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
Edmund Cooke (pirate) Edmund Cooke (pirate) Edmund Cooke (fl. 1673–1683, also named Edward / Edmond or Cook) was a merchant captain, buccaneer, and pirate. He is best known for sailing against the Spanish alongside Bartholomew Sharp, John Coxon, Basil Ringrose, Lionel Wafer, and other famous buccaneers. Cooke’s flag was red-and-yellow striped and featured a hand holding a sword. Cooke’s 130-ton merchant vessel "Virgin" was bound to Jamaica from London when Irish pirate Philip Fitzgerald, who was serving the Spanish in the Caribbean, seized it in May 1673. Fitzgerald accused Cooke of transporting logwood – which the Spanish considered contraband – and took the