Did the world’s most notorious pirate end up spying for his king? Depends who you choose to believe

Sean Kingsley and Rex Cowan rely on scant evidence and take remarkable creative liberties to build a portrait of infamous 17th century pirate Henry Avery that may be entertaining, but has little basis in fact

'King of the pirates', Henry Avery

Pat Carty

There’s no denying that the story of Henry Avery, known as the King of the Pirates, is an exciting one. Raised “around the docks and decks of the wooden ships in the ports of Bideford and Plymouth in Devon,” he enjoyed some prosperity before his parents’ early deaths left his inheritance in the care of an aunt, who died four years later.

He was away at sea when a local merchant “set in place long-projected evil designs” and squandered Henry’s birthright. The authors of The Pirate King quote from the 1712 play by Charles Johnson, The Successful Pyrate to tell us that Avery “declared war upon mankind”.