View source for Samuel Bellamy

{{Short description|English pirate (1689–1717)}}
{{for|the English footballer|Samuel Bellamy (footballer)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox pirate
|name=  Samuel Bellamy
|birth_date=[[Wiktionary:circa|c.]] {{Birth date|1689|2|23|df=yes}}
|death_date= {{Death-date and age|26 April 1717|February 23, 1689}}
| image = Samuel Bellamy, Wreck of the Whydah, from the Pirates of the Spanish Main series (N19) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes MET DP835027.jpg
|caption= Samuel Bellamy, Wreck of the Whydah, from the Pirates of the Spanish Main series (N19) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes MET DP835027
|nickname="Black Sam" Bellamy,<br />"Prince of Pirates",<br />"Black Bellamy",<br />"Robin Hood of the Sea"{{efn|None of these nicknames can be traced to period sources, and all likely were likely attached to Bellamy at a later date.}}
|type= [[Golden Age of Piracy]]
|birth_place = [[Hittisleigh]], [[Devon]], [[Kingdom of England]], or [[London]]
|death_place = [[Wellfleet, Massachusetts|Wellfleet]], [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]], [[Thirteen Colonies]]
|serviceyears= 1716 – 26 April 1717
|base of operations= Blanco Islet, [[Tortola]] [[British Virgin Islands|B.V.I.]] (later re-named [[Bellamy Cay]]), [[Caribbean Sea]]
|rank=Elected Commodore of pirate fleet
|commands= ''Postillion'', Sloop ''Marianne'', Pinque ''Mary Anne'', ''Sultana'' Galley, ''[[Whydah Gally]]'', ''Anne'', ''Fisher''
|battles=
|wealth={{Pirate wealth|120|1}}{{efn|Often cited, the ''Forbes'' article on "Wealthiest Pirates" did not list several notable pirates likely to have exceeded Bellamy, such as [[Dirk Chivers]], [[John Taylor (pirate)|Richard Taylor]], or others.}}
}}
Captain '''Samuel Bellamy''' ({{c.}} 23 February 1689 – 26 April 1717), erroneously known as '''"Black Sam" Bellamy''', was an English sailor turned [[pirate]] during the early 18th century. He is best known as one of the wealthiest pirates in the [[Golden Age of Piracy]]. Though his known career as a pirate captain lasted little more than a year, he and his crew captured at least 53 ships.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Top-Earning Pirates|url = https://www.forbes.com/2008/09/18/top-earning-pirates-biz-logistics-cx_mw_0919piracy.html|website = Forbes|date = 19 September 2008|access-date = 14 October 2015}}</ref>

Posthumously called "Black Sam" in [[Cape Cod]] folklore - supposedly because he eschewed the fashionable powdered wig in favor of tying back his long black hair with a simple band - Bellamy became known for his mercy and generosity toward those he captured on his raids. This legend earned him another nickname, the '''"Prince of Pirates"'''. He likened himself to [[Robin Hood]], with his crew calling themselves "Robin Hood's Men".<ref name="Johnson - A General History Vol 2">{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=Charles|title=The history of the pyrates: containing the lives of Captain Mission. Captain Bowen. Captain Kidd ... and their several crews|date=1724|publisher=T. Woodward|location=London|url=https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/17002|access-date=26 July 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref name="NatGeo" />

Bellamy was born in England in 1689, and began sailing for the British [[Royal Navy]] as a teenager. After traveling to Cape Cod around 1715, he then went south to the Florida coast in an effort to locate a [[1715 Treasure Fleet|sunken treasure fleet]]. From there he made his way to the [[Bahamas]], sailing under [[Benjamin Hornigold]] and his second-in-command, [[Blackbeard|Edward "Blackbeard" Teach]]. After Hornigold and Teach were voted out of command, Bellamy took a captured vessel as his own, before capturing a state-of-the-art slave trade ship, the ''[[Whydah Gally]]'', in the early spring of 1717. Two months later, the vessel was caught in a [[nor'easter]] storm off the coast of [[Massachusetts]] and sank, taking Bellamy and most of his crew down with it. The remains of the ''Whydah Gally'' were discovered in 1984, making it the first fully authenticated [[Golden Age of Piracy|Golden Age]] pirate ship discovered in North America.<ref name="Clifford-EW">{{cite book |last1=Clifford |first1=Barry |last2=Perry |first2=Paul |title=Expedition Whydah : the story of the world's first excavation of a pirate treasure ship and the man who found her |date=1999 |publisher=Cliff Street Books |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-06-019232-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/expeditionwhydah00barr |access-date=21 May 2025}}</ref>

