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CAPTAIN JOHN JENNINGS
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CAPTAIN JOHN JENNINGS[1]
It is not known where John Jennings was born; but it was almost certainly near the sea; and perhaps we should not be far wrong in saying that his parents were fisher folk, living on the South Coast. He was born, certainly, of poor parents; for his nameless biographer tell us that "his education was so meane and low, he could neither write nor read." The date of his birth does not appear, but possibly 1570, or a few years earlier, would be near the truth. He grew up "wholly addicted to martial courses, and especially in the
- ↑ The authorities for the life of Captain John Jennings are: (1) A chapbook of "The Lives, Apprehensions, Arraignments and Executions of the 19 late Pyrates, namely, Capt. Harris, Jennings, Longcastle, Downes, Haulsey, and their companions, as they were severally indited on St. Margret's Hill, in Southwark, on the 22 of December last and executed the Friday following. London. Printed for John Busby the Elder (1609); 4to.; black letter; 30 pp." This document is very brightly and freshly written and generally accurate in
