Thomas Pound

Thomas Pound (died 1703) was an English pirate who was briefly active in the coastal waters of New England during 1689.

Boarding a small ship out of Boston, Massachusetts with six other passengers on August 8, 1689, Pound seized control of the ship shortly after picking up an additional five men off Lovell's Island. They soon encountered a fishing vessel and Pound, supposedly either out of generosity or because he was losing his courage, bought mackerel for eight pennies.

Sailing to Falmouth, Maine, his crew was joined by soldiers who had deserted from the local garrison during the night and later they attacked the sloop Good Speed off Cape Cod and the brigantine Merrimack among other ships in the New England area.

An armed sloop, the Mary, was soon sent out by the colonial governor against Pound and his crew who were soon discovered in Tarpaulin Cove. After heavy fighting, in which Pound suffered gunshot wounds, they eventually surrendered and were taken back to Boston.

Tried on January 13, 1690, Pound was initially found guilty for acts of piracy. However, later he was reprieved. He was sent to England, where he was eventually released and eventually gained command of his own ship, before his death in 1703.

Further reading

• Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. 1932.
• Edmonds, John Henry and George Francis Dow. The Pirates of the New England Coast 1630-1730. Toronto: Courier Dover Publications, 1996. ISBN 0-486-29064-6
• Peffer, Randall S. Logs of the Dead Pirates Society: A Schooner Adventure Around Buzzards Bay. Dobbs Ferry, New York: Sheridan House Inc., 2000. ISBN 1-57409-095-X
• Seitz, Don Carlos, Howard F. Gospel and Stephen Wood. Under the Black Flag: Exploits of the Most Notorious Pirates. Mineola, New York: Courier Dover Publications, 2002. ISBN 0-486-42131-7