Henry Every Biography

Henry Every was born on August 20, 1659, in Newton Ferrers, England. According to the local government records, he was possibly born to John Every and his wife, Anne, hailing from the well-known Every family of Devon.

After his capture, William Phillips, a crew member of Henry Every had mentioned that Henry was around 40 years old in August 1696, and that Henry’s mother lived close to Plymouth, while his wife lived in Ratcliffe Highway. According to records, Henry married one Dorothy Arther on September 11, 1690, at St James Duke's Place in London.

It is believed that Henry probably served as a sailor on various Royal Navy ships, during his initial years of service. The fictional memoir of Adrian van Broeck, ‘The Life and Adventures of Capt. John Avery,’ (London: J. Baker, 1709) suggests that Henry served the English fleet in 1671 that bombarded Algiers. It also says that he was a buccaneer in the Caribbean Sea and was captain of a logwood freighter in the ‘Bay of Campeche.’

During his thirties, Henry served as a midshipman aboard the 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, ‘HMS Rupert,’ which was commanded by Sir Francis Wheeler. Records indicate that Henry was probably a committed family man and sent money regularly to his family and hardly spent much on his lavishness. He was elevated as a Master’s mate after the ship helped in seizing a large enemy French convoy off Brest in France, in mid-1689.

Henry Every was offered to join Captain Wheeler in the ninety-gun ‘HMS Albemarle’ in late June 1690. He probably took part in the July 10, 1690, naval battle against the French, ‘the Battle of Beachy Head,’ during the ‘Nine Years' War.’ 'The Battle of Beacy Head' proved disastrous for the British. He was released from the Royal Navy on August 29, 1690.

Following his career with the Royal Navy, Henry got into the slave trade. His slave trading endeavours, however, remain comparatively undocumented. Captain Thomas Phillips, an agent of  the Royal African Company (RAC), mentioned about Every in a journal prepared in 1693. Every used to lure potential slave traders to board his ship and thereafter capture and chain them, and keep them alongside their former slaves.

Henry Every joined the ‘Spanish Expedition Shipping,’ a venture taken up in the spring of 1693 by several London-based investors, led by a wealthy merchant Sir James Houblon to revive the stagnating British economy. It encompassed four warships, including Charles II that was commissioned by Charles II of Spain, an ally of Britain. The objective of the venture was to sail to the Spanish West Indies, conduct trade, supply arms to the Spanish and plunder French vessels in the French West Indies.

The crew of the ‘Spanish Expedition Shipping’ were paid first month’s salary in advance and was promised a guaranteed monthly wage every six months. Due to his navy experience, Henry was promoted to first mate after joining the Spanish Expedition. By early August 1693, all the four ships were sailing to Spain's northern city of Corunna. The ships, however, reached Spain after five months, against the planned time of two weeks. Moreover, the ships were compelled to wait in the northern Spanish harbour of Corunna, as necessary legal documents did not arrive for months and the crew were literally trapped in the port with no wage money to send to their families or any other source of employment. While the crew made petition to their captain, their wives petitioned to Houblon, but nothing fruitful happened. The crew gradually became hopeless and desperate and many believed that they had been sold as slaves.

Finally, as the fleet was preparing to head toward Corunna, many crew members demanded their six months of pay and threatened to strike if their request was not accepted. On May 7, 1694, Henry and his men successfully carried out the mutiny and sailed Charles II far enough in the open sea so as to ensure their safety. He then arranged to let go off all those non-conspirators who did not want to join him, except the surgeon of the ship as the latter’s service was too important. Henry was unanimously elected the new captain of the ship.