==Early life==
Bellamy may have been born in 1689 in the parish of [[Hittisleigh]] on [[Dartmoor]] in [[Devon]], [[Kingdom of England]], the youngest of six known children of Stephen and Elizabeth Bellamy.<ref name="Woodard">{{cite book|last = Woodard|first = Colin|title = The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down|year = 2007|publisher = Harcourt|location = New York|isbn = 978-0-15-603462-3|pages = 28–29|url = http://www.republicofpirates.net/Bellamy.html|access-date = 6 December 2008|archive-date = 4 January 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200104141059/http://www.republicofpirates.net/Bellamy.html|url-status = usurped}}</ref> Alternately, a sailor captured by Bellamy testified in 1716 that Bellamy "declared himself to be an Englishman born in London."<ref name="Brooks-Savage">{{cite web |last1=Brooks |first1=Baylus |title=Savage deposition - 30 Nov 1716 |url=http://baylusbrooks.com/index_files/Page46036.htm |website=baylusbrooks.com |access-date=21 May 2025}}</ref> Elizabeth died soon after, and was buried on 23 February 1689, three weeks before Samuel's baptism on 18 March. The future pirate became a sailor at a young age; in his late teens, he joined the [[Royal Navy]] and fought in several battles. Though it has been speculated that he may have had a wife and child, there is no definite historical proof of this.

Bellamy traveled to [[Cape Cod]] around 1715, allegedly to seek some of his relatives there. According to an abundance of local lore on the subject, it is believed that he took up an affair with a local beauty, [[Goody Hallett]] — the "Witch of [[Wellfleet, Massachusetts|Wellfleet]]".<ref name="museum">{{cite web|title=The Whydah Museum|url=http://whydah.com/whydah-museum/|work=The Whydah Museum Official Site|publisher=Historic Shipwrecks, Inc.|access-date=8 October 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008050807/http://whydah.com/whydah-museum/|archive-date=8 October 2012}}</ref> Professor [[Elizabeth Reynard]], in her 1934 book ''The Narrow Land'', gave her the name "Maria", and though there is no evidence of her bearing that name, it has nevertheless become a popular name for her. Other modern authors have called her "Mariah" and "Mary". Her age and marital status remain subjects of much debate. Some stories depict her as a young lady between 16 and 25, while others depict her as a very old woman.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brunelle|first1=Kathleen|title=Bellamy's Bride|date=2011|publisher=The History Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Fitzgerald|first1=Michael|title=1812: A tale of Cape Cod|date=1912|publisher=The Register Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kincor|first1=Kenneth J.|title=''Whydah'' source book|publisher=Whydah Pirate Museum}}</ref> In some stories, her parents liked Bellamy, but did not think a poor self-confident sailor was husband material; circumstantial evidence indicates that she may have already been married, confirming some stories that it was Bellamy's intent to seek his fortune and then return, not to marry her, but to take her away.<ref name="NatGeo">{{cite magazine|title=Capt. Samuel Bellamy, Rogue Romeo|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/whydah/print_pirates.html|magazine=National Geographic|access-date=26 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619031314/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/whydah/print_pirates.html|archive-date=19 June 2015}}</ref>

