Nassau, Bahamas French allied forces briefly occupied Nassau. From 1703 to 1718 there was no governor in the colony and by 1713, the sparsely settled Bahamas had become a pirate haven. The Governor of Bermuda stated that there were over 1,000 pirates in Nassau and that they outnumbered the mere hundred inhabitants of the town. They proclaimed Nassau a pirate republic, establishing themselves as "governors". Examples of pirates that used Nassau as their base are Charles Vane, Thomas Barrow (who declared himself "Governor of New Providence"), Benjamin Hornigold, Calico Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and the infamous Edward Teach, better known
Edward Collier (pirate) Edward Collier (pirate) Edward Collier was an English buccaneer who served as Sir Henry Morgan's second-in-command throughout much of his expeditions against Spain during the mid-17th century. In command of one of the ships which took part in Sir Henry Morgan's raid on Portobello in 1668, he was given command of the 34-gun "Oxford" with a commission as a pirate hunter before the end of the year and eventually captured Captain la Veven and his ship, the "Satisfaction." Rejoining Morgan in his later raids on Maracaibo and Gibraltar, Venezuela, an explosion aboard his ship would kill many of the officers