Henry Every was one of the most successful pirates to ever operate in the Atlantic and Indian oceans during the Golden Age of Piracy. Though he never reached the notoriety of figures like Blackbeard or Captain Kidd, Every’s brief but lucrative career likely served as inspiration for many aspiring buccaneers. Over a mere two years, his crew seized around a dozen ships, amassing wealth estimated in the tens of millions. His crowning achievement was the plunder of the Mughal fleet, hailed by historians as “the richest prize ever taken by a pirate.” Unlike many of his infamous counterparts, Every managed to do it all without getting captured or killed.
An 18th-century depiction of Henry Every, with the Fancy shown Capturing the Grand Mughal Fleet.
Henry Every was born in 1659 in Newton Ferrers, a village near Plymouth, England. He was likely a descendant of the prominent Every family of the West Country, who held substantial land in Devon, particularly in Chardstock and Shepton Beauchamp.
Every likely began his career as a sailor at a young age, serving aboard various Royal Navy ships. Popular accounts suggest he participated in the English fleet’s bombardment of Algiers in 1671, engaged in buccaneering in the Caribbean, and even captained a logwood freighter in the Bay of Campeche. However, much of the narrative surrounding his early years is steeped in myth and speculation.
More reliable records emerge after 1689, when Every, then in his early thirties, was serving as a midshipman aboard the HMS Rupert. He was later promoted to Master’s Mate and subsequently transferred to the HMS Albemarle, where he participated in the disastrous Battle of Beachy Head. Not long after this defeat, he was discharged from the Royal Navy.
Following his naval career, Every found work under the royal governor of Bermuda, transporting enslaved people from West Africa to the Americas. During this time, he gained notoriety for his ruthless and deceptive methods. He was known to lure unsuspecting slave traders onto his ship by flying friendly flags, only to capture and imprison them alongside their captives in his ship’s hold.
In 1693, Henry Every found himself appointed first mate on the British ship Charles II, which had been chartered by the Spanish government to trade, supply arms to Spain, and raid French vessels in the Caribbean. The sailors were promised a monthly wage throughout the mission, with the first month’s pay given in advance before departure.
The expedition set sail in August 1693, but the journey to Corunna, a northern Spanish port, inexplicably stretched to five months instead of the usual two weeks. Upon arrival, the crew faced another setback: the necessary legal documents allowing the ships to proceed never arrived from Madrid. This forced the vessels to remain docked indefinitely. As the months dragged on, the sailors found themselves stranded in Corunna, penniless and without alternative employment. Their repeated requests for wages were denied, as the ship’s investors feared the men would desert if paid.
By May 1694, after enduring more than eight months of frustration, Every rallied about twenty-five men to mutiny. Seizing their moment one night while the captain was drunk, the mutineers boarded the Charles II and overtook the crew in a bloodless coup. With the ship under his control, Every convinced both the mutineers and the remaining crew to abandon their original mission and embrace piracy.
Every renamed the Charles II the Fancy, a name symbolizing the crew’s newfound hope and the ship’s superior design. Setting a course for the Cape of Good Hope, Every and his men embarked on a daring new chapter as pirates, bound for the open ocean and untold opportunities.
An 1837 woodcut from “The Pirates Own Book” by Charles Ellms depicting Henry Every receiving three chests of treasure on board his ship, the Fancy.
Henry Every committed his first act of piracy off the coast of West Africa, where he targeted three English merchant ships. Not only did he plunder their cargo, but he also managed to persuade several crew members to join his ranks, swelling his crew to nearly a hundred men. The Fancy continued its voyage south hugging the African coastline and, near the island of Príncipe, captured two Danish privateers. These ships were stripped of their valuable cargo, which included ivory and gold, and seventeen more sailors from the captured vessels joined Every's crew.
By early 1695, the Fancy had rounded the Cape of Good Hope and was cruising near the Comoros Islands. There, Every intercepted a French pirate ship. After looting the vessel, he successfully recruited about forty of its crew, bringing his total manpower to approximately 150 men.
