PARLIAMENT URGED TO BACK CAMPAIGN TO CLEAR SEAFARER
by Tim Pauling
Aberdeen Press and Journal
June 23, 2009 Tuesday
Scotland
The Scottish Parliament has been asked to back a campaign to clear
the name of a legendary Scottish seafarer hanged for piracy more than
three centuries ago.
Captain William Kidd, who was born in Dundee or Greenock around 1645,
was executed in 1701 and his body left to rot in chains. Although
condemned as a pirate, history would suggest he was a privateer,
acting for the Crown.
Captain Kidd was appointed by the Crown to hunt French vessels and
take their cargoes.
He got into trouble after taking the Armenia ship Quedagh Merchant,
which was captained by an Englishman who had bought passes from the
French East India Company promising him protection.
After realising he had taken the ship of an Englishman, Kidd tried
to give it back, but his crew refused.
In order to keep control, Kidd relented. When word reached England
it cemented his reputation as a pirate and he was hunted down.
Two American researchers claim he was framed by King William III who
wanted to appear tough on pirates and stood to benefit from the bounty.
The Fraternity of Masters and Seamen of Dundee, which paid a pension
to Kidd’s mother in the late 1600s, is considering having Kidd’s case
reheard by the Court of Appeal in London.
SNP MSP Bill Kidd, who is not related to the captain, has lodged a
motion in the Scottish Parliament, welcoming the bid to clear his name.
Mr Kidd said there was no timescale for justice and governments should
not be allowed to get away with punishing people wrongly.
"I don’t expect that there’s going to be a mass campaign for something
that happened 300 years ago but I do expect people are going to be
worried about the fact that someone can be used in that way by the
state, whatever time in history," he said.
"If someone is accused and hung for something he didn’t do, when he
was operating for the government and he was doing the job properly,
that comes down to a criminal act on the part of the government,
not on him."