Francis Demont

Francis Demont (fl. 1716-1717) was a pirate active in the Caribbean. His trial was important in establishing Admiralty law in South Carolina.

Francis Demont
OccupationPirate
Years active1716-1717
Piratical career
Base of operationsCaribbean

History

Demont, along with fellow pirates Stephen James De Losey (or De Cossey), Francis Rusoe (or Rossoe), and Emanuel Ernandos (or Ernados), had captured the sloop Virgin Queen near Cuba, the ship Tanner in the Bahamas, and the ships Penelope and Turtle Dove off Jamaica around July 1716.[1] The Turtle Dove’s Captain testified that they had "imprisoned him and his crew in bodily fear of their life."[2] The pirates were captured and tried in July 1717. Nicholas Trott presided over the Charleston trial. The pirates all pled not guilty. De Losey, Rusoe, and Ernandos were found guilty and hanged; Demont may have been executed as well,[3] though sources differ, and he may have been acquitted.[2]

Trying and executing pirates was a priority of newly arrived Governor Robert Johnson.[1] Having established the authority of South Carolina’s Vice-Admiralty Court (a November trial for piracy had resulted only in acquittals),[2] Trott would later go on to preside over the trials of other pirates, notably Blackbeard’s associate Stede Bonnet.[4]

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See also
  • Admiralty court – the venue established by Trott, in which Demont, Bonnet, and others were tried.

References
  1. Vincent, John Martin (1894). The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 301. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  2. Downey, Christopher Byrd (2013). Charleston and the Golden Age of Piracy. Charleston SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781614239130. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  3. Gosse, Philip (1924). The Pirates' Who's Who by Philip Gosse. New York: Burt Franklin. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  4. Trott, Nicholas; Cowse, Benjamin (1719). The Tryals of Major Stede Bonnet, and Other Pirates ... Who Were All Condemn'd for Piracy. As Also the Tryals of Thomas Nichols, Rowland Sharp [and Others] ... for Piracy, who Were Acquitted. At the Admiralty Seſſions Held at Charles-Town ... the 28th of October 1718 ... To which is Prefix'd, an Account of the Taking of the ſaid Major Bonnet, and the reſt of the Pirates (PDF). London: The Rose and Crown. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
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