He left Cape Cod in early 1716 with a group of men to seek the vast treasures of the [[1715 Treasure Fleet|1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet]], which had wrecked the previous summer in a hurricane off the east coast of Florida. Wealthy jeweler [[Paulsgrave Williams|Palgraves Williams]],<ref name="DowEdmonds1923">{{cite book|last1=Dow|first1=George Francis|author-link1=George Francis Dow|last2=Edmonds|first2=John Henry|title=The pirates of the New England coast, 1630–1730|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0kEftr23bFAC&pg=PA116|access-date=26 May 2015|year=1923|publisher=Argosy-Antiquarian|pages=116–131|isbn=9780486290645}}</ref> son of Rhode Island Attorney General John Williams, joined Bellamy and funded their expedition. After Bellamy left the Cape, Hallett was found to be pregnant by Bellamy. It is said{{By whom|date=May 2025}} that she gave birth to a son and hid the child in a barn for warmth while she foraged for food, and when she returned she found that the child had choked to death on the straw. Some legends say that it was the barn of the notable Knowles family; others claim it was that of Justice Joseph Doane, who had banished Hallett. In either case, she was arrested for the child's murder and imprisoned in the [[Old Jail (Barnstable, Massachusetts)|Old Jail]] of [[Barnstable, Massachusetts]] (the oldest wooden jail house in the United States; said to be haunted by her). Her sentence was relatively short, but she was exiled from the town. Afterwards, she waited for Bellamy in [[Eastham, Massachusetts|Eastham]].<ref name="NatGeo" />

==Career==

The treasure hunters apparently met with little success, as they soon turned to piracy in the crew of pirate captain [[Benjamin Hornigold]], who commanded the ''Marianne'' with his first mate, [[Edward Teach]], who would soon gain fame as the pirate "Blackbeard".<ref name="DowEdmonds1923" />

In the summer of 1716, the crew became irritated by Hornigold's unwillingness to attack ships of England, his home country. By a majority vote of the crew, Hornigold was deposed as captain of the ''Marianne'' and left the vessel with his loyal followers, including Teach. The remaining 90-man crew then elected Bellamy as captain.

Upon capturing a second ship, the ''Sultana'', it was made into a [[galley]], and with approval of the crew, Bellamy took it as his own and assigned his friend Palsgrave Williams as commander of the ''Marianne''.<ref name="DowEdmonds1923" /> They sailed briefly alongside [[Olivier Levasseur]], who left early in 1717 to raid South America after meeting former pirate [[John Ham (pirate)|John Ham]] to sell off some of their loot.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Humanity|first1=History of|title=Infamous Pirates {{!}} Olivier Levasseur|url=http://www.goldenageofpiracy.org/infamous-pirates/olivier-levasseur.php|website=www.goldenageofpiracy.org|access-date=1 June 2017}}</ref><ref name="Clifford-EW" />

[[File:Pirate Flag of Samuel Bellamy.svg|thumb|right|alt=Black flag with traditional skull and crossbones|"...they spread [[Jolly Roger|a large black flag, with a Death's Head and Bones across]], and gave chase to Cap't. Prince under the same colours."&nbsp;– Thomas Baker (Bellamy's crew)<ref name="piratestrategy">{{cite web|title=The Pirate Ship ''Whydah'': Pirate strategy|url=http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/pirates/pirateship_3.asp |work="Real Pirates" museum exhibit website|publisher=The Field Museum|access-date=21 January 2013|location=Chicago, Illinois|year=2009}}</ref>]]

Bellamy's greatest capture came in the spring of 1717, when he spotted the ''[[Whydah Gally]]'' (pronounced {{respell|WHID|uh}}) sailing through the [[Windward Passage]] between [[Hispaniola]] and [[Cuba]].<ref name="DowEdmonds1923" /> Built in England in 1715 as a state-of-the-art, 300-ton, {{convert|102|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} English slave ship with 18 guns, and with speeds of up to {{convert|13|kn}}, the ''Whydah'' was on its maiden voyage in 1716 and had just finished the second (Africa to Caribbean) leg of the [[Atlantic slave trade]], loaded with a fortune in gold, [[indigo]], [[Jesuit's bark]], [[ivory]] and other precious trade goods from the sale of 312 slaves.<ref name="DowEdmonds1923" />{{sfnp|Woodard|2008|pp=156–158}}<ref name="slaveeconomy">{{cite web |title=The Slave Ship ''Whydah'': A Slave-Based Economy |url=http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/pirates/slaveship_2.asp |work="Real Pirates" museum exhibit website|publisher=The Field Museum|access-date=12 October 2012|location=Chicago, Illinois|year=2009}}</ref> Bellamy chased the ''Whydah'' for three days before getting close enough to fire. After a single shot, Captain [[Lawrence Prince]] surrendered the ''Whydah'' by lowering its flag. True to his reputation for generosity, Bellamy rewarded Prince's lack of resistance by trading the ''Sultana'' for the ''Whydah''.<ref name="DowEdmonds1923" /> Removing the captain's quarters and upgrading the ship to 28 guns, Bellamy turned his new flagship northwards along the eastern coast of [[the Carolinas]] and on to [[New England]].

