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
John Russell (pirate) John Russell (pirate) John Russell (fl 1722-1723) was a pirate active from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean to the African coast. He is best known for his association with Edward Low and Francis Spriggs, and for his involvement with two well-known and well-documented maroonings. Most commonly known as Englishman “John Russell”, his real name may have been Juan or John Lopez; he was in reality a Portuguese Catholic. Like a number of other pirates of the Golden Age, he was a Jacobite who professed support for England’s ousted Catholic King James II over his Protestant successors. Various sources paint him