Josiah Burgess

Josiah Burgess (c. 1689–1719) was an English pirate active in the Caribbean. He is best known as one of the heads of New Providence's "Flying Gang".

History Burgess was leading a pack of four ships near Panama in September 1716. Outgunned by three Royal Navy warships, the Winchelsea, Tryall, and Swift, Burgess and his men went into hiding, and waited until the warships sent crews ashore to gather water. Burgess and his crew then paddled out of hiding, taking the remaining Navymen by surprise, resulting in the capture of the three warships.

Alongside Benjamin Hornigold and Henry Jennings, Burgess was among the most influential pirates in Nassau in early 1717. That September, King George I offered a pardon to all pirates who surrendered within a year. Captain Vincent Pearse of sailed to the Caribbean in March 1718 to deliver the news. The "commanders and ringleaders" of the pirates - Burgess, Hornigold, Francis Leslie, and Thomas Nichols - implored Pearse to release Charles Vane and other prisoners as an enticement to the other gathered pirates.

In order to receive the King's Pardon, Burgess sailed his sloop Providence to Charles Town, planning to bring trade goods back to the Bahamas. He was intercepted in May 1718 by Blackbeard, who questioned him about the harbor's resident merchants and naval defenses.

Woodes Rogers arrived in Nassau in July 1718 to re-announce and enforce the King's pardon. He was greeted by the crews of several pardoned pirates, Burgess' former crew among them.