[[Captain Charles Johnson]] (possibly a [[pseudonym]]) in ''[[A General History of the Pyrates|A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates]]'' relates the story of the ''Whydah'' overtaking a [[sloop]] commanded by Captain Beer. Bellamy wanted to let the captain keep his ship, but his crew voted to burn it, and the captain of the merchant vessel declined an invitation to join the pirates. Bellamy is attributed with making this now-famous speech:

[[File:Whydah-gold.jpg|thumb|right|Silver recovered from the wreck of the ''Whydah''. ''[[Forbes Magazine]]'' ranked Bellamy #1 in its list of "Top-Earning Pirates".<ref name=ForbesRank />]]

{{blockquote|
I am sorry they won't let you have your sloop again, for I scorn to do any one a mischief, when it is not to my advantage; damn the sloop, we must sink her, and she might be of use to you. Though you are a sneaking puppy, and so are all those who will submit to be governed by laws which rich men have made for their own security; for the cowardly whelps have not the courage otherwise to defend what they get by knavery; but damn ye altogether: damn them for a pack of crafty rascals, and you, who serve them, for a parcel of hen-hearted numbskulls. They vilify us, the scoundrels do, when there is only this difference, they rob the poor under the cover of law, forsooth, and we plunder the rich under the protection of our own courage. Had you not better make then one of us, than sneak after these villains for employment?

{{space|5}}''[Beer replied that his conscience would not let him break the laws of God and man, and Bellamy continued]''

You are a devilish conscience rascal! I am a free prince, and I have as much authority to make war on the whole world as he who has a hundred sail of ships at sea and an army of 100,000 men in the field; and this '''''my''''' conscience tells me! But there is no arguing with such snivelling puppies, who allow superiors to kick them about deck at pleasure.|Captain Bellamy, quoted by [[Captain Charles Johnson]] (1724) |''[[A General History of the Pyrates|A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates]]''}}

Johnson attributes these speeches to "Captain Bellamy" without naming Samuel Bellamy specifically; other writers like Philip Gosse attribute the speeches to [[Charles Bellamy]], a separate pirate unrelated to Samuel Bellamy.<ref name="Gosse - Who's Who">{{cite book|last1=Gosse|first1=Philip|title=The Pirates' Who's Who by Philip Gosse|date=1924|publisher=Burt Franklin|location=New York|pages=47–49|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19564/19564-h/19564-h.htm|access-date=23 June 2017}}</ref> They operated at the same time in the same areas and their exploits are often conflated.<ref name="Plunder & Pillage">{{cite book|last1=Horwood|first1=Harold|title=Plunder & Pillage: Atlantic Canada's Brutal and Bloodthirsty Pirates and Privateers|date=2011|publisher=Formac Publishing Company Limited|location=Halifax NS|isbn=9780887809491|pages=92–96|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ktgou6_xJlMC|access-date=12 October 2017|language=en}}</ref>

