William Kidd, a pirate, born in Scotland (probably in Greenock), executed in London, May 24, 1701. He is said to have been the son of John Kidd, a nonconformist minister. He followed the sea from his youth, and toward the end of the 17th century was a bold and skilful shipmaster from New York. He distinguished himself as a privateersman against the French in the West Indies, and in 1691 received £150 from New York for protecting the colony against pirates. In 1695 a company for the suppression of piracy was organized in England, by the earl of Bellamont and others, who hoped to derive a profit from recaptures. The Adventure Galley, a new ship of 287 tons and 34 guns, was bought, and at the suggestion of Robert Livingston of New York, one of the shareholders, her command was given to Kidd, who received two commissions, one dated Dec. 10, 1695, from the commissioners of the admiralty, empowering him to act against the French, the other dated Jan. 26, 1696, under the great seal, authorizing him to cruise against pirates. One tenth part of all booty was to be set aside for the king, and the remainder was to be divided between the shareholders and Kidd in certain specified proportions. A share was also appropriated to the crew, who were to receive no regular pay.

Kidd sailed from Plymouth on April 23,1696, captured a French fishing vessel off Newfoundland, and arrived in New York with his prize about July 4. He remained there until Sept. 6, when he sailed with a crew of 154 men for Madagascar, then the chief rendezvous for pirates, and arrived there in January, 1697. In 1698 rumors became prevalent in England that Kidd himself had turned pirate, and on Nov. 23 of that year orders were sent to the governors of all the English colonies to apprehend him if he came within their jurisdiction. In April, 1699, he arrived in the West Indies, in a ship named the Quidah Merchant, secured her in a lagoon in the island of Saona, at the S. E. end of Hay-ti, and set sail northward with about 40 men, in the San Antonio, a sloop of 55 tons. He made a landing in Delaware bay, sailed up the coast to Long Island sound, and went into Oyster bay. Here he took on board James Emott, a New York lawyer, and running across to the Rhode Island coast set him ashore and sent him to Boston to Bellamont, who had become governor of the colonies, to ascertain how the latter would receive him. During his absence Kidd buried some bales of goods and some treasure on Gardiner's island.

Bellamont answered evasively, and after some correspondence persuaded Kidd to go to Boston, where he landed on July 1,1699. He was examined before the council, and, according to Bellamont, gave trifling answers to interrogatories, and on July 6 the governor ordered his arrest. He was sent to England, and after a grossly unfair trial, in which he was allowed no counsel, and was not permitted to send for papers and witnesses, he was found guilty of piracy and of the murder of William Moore, one of his crew, whom he struck on the head with a bucket during an altercation, and was hanged at Execution dock, with nine of his associates. Kidd asserted his innocence to the last; averred that Moore was mutinous when he struck him; and claimed that his men forced him to take the Quidah Merchant against his will. Bellamont equipped a ship to go in search of that vessel, but heard before she sailed that the latter had been stripped and burned by the men left with it. He secured the treasure buried on Gardiner's island, which, together with that found in Kidd's possession and on the San Antonio, amounted to 1,111 oz. troy of gold, 2,353 oz. of silver, 17 oz. of jewels (69 stones), 57 bags of sugar, 41 bales of merchandise, and 67 pieces of canvas, of the total value of about £14,000. There are no grounds for the popular belief that he buried other treasures, although frequent search has been made for them along the N. E. coast, in the lower part of the Hudson, and elsewhere, till a very recent period.