In August 1695, Every received word of a Mughal fleet returning from Mecca, laden with immense riches. The convoy was rumoured to be among the wealthiest in Asia—possibly the world. Every realized that capturing it could result in one of the most profitable pirate raids in history. To intercept the fleet, he sailed to the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, a strategic chokepoint where the waterway narrows to just 26 kilometers, ideal for an ambush.
At the strait, Every allied with five other pirate captains, forming a flotilla of six ships with a combined force of 440 men. His leadership and reputation led to his unanimous election as admiral of the fleet.
Henry Every’s pirate flag.
It wasn’t long before the pirates’ prey appeared—a convoy of twenty-five Mughal ships. Among them were two massive vessels: the Ganj-i-Sawai (“Exceeding Treasure”), a 1,600-ton ship armed with eighty cannons and carrying 1,100 crew and passengers, and its even larger escort, the Fateh Muhammed, a 3,200-ton giant equipped with ninety-four cannons and manned by 800 crew. The convoy was en route to Surat, but its journey was about to take a fateful turn.
On the night of September 6–7, 1695, Every’s crew spotted the Mughal convoy. However, under the cover of darkness, the fleet managed to evade them. The next day, the Ganj-i-Sawai and its escort, the Fateh Muhammed, were spotted again, and the pirates gave chase. After four or five days, Every’s Fancy finally caught up with the Fateh Muhammed. Offering little resistance, the escort ship was quickly subdued, and the pirates looted treasure worth an estimated £40,000 before setting their sights on the far larger prize—the Ganj-i-Sawai.
The Ganj-i-Sawai, armed with eighty cannons and guarded by four hundred musket-armed soldiers, was a formidable target. It took several days of pursuit before the pirates managed to close in. Despite the vessel’s impressive defences, fortune turned against it. During the ensuing battle, one of the Ganj-i-Sawai’s powerful cannons exploded, killing many of its crew and plunging the ship into chaos. Fires broke out, and panic spread as some defenders fled below decks, leaving the ship vulnerable.
Seizing the opportunity, Every’s men scaled the ship’s steep sides and boarded. As the pirates swarmed aboard, Captain Muhammad Ibrahim of the Ganj-i-Sawai attempted to rally his defences. In a desperate move, he armed enslaved women on board and sent them to fight the pirates. A fierce hand-to-hand battle erupted, lasting two to three hours.
The victorious pirates inflicted several days of terror on their captives, subjecting them to unspeakable atrocities. Women aboard the Ganj-i-Sawai were brutally raped, and many of the prisoners were killed in cold blood. The pirates also tortured the crew to force them to reveal the location of hidden treasure within the ship's holds. Some women, desperate to escape their fate, committed suicide. Those who survived the ordeal were taken aboard the Fancy.
Rumors circulated that Henry Every himself took as a captive a female relative of Emperor Aurangzeb—possibly his daughter or granddaughter—but no definitive evidence supports this claim.
Every’s Fancy chasing the Mughal ship Ganj-i-Sawai . Photo credit: Peter Newark Historical Pictures
The plunder from the Ganj-i-Sawai was staggering, estimated at between £325,000 and £600,000. This included approximately 500,000 gold and silver coins, as well as an array of jewelled ornaments, silver cups, and other valuables. When the loot was divided among the crew, each pirate received about £1,000—a sum far exceeding what most sailors could earn in a lifetime. In addition to the cash, each man also received a share of gemstones, further enriching the already monumental haul.
The plunder of Emperor Aurangzeb's treasure ship had far-reaching consequences for the English, coming at a time of crisis for the East India Company, whose profits were still recovering from the disastrous first Anglo-Indian war. When the battered Ganj-i-Sawai finally limped into the port of Surat, stories of the pirates' atrocities—including the attack on Muslim pilgrims and the rape of women—spread rapidly.
An enraged Aurangzeb reacted by closing five major ports to English traders, and refused to reopen the ports until Henry Every was caught and executed for his crimes.
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Desperate to restore relations, the East India Company agreed to pay full reparations for the losses, while the English government issued a £500 bounty for Every’s capture and promised a full pardon to anyone providing information on his whereabouts. The East India Company later doubled the bounty to £1,000—a massive sum at the time. This marked the beginning of what historians regard as the first global manhunt in recorded history.
