William Wright

William Wright (fl. 1675-1682) was an English privateer in French service and later buccaneer who raided Spanish towns in the late 17th century.

History

Little is known of William Wright before he settled in French Hispaniola in the mid-1670s. Accepting a French commission of war from the French Governor in 1675 he later raided the Spanish colony of Segovia (present day Nicaragua) with several other privateers.

In May of the following year Wright commanded a small barque of four guns with a crew of forty men. Joined by eight other privateers, in addition to fifty English South Sea buccaneers, Wright sailed from the San Blas Islands intending to raid a Spanish city, most likely the city of Cartago in Costa Rica, however many of the privateers missed the rendezvous at San Andrés Island.

Wright, with French Captains Archembeau and Toccart, sailed to Corn Island and then to Bluefield's River where he left the French privateers. Arriving in Bocas del Toro several weeks later Wright joined with Dutch Captain Yankey Willems, who himself had no commission, and departed with Yanky from Boca del Toro in September sailing south along Colombia where Yanky captured a Spanish merchant ship carrying sugar and tobacco. Wright receiving Yanky's barque, as Yanky kept the merchant ship, burned his own ship and sold the Spanish tartane he had taken near Cartago to one of the Jamaican traders on board. William Dampier, who had been sailing as a member of Wrights's and Willems' crew, left with John Cook and others to return to Virginia before returning to buccaneering.