CAPTAIN PETER EASTON 

In 1602, Captain Peter Easton was commissioned by the Queen of England to take three British warships to Newfoundland on a mission to enforce a British peach among lawless fishermen living along the hundreds of miles of coastline.  In 1603, James I took the throne.  Then in 1604, the Spanish Armada was defeated, being ended by Spain.  With this, James I reduced both size and power of the English navy, meaning Easton and his men were left stranded in Newfoundland with no money.  Because of this, they began forming a plan for pirate crews. 

The majority of the English officers and men took an oath of blood with Easton, taking over vessels that had formerly been sailed as warships for Britain.  With this, they set out for the Spanish Main to take over the shipping coastline communities.  Then in 1610, Easton was given the name of Notorious Pirate by the British.  However, Easton was soon becoming increasingly powering in the Western Hemisphere, also becoming a very wealthy man with thousands of men on his side. 

In fact, Easton soon had a fleet of 40 ships.  Stationed at the Avon River mouth, he was able to stop traffic going into the English Channel.  This resulted in Bristol merchants having to look for help from the Lord Admiral, Earl of Nottingham as a way of getting Easton and himself to leave.  Then in 1610, Easton came back to Newfoundland and two years later, along with his fleet, he sailed the rough coasts, sweeping out everything he came across to include the capture of ships, cannons, and even more than $100,000 in bounty. 

Enlisting more than 500 men as crew, the majority who went along gladly, he took his new cannons and fortified Harbor Grace Bay.  Then in Caplin Cove, Easton built a fort and then set up headquarters across the bay on Kelly’s Islands.  While there, the king’s representative was captured.  To try to bring order, Sir Richard Whitbourne was sent to Newfoundland, setting up the first English court of law in the New World. 

According to what Sir Richard published, he stayed onboard the ship for 11 weeks at which time Eaton pampered him with fine treatment in an effort to persuade him to join him and his men.  However, Sir Richard had his eyes set on ruling Newfoundland, using the colony as his base for taking control of the New World.  Refusing to get involved with Easton’s scheme, he did make an agreement to go to England, supporting a petition for pardon that would allow him to go back to England so he could spend his days in the lap of luxury. 

Realizing that Harbor Grace was in a position for attack by the sea, he quickly moved the base to Ferryland, fortifying the harbor.  From his fortress, Easton was able to send an ultimatum to England saying if he were pardoned, he would agree to go home and then quietly live out his life.  With this, the governor of England granted the pardon but for some reason, Eason never received it.  From that point, he lived on Ferryland waiting for the pardon, building a palace on Fox Hill, which can be seen today.