Letter reveals disappearance of 17th century British pirate was tied to William III’s spy ring, Daniel Defoe and an archbishop
18th-century engraving of the legendary English ‘pirate king’, Henry Avery, ‘taking one of the Great Mogul’s ships’. His fate remains a mystery.18th-century engraving of the legendary English ‘pirate king’, Henry Avery, ‘taking one of the Great Mogul’s ships’. His fate remains a mystery.led his 160-strong crew to pull off the most lucrative heist in pirate history on the high seas, amassing gold, silver, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds worth more than £85m in today’s money.
Kingsley and Cowan discovered that the letter links Avery with one of the first great spy rings, believed to have includedauthor, and Thomas Tenison, the archbishop of Canterbury. Together, they were protecting Protestant England from the threat of “popery”, a Catholic invasion from France and an enemy seizing the throne.
Tantalisingly, half of the letter cannot be read, as it is in a numeric code, he said: “In 1700, who writes in code? British diplomats and spies.” Elsewhere he referred to meeting his contact that evening and working with “noe suspicion upon any Account”.
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