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Breakes was the tall, handsome son of the
Councilor of the Island of Sabo. In 1764, he was appointed to a Dutch
trading vessel that sailed between Sabo and Amsterdam. Eventually
commanding a trading ship which operated between Schiedham, Holland and
Lisbon, Portugal, Breakes fell in love with a married woman named Mrs.
Snyde. Mr. Snyde was poisoned, and Breakes and the Widow Snyde were
accused but later acquitted of the murder. Soon afterward, he stole his
employer's trading ship and renamed it "The Adventurer." Later his
pirate crew murdered the crew of a vessel called the "Acapulco", which
was carrying a load of gold bars, and refitted it for piracy. From there,
Breakes bought a letter of marque from the governor of Gibraltar and
turned to pillaging throughout the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean.
In his adventures, he plundered a convent in the Balearic Islands and
then decided that it was inappropriate for his crew to be unmarried, so
he had each of his men select a nun from the convent, who was then
kidnapped and brought to the ship to perform their wifely duties.
He then became homesick and upon returning to Holland to marry his
mistress, Mrs. Snyde, he discovered that she had been hanged for
attempting to poison their new born son. In a state of depression, he
drown himself in a dyke. |
