Thomas Larimore

Thomas Larimore (fl. 1677-1706, last name occasionally Laramore, Larrimore, Laremore, or Laremoor) was a privateer and pirate active in the Caribbean and off the eastern seaboard of the American colonies. After helping suppress Bacon’s Rebellion and serving as a militia leader he turned to piracy, his activities intertwined with those of fellow pirate John Quelch.

History

When Nathaniel Bacon rebelled against Virginia colonial officials in 1676, Larimore sided with the Virginia loyalists under Governor William Berkeley. He ferried troops and fought in and around Newport News in his ship Rebecca, which was captured by Bacon’s rebels then recaptured and returned to Larimore. He then used the Rebecca – with extra cannon added by the rebels – to capture the rebels’ remaining ships, helping lead the loyalists to victory. In 1702 he was commissioned as a privateer by Governor Joseph Dudley of Boston to sail against the French, and took at least five French ships. Dudley commissioned Larimore again in 1703, this time to lead a unit of foot soldiers to help defend Jamaica against the Spanish. His soldiers suffered from disease and went unpaid, shuffled around the Caribbean and as far north as Newfoundland before being returned to Boston that November. By late 1706 Larimore had been returned to New England and again placed under arrest, “suspected of very ill designs and practices.”