Pyrates and chests are almost synonymous. Almost.
There are some fairly well-known pyrate chests, and those are the ones I’ve been plunderin’ lately. Namely, the mysterious chest of Billy Bones of Treasure Island fame; Blackbeard’s medicine chest adventure in Charles Towne; the infamous chest of Captain William Kidd; and the chest of Captain Thomas Tew.
Today’s plunder is Captain Thomas Tew’s Chest of a Hundred Locks!
PS Tew’s chest is NOT called the “Chest of a Hundred Locks” by anyone except old Bootstrap Ginny.
The life of the pyrate, Captain Thomas Tew, is quite the tale. Tew mingled with the likes of Benjamin Fletcher, the royal governor of (colonial) New York, and with the infamous pyrates Henry Avery, William Kidd, and Adam Baldbridge. Tew was said to have behaved himself like a “gentleman” and seemed to be an educated and learned man.
He was sometimes called the “Rhode Island Pyrate”; Tew did live in Newport with his wife and children, but his birthplace is unconfirmed. He began his seafaring career as a privateer, but as often happens, he shed that cloak and became a scourge of the seas: A dreaded pyrate.
Captain Tew had a very successful, albeit very short, pyrating career. He took a valuable prize in the Red Sea in 1692 that was worth approximately £100,000. The pyrates were very pleased with themselves and began the voyage back to Newport. It was upon his return that Tew struck up a friendship with Governor Fletcher and began to (seemingly) enjoy the “high life”.
Tew received a letter of marque from none other than Fletcher himself and headed back to Madagascar. Once there, Tew allied himself and his crew with Henry Avery, Joseph Faro, Thomas Wake, and several other pyrates. Together, the pyrate armada set sail and began their hunt.
It was during this pyrate adventure that Tew was killed: After chasing a convoy of Mughal ships and opening fire on the Fateh Muhammed, he was allegedly disemboweled by a cannon ball. The pyrates who survived the encounter, (Henry Avery among them), made quite the haul. Sadly, Tew’s pyrate adventures were done.
So, where does Tew’s chest come into this tale? Well, that is another tale within the tale. The story goes that when Tew made that first big haul in 1692, he filled this chest with plunder and sailed with it from the Red Sea to Rhode Island. The chest stayed there, (at his home or nearby, presumably), when Tew left on his fateful voyage in 1695.
From the All American Adventure Guide:
“The treasure chest dates back to the 17th century and is a 150 pound, iron strong box decorated with painted florals, birds and angels in the Spanish style.
It also features a flat recessed hinged lid with a lock mechanism covered by an engraved plate with a central keyhole at the top, a dummy keyhole on the front of the chest and twist drop handles on each side of the chest. The interior of the chest is painted orange and has a smaller locking compartment on one side.”
The chest is believed to be the only authentic treasure chest in the world, pyrate or otherwise. And, it is impressive. Ole Bootstrap Ginny has actually laid eyes on this one, mates! In fact, so can you, at the St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum.
Now, did this chest really belong to Thomas Tew? It’s not 100% confirmed, but in 1945 a woman named Mrs. Johnson Sims, who claimed to be the greatx5 granddaughter of Tew, contacted historian Edward Rowe Snow and asked him to retrieve the chest from a private seller in Chatham, Mass. Mrs. Sims’ story was that the chest had been left in Chatham all those years ago until it was sold to a private collector in Cape Cod. Eventually, after changing hands more than a few times, the chest was offered up at auction in 2000. The chest was purchased for $63,450 by the St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum ; it is insured for $1 million.
So, that was some heavy plunderin’ indeed! Let’s check our list and then get some grog!
Pyrate chest plunderin’ checklist:
Chest: Recovered in Rhode Island and now housed at the St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum.
Chest Type: Storage
Real or fiction: Real
Chest contents: Empty now, but allegedly held Tew’s plunder from the Red Sea in 1692.
Whereabouts of chest: St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum.
Okay, good work, mateys! Time for GROG!!
Keep plunderin’ !
Virginia Chandler 