Edward Teach or
Edward Thatch ( – 22 November 1718), better known as
Blackbeard, was a notorious English
pirate who operated around the
West Indies and the eastern coast of the
American colonies. Although little is known about his early life, he was probably born in
Bristol, England. He may have been a sailor on
privateer ships during
Queen Anne's War before settling on the
Bahamian island of
New Providence, a base for Captain
Benjamin Hornigold, whose crew Teach joined sometime around 1716. Hornigold placed him in command of a
sloop he had captured, and the two engaged in numerous acts of piracy. Their numbers were boosted by the addition to their fleet of two more ships, one of which was commanded by
Stede Bonnet, but toward the end of 1717 Hornigold retired from piracy, taking two vessels with him.