Has ‘Black Sam’, world’s richest pirate, risen from his watery grave?
HE IS thought to be the richest pirate that ever lived – amassing a hoard of treasure worth hundreds of millions in today’s money, before he was lost at sea along with his ship.
Captain “Black Sam” Bellamy and his crew were aboard the Whydah Gally when it encountered one of the most violent storms ever recorded off New England in 1717, and sank, killing most on board and depositing its treasure on the ocean floor.
The wreck, along with the treasure, was found off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1984. In the years since, archaeologists have continued to search the site and now believe they may have found the captain himself.
The remains were displayed for the first time in Massachusetts yesterday and DNA extracted from the corpse will be compared with that of an English descendant.
Bellamy, who was 28 when he died, was reputedly a striking figure, always clean and fashionably dressed. He was regarded as a fair captain and was known as “the Robin Hood of the sea”.
A male descendant is still believed to live in Devon, where Bellamy, also known as the “Prince of Pirates”, was born in 1689. The unnamed relative came to the Whydah Pirate Museum in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, two years ago with records proving his lineage, researchers told The Daily Telegraph.
The museum has enlisted forensic scientists from the University of New Haven to carry out the DNA testing.
Chris Macort, an archaeologist and director of the museum’s ship exhibit, said: “Bellamy moved from Devon, England to Massachusetts in 1715.
“We know we have a connection with the direct descendants from Sam Bellamy and I believe they’re still living in the area.”
Researchers removed a human femur from a concretion – a conglomerate of iron, stone, silver and gold.
“His remains are surrounded by a giant web of tools and weapons, it’s a real time capsule, which is exciting stuff,” Mr Macort said. “From some of the other skeletal remains we’ve found there are traces of a crushed helmet, so it’s clear that it was a violent death.”
The archaeologists believe the objects surrounding the femur make it highly likely it belongs to Bellamy.
“There’s a very ornate pistol that was wrapped in a ribbon. It’s expensive so that might have belonged to the captain, so that’s another indicator for us that it’s more probable for us that it is Bellamy,” said Mr Macort.
Professor Timothy Palmbach, chair of forensic sciences at the University of New Haven, said the pistol matched historic records of Bellamy’s gun.
He told the Telegraph: “The evidence that it’s Bellamy’s [femur] is exceedingly compelling. It was immediately next to a pistol that was proved to be Bellamy’s without a shadow of a doubt. The pistol had some unique features and symbols and it was presented to him in a very decorative silk ribbon.
“It’s completely consistent with Bellamy’s pistol.” Barry Clifford, the archaeologist
‘We’ve found there are traces of a crushed helmet so it’s clear that it was a violent death’
who first discovered the wreck in 1984, told the Telegraph he hoped to set up a museum in the UK if the remains prove to be those of the notorious Bellamy. “I would love to bring ... this pirate back home,” he said.