Historian Jack Fitzgerald weighs in on grave mystery
Author suggests mysterious Harbour Grace tomb could belong to famous Newfoundland pirate
The identity of the remains in a grave at Harbour Grace displaying the pirate’s skull and crossbones might never be known, but there is a possibility that it’s the resting place of Capt. John Keating.
He is the most internationally famous of all Newfoundland pirates.
Keating was born in Harbour Grace in 1808 and died at St. John’s in 1882.
While two sons of Harbour Grace are mentioned in the many books on “The Lost Treasure of Lima” — also known as “The Cocos Island Treasure” — Keating is the one who found the treasure in 1841 and again in 1845.
The treasure was originally pirated in 1821 by Capt. William Thompson from the port of Callao, Peru, and buried on Cocos Island.
The second person was Capt. Nick Fitzgerald from Riverhead, Harbour Grace.
He was given the map by Keating (about 25 years later), and after Keating’s death, made a deal with adventurer Herve Montmorency to give him the map in return for five per cent of the treasure.
At today’s value, the treasure is estimated to be worth $350 million.
Of the two Harbour Grace natives, the one most likely to have a grave marked with the sign of a pirate is Keating.
After finding the treasure and returning to St. John’s — twice — with parts of the hidden Lima treasure, Keating bragged about his success so much that townspeople nick-named him “Keating of the Cocos.”
When he first met Fitzgerald, he boasted, “I am known in St. John’s as Keating of the Cocos.”
In fact, Rupert Furneaux, author of “The Great Treasure Hunt,” claimed, “From John Keating has descended the fundamental Cocos Legend which is accepted by all modern Treasure Hunters.”
It was Keating’s successful expedition in 1841 that set off a treasure hunt craze that continues to this day. Nobody goes in search of that treasure without researching Keating.
In 2012, German filmmaker Dr. Ina Knobloch — with whom I worked on earlier documentaries on this treasure — teamed up with a British industrialist on a treasure-hunting expedition.
The Montmorency Expedition failed and Fitzgerald died in 1905.
I located Fitzgerald’s grave, but had no success in making an absolute finding of Keating’s grave.
Up till now I believed that he was buried with his first wife and child in the family grave at Belvedere in St. John’s. Yet, his name is not on the tombstone, so I cannot be certain he is buried there.
Montmorency published a book on his expedition. It created a sensation here due to the Newfoundland connections.
The Lima treasure was originally stolen by Britishborn Capt. William Thompson and, after burying it on Cocos Island, he returned several times to retrieve portions of it.
While trying to evade authorities, he crossed over Mexico and ended up in Metanzas, Cuba, where he met Keating. Thompson jumped at the opportunity to join Keating as a crewman on his return to Newfoundland.
In St. John’s, Thompson boarded with Keating’s mother two doors east of Prescott Street. Keating and the pirate soon became friends.
They turned to Capt. Billy Boig, whose residence was on George Street, to plan a major expedition to retrieve all the treasure. This expedition ran into problems, Thompson died and Boig was murdered. Keating found the treasure, did not tell the crew, and took as much as he could carry back to Newfoundland.
Keating displayed during his lifetime the kind of ego that would prompt him to immortalize his connection to one of the world’s greatest pirate stories with a skull and crossbones marking his grave.