Peter Lawrence

Peter Lawrence (fl. 1693–1705, real name Pieter Laurens) was a Dutch pirate and privateer active off New England and Newfoundland, and in the Caribbean. His and other pirates’ dealings with Rhode Island’s governors nearly led to the colony losing its charter.

History

Pieter Laurens took commissions from English officials in the American colonies under the name Peter Lawrence, which is how his name is recorded in most official documents. He was commissioned to sail his brigantine Charles as a privateer against the French in 1693 by Rhode Island Governor Easton.

With the outbreak of Queen Anne's War in 1702 he again sailed against the French, returning a few captured vessels to Boston after receiving a commission from Massachusetts Governor Joseph Dudley. Later that year he resupplied in Rhode Island before sailing to the Caribbean. Near Cuba he worked with fellow privateers John Blew and Jeremiah Burrows to capture the rich Spanish ship Jesu􏰂s Nazareno y Nuestra Senora de la Escalera.

Cranston defended to the Council of Trade and Plantations in England the privateering commissions granted by Easton, Greene, himself, and others. He was questioned by New York's Governor Bellomont about their commissions to Lawrence, William May, Richard Want, Thomas Tew, Joseph Faro, and others. In 1705 English officials charged Cranston's government with serving as “a receptacle of pirates,”