotter (1670–1702) was a resident of Maryland who was accused of piracy in 1698 by Richard Beard who was the High Sheriff of Anne Arundel County and Cotter's neighbor.

In 1693 Cotter married the daughter of Nicholas Gassaway who the progenitor of the Gassaway family in America. Around this time he had inherited the Gresham Estate from his father in law Nicholas who had died.[1]

In 1698 Cotter was living peacefully in Anne Arundel, Maryland at the Gresham Estate when Richard Beard who was the High Sheriff had caught wind of his life as a pirate.[2] Cotter had a friend named George Blackmore that confessed that he and William Cotter "went out of Jamaica under the Command of one George Raynor in a private man of war Commissioned by the Lord Inchequin, then Governor of Jamaica.” they later sailed to the Red Sea and raided Arab ships and every member of the crew got £1100 which Cotter later retired on. The exact dates of when these events transpired is unknown.

Cotter died peacefully in 1702 of unknown causes and his sons William and Thomas inherited the Gresham Estate.

References

Booker, Margaret Moore (2011-02-23), "National Register of Historic Places in America", Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 2021-08-10
Dalton, Claire Goode, Teresa Marcus, and Kyle (2020-04-11). "A Sin and A Secret: William Cotter: South River Pirate and Grog". historiclondontown. Retrieved 2021-08-10.

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[1] Booker, Margaret Moore (2011-02-23), "National Register of Historic Places in America", Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 2021-08-10

[2] Dalton, Claire Goode, Teresa Marcus, and Kyle (2020-04-11). "A Sin and A Secret: William Cotter: South River Pirate and Grog". historiclondontown. Retrieved 2021-08-10.