Richard Frowd

Frowd was in the Caribbean in his 8-gun 60-man brigantine alongside Englishman William Moody’s 36-gun 130-man Rising Sun and another ship in 1718.^[1] There they captured several ships near St. Christopher’s, looting some and burning others, continuing through early 1719 after resupplying at St. Thomas in December.^[2] Their aggression prompted Governor Hamilton to request assignment of a warship from England for protection.^[1] Frowd acted as a ship’s tender to Moody’s Rising Sun but also took ships on his own, including a pink from Belfast near the Carolinas in January 1719.^[2]

After cruising the Caribbean for a time, Moody sailed for the coast of Africa.^[3] Near Cape Verde around April 1719 Moody and his supporters marooned Thomas Cocklyn, and were themselves in turn forced off the Rising Sun and into a small boat, and were presumed to have been lost at sea.^[4] Frowd may have parted ways from Moody before crossing the Atlantic, or have been replaced as captain of Moody’s consort ship by that time: records of the incident with Cocklyn and the Rising Sun (from the testimony of captured sailor William Snelgrave) mention several pirates by name but Frowd was not among them.^[4]

A number of pirates allowed blacks to serve on board their ships, though there is no general agreement on whether they were equal to white crewmen or had lesser status.^[1] Edward England, Bartholomew Roberts, Augustin Blanco, Moody, Frowd, and others were reported with mixed crews;^[5] Frowd's was described as "60 men, whites and blacks".^[2]

• Olivier Levasseur, elected Captain of the Rising Sun after Moody
• Howell Davis, present when Moody was ejected from the Rising Sun, or shortly afterwards