== Death ==
[[File:Whydah-map.jpg|thumb|upright|The location of the [[shipwreck|wrecked]] ''Whydah Gally'' in [[Cape Cod]]]]
Just two months after acquiring the ''Whydah'', as she and the ''Marianne'' approached Cape Cod, Williams told Bellamy that he wished to visit his family in [[Rhode Island]], and the two agreed to meet up again near [[Maine]]. Bellamy and the ''Whydah'' captured several other small vessels in the area, including the ''Anne Galley'', to which he appointed his quartermaster [[Richard Noland]] as captain.<ref name="Sandler">{{cite book|last1=Sandler|first1=Martin W.|title=The Whydah: a Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found|date=2017|publisher=Candlewick Press|location=Somerville MA|isbn=9780763680336|pages=44–79|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gf_0vQAACAAJ&q=noland|access-date=16 July 2017|language=en}}</ref>

If Bellamy intended to revisit his lover Maria Hallett, he failed.<ref name="NatGeo" /> The ''Whydah'' was swept up in a violent [[nor'easter]] storm off [[Cape Cod]] at midnight, on 26 April 1717, and was driven onto the sand bar shoals in {{convert|16|ft}} of water some {{convert|500|ft}} from the coast of what is now [[Wellfleet, Massachusetts]]. At 15 minutes past midnight, the masts snapped and drew the heavily loaded ship into 30 feet (9.1 m) of water, where she capsized and quickly sank, taking Bellamy and all but two of the ''Whydah's'' 146-man crew with her.<ref name="Snow">{{cite book|last1=Snow|first1=Edward R.|title=Great Storms and Famous Shipwrecks of the New England Coast|date=1946}}</ref>

104 bodies were known to have washed ashore and were buried by the town coroner, leaving 42 bodies unaccounted for. The ''Mary Anne'' was also wrecked that night several miles south of the ''Whydah'', leaving seven more survivors. All nine survivors from the two ships were captured and prosecuted for piracy in [[Boston]], and six were convicted on 22 October 1717 and hanged on 15 November 1717.<ref>''Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period: Illustrative Documents'', ed. by John Franklin Jameson (Macmillan, 1923) p.303</ref> ([[1717–1718 Acts of Grace|King George's pardon of all pirates]], issued on 5 September, supposedly arrived in Boston three weeks too late). Two were set free, the court believing their testimony that they had been forced into piracy. The last, a 16-year-old [[Miskito people|Miskito]] from [[Mosquito Coast|Mosquitia]], [[John Julian]], was believed to have been sold into slavery to [[John Quincy]], the great-grandfather of U.S. President [[John Quincy Adams]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Dow|first=George Francis|author-link1=George Francis Dow|title=Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|year=1988|orig-year=1935|isbn=0-486-25565-4|pages=221|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l9sh2dKUWmgC&pg=PA221}}</ref>

Williams waited for Bellamy to rendezvous; when Bellamy never appeared, Williams realized what had happened, and sailed south to [[Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]] in the ''Marianne''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Early American Criminals: Samuel Bellamy's Treasure|url=http://www.earlyamericancrime.com/criminals/samuel-bellamy|website=Early American Crime|access-date=16 July 2017|date=21 December 2011}}</ref> Noland also searched for Bellamy off [[Maine]]; failing to find him, he took the ''Anne Galley'' south, raiding ships along the way before accepting a pardon in the [[Bahamas]].<ref name="Sandler"/>

==Reputation==
[[File:Samuel Bellamy Flag.svg|thumb|A flag used by Bellamy, described as “A black Ensign, with Death holding an Hour-Glass in one Hand and a [speaking] Trumpet in the other”.<ref name="Fox-Jolly Rogers">{{cite book |last1=Fox |first1=E. T. |title=Jolly Rogers, the True History of Pirate Flags |date=2015 |publisher=Lulu.com |location=Raleigh NC |isbn=9781326448172 |pages=13-19|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fcy7CgAAQBAJ |accessdate=3 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref>]]
Captain Samuel Bellamy was well known to his contemporaries and chroniclers as a distinctive figure, a tall, strong, well-mannered and very tidy man. He liked expensive clothes, especially black coats. His favorite weapons were four [[duelling pistol]]s that he always carried in his sash:

