John Cockram

John Cockram (fl. 1689–1729) was a pirate, trader, and pirate hunter in the Caribbean, best known for his association with Admiral Benjamin Hornigold.

History Cockram was among a group of pirates active in the Bahamas, including Benjamin Hornigold, John West, and Daniel Stillwell, who attacked Spanish ships and others from small open boats such as the periagua. On his 1713 cruise he and his small crew “brought back Asian silks, copper, rum, sugar, and silver coins stolen from Spanish vessels off Florida and elsewhere” worth over £2,000. Fed up with Cockram and the other pirates disrupting island trade, Deputy Governor Thomas Walker of the Bahamas tried to put a stop to the piracies, arresting Daniel Stillwell; Hornigold freed him and threatened Walker not to intervene. Vane's fleet was too strong for them to capture, but they succeeded in apprehending Nicholas Woodall’s sloop Wolf, which had been smuggling supplies to Vane. After their success against Woodall, Rogers sent them out again in late 1718 and this time they captured John Auger. Cockram was still assisting Rogers in 1720, warning him of French collusion with native tribes against the Spanish. In 1721 he was appointed to the Governor's Council,

In popular culture Cockram appears as a villain in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag where he is a member of the Templar Order tasked in locating the sage Bartholomew Roberts. He and Josiah Burgess are assassinated by the protagonist Edward Kenway in order to gain Roberts' trust. He is voiced by Diarmaid Murtagh.