William Bedloe William Bedloe William Bedloe (20 April 1650 – 20 August 1680) was an English fraudster and Popish Plot informer. He was born at Chepstow in Monmouthshire, the cousin of William Kemys (or Kemish), who became High Sheriff of Monmouthshire in 1678. He appears to have been well educated; he was certainly clever, and after moving to London in 1670 he became acquainted with some Jesuits and was occasionally employed by them. Calling himself now Captain Williams, now Lord Gerard or Lord Newport or Lord Cornwallis, he travelled from one part of Europe to another, usually accompanied by his brother James.
Oak Island following year. A large part of island was owned at the time by the Monro, Lynch, Seacombe and Young families whom had been granted the land in 1759. In the early days of British settlement, the Island was known locally as "Smith's Island," after an early settler of the area named Edward Smith. Cartographer Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres renamed the Island "Gloucester Isle" in 1778. Shortly thereafter, the locally used name "Oak Island" was officially adopted for the Island. Early residents included Edward Smith in the 1760s and Anthony Vaughn Sr. in the early 1770s. In 1784, the government made