Great Thatch island was formerly in private hands, but was repurchased by the Government of the Territory in September 1997, and is now a national park. Great Thatch Great Thatch is an uninhabited island of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. It is one of the westernmost islands in the Territory. It is believed to take its name from the famous pirate, Edward Teach (better known as "Blackbeard"), although there is little evidence Blackbeard ever sailed in the Virgin Islands. Although presently uninhabited, it was formerly occupied, and boasted a customs house and mail exchange where the mail would be delivered
Henry Strangways (pirate) Henry Strangways (pirate) Henry Strangways (died 1562), also sometimes known as Strangwish, was an English "Gentleman Pirate" who attacked Spanish and other shipping. He was repeatedly imprisoned, and pardoned by highly placed friends, during his approximately eight-year piratical career, from about 1552 to 1560. His portrait painted by a fellow prisoner, Gerlach Flicke, resides today in the National Portrait Gallery in London. Strangways was born in Dorset to a well-known family of good standing, thus he is sometimes referred to as a "Gentleman Pirate". Strangways began his career as a pirate in 1552–53, plying the Irish Sea for plunder. There