Let me introduce you to the parents of "Blackbeard the Pirate"...Capt. Edward and Elizabeth Thache of St. Jago de la Vega or Spanish Town, Jamaica. 

 

Capt. Thache was a mariner born in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, England in 1659. He probably moved to Bristol, about forty miles away, married Elizabeth and had two children: Edward Jr. and Elizabeth. They moved to Jamaica sometime before May 1695 and settled in St. Catherine’s Parish near St. Jago de la Vega.  Elizabeth soon died and was buried at the parish church in January 1699. Edward remarried to twice-widowed Lucretia Poquet Maverly Axtell in June 1699 and they raised three more children.

 

Edward “Blackbeard” Thache Jr. joined the Royal Navy and fought in Queen Anne’s War. He served aboard Adm. William Whetstone's flagship, the HMS Windsor, stationed at Port Royal. When the war was over, he worked as a merchant mariner from Kingston until he met pirate Benjamin Hornigold of Eleuthera, The Bahamas, in 1716. The rest is pirate history. A genealogical study of Jamaica's Anglican Church records, deeds, and wills has finally provided historians with the first opportunity in 290 years to tell Blackbeard's family's history!

 

Baylus  C. Brooks is a professional research and maritime historian, genealogist, and writer living in Greenville, North Carolina. He is a Board Member of the North Carolina Maritime History Council and founder of Brooks Historical, a publishing, research, and writing-editing service in Greenville. He has written a novel, Heirloom: Fountain of Hope, and scholarly works such as Pirates & Slaves: Making America, two booklets concerning the history of Wilmington and the Lower Cape Fear, and various genealogical publications. Recently, the North Carolina Office of  Archives and History published his research on Blackbeard the Pirate, titled Blackbeard Reconsidered: Mist's Piracy, Thache's Genealogy. Watch for his newest book, an expansion on this work, titled Quest for Blackbeard: The True Story of Edward Thache and His World, coming out in 2016.

 

All WCGS meetings are free and open to the public.  Bring a friend!  Refreshments will be served during social time after the presentation.