The first we hear of Lowther is in 1721, when second mate George Lowther sailed from London on board the slave ship “Gambia Castle” belonging to the Royal African Company, that was heading to Gambia to pick up her next consignment of human cargo. Also on board were a number of artisans and a detachment of soldiers under the command a Captain Massey, who had been posted to the settlement.
On the outward journey bad feeling seemed to have developed between the ship’s master, Captain Charles Russell and second mate George Lowther, possibly because of Lowther’s familiarity with the crew. In fact Lowther had become so close to the ordinary seamen that when the captain ordered him punished one day, the men picked up handspikes and threatened to attack anyone who touched him.
This incident did nothing for discipline onboard and the crew, no doubt egged on by Lowther, became insubordinate and refused to take orders from the captain and the first mate. Things had become so bad a few days after they reached Gambia, that after leaving the first mate in charge, a worried Captain Russell went ashore to discuss the problem with the Governor of the settlement.
However, while the captain was at this meeting Lowther had the first mate put under guard and ordered the crew to get the ship ready for sea. Meanwhile Captain Massey and some of his party, having found that the accommodation allotted to them within the settlement to be terribly substandard, had come onboard requesting passage back to England. Captain Russell didn’t fare so well; when he returned to the ship Lowther refused to have him back onboard and that same afternoon sailed without him.
Once at sea Lowther, now the captain, called a meeting of everyone on board and told them that they had committed the capital offence of mutiny, so could not return to England and they would be better off by turning pirate. Those on board agreed; the “Gambia Castle” was renamed the “Revenge” and they all signed pirate articles, drawn up by Lowther.
While sailing west the crew members began sewing up black flags and altering the ship to make it more suitable to their new trade. As he neared Barbados on July the 20th Lowther took his first prize, she was a Brigantine out of Boston and after stripping her of all he wanted, let her go.
Two days later also off Barbados He met an ingoing vessel, but instead of attacking her Lowther asked her captain to deliver a letter to the Governor of Barbados. With the letter was a petition signed by Lowther and Massey asking for the king’s pardon and explaining what had led up to the taking of the “Gambia Castle” However, as it was normal when asking for the king pardon for pirates to surrender while waiting the outcome of their petition and since they did surrender, it must be wondered as to whether they really wanted to give up the life of piracy.
A few days later they captured and looted a French ship off Hispaniola. But all was not well onboard the “Revenge”, Captain Massey wanted to take a party ashore to attack and plunder the French settlements and Lowther refused saying that the danger was too great. This dispute split the crew, with the majority backing Lowther and the rest siding with Massey. The enmity of the two factions festered and a clash was only averted when they gave chase, caught and looted a small ship outbound from Jamaica to England. After taking two members of the crew Lowther wanted to sink her, but Massey persuaded him to let her go.
The very next day when they took a small trading sloop Lowther used the opportunity of getting rid of the malcontents onboard the “Revenge” by giving the sloop to Massey and his supporters. Massey sailed straight to Jamaica where he claimed to be innocent of pirate activities and while he was believed by the Governor, when he eventually got back to England, he was tried and hanged as a pirate.
Meanwhile, Captain Lowther sailed to the eastern part of the Caribbean, where as he neared Puerto Rico he came across a Spanish pirate ship with a captured English prize. After ordering the Spanish away in their boat, he enlisted the Englishmen into his crew and set fire to both ships.
Later, Lowther and his crew captured a sloop out of St Christopher and took it with them when they sailed to a small island to careen and clean the “Revenge” (Now renamed the “Happy Delivery”). After completing the necessary work, they then took the opportunity for a break from the sea, and spent their time drinking, gambling, fighting and in general acting as drunken pirates are supposed to do.
With their sojourn over they left the island near the end of 1721 and set off for the Gulf of Honduras. On the way, when they called in at Grand Cayman to take on water, they found a small pirate ship with a twelve man crew that was led by Edward Low. Captain Lowther was happy enough to find a small band with the same object as himself, so he invited them to join him on the “Happy Delivery” and made Low his second in command.