{{blockquote|He made a dashing figure in his long deep-cuffed velvet coat, knee breeches, silk stockings, and silver-buckled shoes; with a sword slung on his left hip and four pistols on his sash. Unlike some of his fellows, Bellamy never wore the fashionable powdered wig, but grew his dark hair long and tied it back with a black satin bow.<ref name=BVI-Rootsweb>{{cite web|last=Tattersall|first=Jill|title=Black Sam Bellamy|url=http://www.bviwelcome.com/articles/pirates/|work=British Virgin Islands Welcome|publisher=BVI Welcome Tourist Guide|access-date=20 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121204170610/http://www.bviwelcome.com/articles/pirates/|archive-date=4 December 2012|location=British Virgin Islands}} [http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=oldmankew&id=I8306 Alt URL]</ref>}}

As captain, he led in the democratic style typical of Golden Age pirates. His crew was very fond of him, sometimes even referring to him as "Robin Hood of the Sea" and themselves as "Robin Hood's Men".<ref name="NatGeo" /> Captain Bellamy was also a good tactician. Usually, he had two ships under his control. His flagship was powerful with many cannons and the second one was light but fast, which made a good balance. With coordinated attacks, they managed to capture ships easily without harming them.

== Legacy ==
{{further|Whydah Gally}}
[[File:Whydah-bell.jpg|thumb|upright|The bell, inscribed, "''THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716''".]]
In July 1984, Bellamy became famous again when the discovery of the wreckage of his flagship ''Whydah'' was announced, and would soon become the first authenticated pirate shipwreck ever discovered in North America.  At the time of its sinking, the ''Whydah'' was the largest pirate prize ever captured, and the treasure in its hold amassed roughly 4.5 to 5 tons, including huge quantities of [[indigo]], [[ivory]], [[gold]], and 20,000 to 30,000 [[pounds sterling]], divided into 180 sacks of {{convert|50|lb|adj=on|0}} each.<ref name="piratetrial">{{cite web |title=The ''Whydah's'' Loss: The Pirate's Trial |url= http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/pirates/whydahsloss_1.asp |work="Real Pirates" museum exhibit website |publisher=The Field Museum |access-date=21 January 2013 |location=Chicago, Illinois|year=2009}}</ref> The discovery of the wreck was made in 1982 by a diving crew led and funded by underwater explorer [[Barry Clifford]].<ref name="MA-SC" />

<!-- the following sentence is a standalone paragraph on purpose -->
The vessel was under just {{convert|14|ft}} of water and {{convert|5|ft}} of sand.<ref name="MA-SC">{{cite court |litigants=Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Maritime Underwater Surveys, Inc. |vol=403 |reporter=Mass. |opinion=501 |court=Mass. Supreme Court |date=1988 |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2602674804977561500&hl=en |access-date=15 October 2012 }}</ref>

In 1985, Clifford recovered the ship's bell, upon which were the words "THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716", the first incontrovertible evidence of his find. He subsequently founded The Whydah Pirate Museum on MacMillan Wharf in [[Provincetown, Massachusetts]], which was later moved to [[West Yarmouth, Massachusetts]], dedicated to Bellamy and the ''Whydah''. It houses many artifacts which were brought from the wreck, including a cannon found to be stuffed with precious stones, gold and artifacts. A portion of the some 200,000 artifacts so far recovered went on a six-year tour around the United States under the sponsorship of the [[National Geographic Society]]. From May 2017 through 30 July 2017, it was at the Portland Science Center in Portland, Maine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://portlandphoenix.me/listings#/details/REAL-PIRATES-A-NATIONAL-GEOGRAPHIC-EXHIBITION/3510348/2017-05-26T10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305012617/http://portlandphoenix.me/listings#/details/REAL-PIRATES-A-NATIONAL-GEOGRAPHIC-EXHIBITION/3510348/2017-05-26T10|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 March 2016|title=The Portland Phoenix|first=The Conway Daily|last=Sun|website=The Conway Daily Sun|access-date=8 March 2018}}</ref> In 2022, Real Pirates opened in [[Salem, Massachusetts]], also displaying information about Bellamy, the ''Whydah'', and artifacts from the wreck.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nshoremag.com/faces-places/real-pirates-museum-brings-authentic-pirate-treasure-and-stories-to-salem/|title=Real Pirates Museum Brings Authentic Pirate Treasure and Stories to Salem claim|date=8 April 2022 |access-date=2023-09-13}}</ref>