After looting the Ganj-i-Sawai, Henry Every and his crew set sail for the Bahamas, nearly halfway around the world. They made a brief stop at Ascension Island, where they replenished their provisions with sea turtles, before continuing to New Providence in the Bahamas. Upon arrival, the pirates sought an audience with the island's governor, Nicholas Trott. They offered him a bribe worth three times his annual salary in exchange for allowing them to stay. However, they concealed their true identities, claiming to be unlicensed English traders—or "interlopers."
Trott weighed his options carefully. He reasoned that the presence of the heavily armed Fancy in the harbor could bolster the island’s security. At the same time, he feared that denying the crew’s request might provoke violence, as they were more than capable of capturing the island. The generous bribe, coupled with additional gifts—including fifty tons of ivory, one hundred barrels of gunpowder, chests of firearms and ammunition, and various ship anchors—proved persuasive. Trott agreed to their terms and even met Every, who introduced himself as "Captain Bridgeman." Trott assured Every and his crew that they were “welcome to come and go as they pleased.”
Despite the crew’s claims, Trott likely suspected their true identity. The Fancy bore the scars of battle, and the ship’s hold contained a wealth of foreign-minted coins. When news eventually reached Trott that the Royal Navy and the East India Company were hunting Henry Every, it became clear that “Captain Bridgeman” was none other than the notorious pirate.
Fearing retribution for harbouring a wanted criminal, Trott chose to protect himself by stripping the Fancy of all valuables and then deliberately scuttling the ship, ensuring there was no physical evidence linking him to the pirates.
When the official proclamation for Henry Every’s capture finally reached Governor Nicholas Trott, he had no choice but to issue a warrant for Every’s arrest and inform the authorities of the pirates’ location. However, Trott discreetly tipped off Every and his crew before any action could be taken. Acting quickly, Every and his hundred-strong crew made a hasty escape, vanishing from the island without a trace. Of the entire crew, only twenty-four were ever apprehended, and five of them were executed. Every himself was never seen again.
In the years following his escape, the manhunt for Every continued, with numerous reported sightings across the globe. However, none of these claims could be verified. Speculation about his fate has persisted. One theory suggests that Every returned to his native Devon, England, where he lived the remainder of his life quietly and peacefully. He is thought to have died sometime between 1699 and 1714. Another theory proposes a less fortunate ending—that Every was swindled out of his fortune by merchants and died penniless.
“Avery sells his Jewels”, an engraving by Howard Pyle which appeared in the September 1887 issue of Harper's Magazine.
Henry Every’s exploits left an indelible mark on piracy and popular culture, influencing not only the next generation of pirates but also inspiring a wealth of fantastical tales and legends. His capture of the Mughal fleet demonstrated the immense rewards that piracy could offer, encouraging countless sailors to hoist the Jolly Roger in pursuit of similar fortunes. The daring and success of his raid, combined with his ability to vanish without a trace, elevated Every to near-mythical status among his contemporaries.
Every’s story resonated beyond the pirate world, weaving its way into literature and folklore. His elusive retirement fuelled speculation, with some imagining him living lavishly in obscurity and others portraying him as a romantic rogue. One of the earliest accounts, published in 1709 by a Dutchman who claimed to have been a captive of Every’s crew, portrayed him as both a ruthless pirate and a romantic figure. This narrative included fanciful claims that Every had eloped with the Emperor’s daughter and established a pirate utopia on Saint Mary’s Island, akin to the fictional Libertalia.
Every also featured prominently in early literary works. In 1720, Daniel Defoe’s The King of Pirates cast him as the central figure, while he appeared as a minor character in Defoe’s novel Captain Singleton. His exploits were even dramatized on stage, blending fact with fiction to captivate audiences. These accounts not only entertained but also shaped the public’s perception of piracy, paving the way for the swashbuckling characters seen in later adventure novels and films.
In many ways, Henry Every became the prototype for the legendary pirate. His real-life escapades and enigmatic persona formed the foundation of pirate lore, leaving a legacy that continues to intrigue and inspire centuries later.
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