In mid January 1722 as they continued their cruise they came across the “Greyhound” a vessel out of Boston, commanded by Captain Benjamin Edwards and after raising the black flag, fired a warning shot. But to their surprise, instead of giving up, Captain Edwards fired a broadside and a battle began. The engagement continued for an hour before Captain Edwards surrendered in an attempt to save his crew from retribution. He might as well have carried on fighting, because when the pirates boarded they attacked and ill-treated the ships crew even though they had laid down their arms. After stripping the vessel, they then transferred the battered crew to the “Happy Delivery” and sank the “Greyhound”.
Still cruising in the Gulf of Honduras, Lowther and his crew took six more vessels. All of them surrendered without resistance, and while one was set free, three were fired and two were kept, of those two, one was armed and command of her was given to Low.
With four ships now under his command Lowther sailed with his fleet to the Western end of the Gulf and set up camp ashore while they careened and cleaned the ships. Unfortunately, before the work was completed, they were attacked by a large group of local natives and to flee to the two sloops that were afloat, leaving their stores and a burning “Happy Delivery” behind. After fitting out the “Ranger”, which was the larger of the two sloops, as best they could Lowther and his crew sailed her to the West Indies.
They arrived at the beginning of May 1722 and replenished their supplies from a Brigantine that they captured off the Island of Deseada. After sinking the Brigantine, they then landed on the island to take on water, before sailing to North America. After capturing another Brigantine off the coast of Virginia, Lowther handed her over to Low and they parted company, each going their own way.
While Low went off to do his own thing, Lowther cruised northwards taking several fishing boats of little value. However, later they captured a ship that was on its way from Barbados to New England and took from her a valuable cargo.
After this stroke of luck they continued on until they met a ship off the coast of Carolina and their previous good fortune took a turn for the worse. Instead of surrendering on seeing the black flag her captain fought back with such ferocity that Lowther was forced to flee and ended up by running the “Ranger” ashore. The captain of the other ship set off in a boat prepared to set fire to the pirate vessel but unfortunately a shot fire from the shore killed him and his first mate was forced to return to take charge of the ship.
Once the other ship had gone Lowther managed to re-float the “Ranger” and with a reduced crew and a badly damaged sloop, limped into a quiet inlet. There they lived off the land for several months while carrying out repairs.
Finally in the early part of the year 1723 Lowther set sail for Newfoundland and captured several ships on the Grand Banks before continuing his cruise. By August he was back in the Caribbean where he took another couple of ship, mainly for their provisions. Then in September he came across the “Princess” out of Guinea commanded by Captain Wickstead. After Boarding and removing her cargo and stores Lowther had the second mate and the surgeon tortured,which resulted in him gaining access to 54 ounces of hidden gold dust. In addition he also took four cannon and seven crew members, five of them were volunteers and the other two were forced men.
With a need to careen the “Ranger” Lowther sailed to the uninhabited island of Blanquilla ninety miles off the coust of Venezuela. After removing and ferrying the rigging and cannons to the shore, after the careening was completed the “Ranger” was re-floated and the laborious task of re-fitting her began. By now it was the first week in October and unfortunately for the pirates the sloop “Eagle” passed close by the island while on her way to Cumana, in Venezuela and her captain, Walter Moor, realised that the incomplete sloop lying at anchor had to belong to pirates. Without a second thought Moor in to the attack and it wasn’t long before the pirates surrendered. However, since Lowther and twelve men had escaped onto the island by climbing out of the cabin window during the fight, Captain Moor decided to search for them. Moor and his men combed the island for five days, but only managed to find and capture five of the missing pirates.
Taking the “Ranger” with him Captain Moor continued his Journey to Cumana and made a report to the Spanish Governor, The Governor sent a sloop to the island and it returned four more pirates who were put on trial and sentenced to a lifetime of slavery.
Lowther and the last three men had avoided capture, but some time later when men from another sloop called at the island they found Lowther dead with a pistol at his side. It was assumed that he had shot himself sooner than being captured and hanged..
Meanwhile, Captain Moor had taken the “Ranger” with the captured crewmen to St Christopher and on the 16th of March 1724 sixteen of the men were tried for piracy. Of the sixteen, three were acquitted, two were later reprieved and the remaining eleven were hanged on the gallows at Old Road.
. Instead of surrendering on seeing the black flag her captain fought back with such ferocity that Lowther was forced to flee and ended up by running the “Ranger” ashore. The captain of the other ship set off in a boat prepared to set fire to the pirate vessel but unfortunately a shot fire from the shore killed him and his first mate was forced to return to take charge of the ship.