Stede Bonnet (1688 – 10 December 1718) was an early 18th-century
Barbadian pirate, sometimes called "The Gentleman Pirate" because he was a moderately wealthy landowner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born into a wealthy
English family on the island of
Barbados, and inherited the family estate after his father's death in 1694. In 1709, he married Mary Allamby, and engaged in some level of
militia service. Because of marital problems, and despite his lack of sailing experience, Bonnet decided to turn to piracy in the summer of 1717. He bought a sailing vessel, named it
Revenge, and traveled with his paid crew along the
Eastern Seaboard of what is now the
United States, capturing other vessels and burning other Barbadian ships.