Suspected remains of Bellamy were found near the wreck of his ship, in February 2018. The bones were near a pistol thought to be his, and DNA tests were carried out with a living relative to confirm.<ref>{{cite news |title=Possible remains of world's 'richest pirate' Captain Black Sam Bellamy to be compared to English descendant's DNA |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/19/possible-remains-worlds-richest-pirate-captain-black-sam-bellamy/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/19/possible-remains-worlds-richest-pirate-captain-black-sam-bellamy/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |first=Rozina |last=Sabur | date=19 February 2018 | access-date=28 July 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In May 2018, tests confirmed that the bones were of an Eastern European man, though not Bellamy.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bones found in shipwreck don't belong to infamous pirate |url=https://nypost.com/2018/05/25/bones-found-in-shipwreck-dont-belong-to-infamous-pirate/ |agency=Associated Press |date=25 May 2018 |access-date=28 May 2018 |newspaper=[[New York Post]]}}</ref>

In February 2021, Clifford announced six more pirates' bones were discovered in concretements of debris, and will be tested for DNA matches once they are extracted.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Travis |first=Anderson |date=10 February 2021 |title=Six skeletons unearthed from wreck of pirate ship Whydah off Cape Cod coast |work=Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/02/10/metro/six-skeletons-unearthed-wreck-pirate-ship-whydah-off-cape-cod-coast/ |access-date=21 March 2021}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
* In the manga ''[[One Piece]]'', the pirate character [[Bellamy the Hyena]] is named after Samuel Bellamy.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Silverman |first=Rebecca |title=The Real Pirates of One Piece |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2016-02-05/the-real-pirates-of-one-piece/.98339 |date=5 February 2016 |access-date=13 March 2018 |journal=[[Anime News Network]]}}</ref>
* He appears in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Pirates]]'' as one of the most notorious and colorful pirates of the era.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Martin |first=Liam |title='Assassin's Creed Pirates' release date announced for December |url=http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/assassins-creed/news/a533742/assassins-creed-pirates-release-date-announced-for-december/ |date=25 November 2013 |access-date=13 March 2018 |journal=[[Digital Spy]] |publisher=[[Hearst Magazines UK]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Clover |first=Juli |title='Assassin's Creed Pirates' Named App of the Week, Available for Free |url=https://www.macrumors.com/2014/07/10/assassins-creed-pirates-free/ |date=10 July 2014 |access-date=13 March 2018 |journal=[[MacRumors]] |publisher=MacRumors.com, LLC.}}</ref>
* The [[Netflix]] docudrama series ''[[The Lost Pirate Kingdom]]'' features his pirate career prominently, though with some historical inaccuracies.
* De Chastelaine, Alexander (2022), ''Black Sam - The Pirate Tale of Sam Bellamy and Mehitable Brown'' ISBN 9798322095491
* The historical novel ''If The Tide Turn''s by Rachel Rueckert explores the relationship between Sam Bellamy and Goody Hallett.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496747549/if-the-tide-turns/|title=If the Tide Turns}}</ref>
* The musical ''The Royal Pyrate'' by Jason Landon Marcus and Chas Libretto, based loosely on the exploits of Sam Bellamy and his relationship with Goody Hallet, premiered in August 2025 at the Waterfront Barge Museum in [[Red Hook, Brooklyn]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Royal Pyrate |url= https://events.brooklynpaper.com/event/the-royal-pyrate/ |date=14 August 2025 |access-date=17 August 2025 |website=Brooklyn Paper}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
{{Portal|Piracy}}
* {{cite book|last=Clifford|first=Barry|title=Expedition Whydah : the story of the world's first excavation of a pirate treasure ship and the man who found her|year=1999|publisher=Cliff Street Books|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-06-092971-8|edition=1st|page=[https://archive.org/details/expeditionwhydah00barr/page/261 261]|author-link=Barry Clifford|author2=Perry, Paul|url=https://archive.org/details/expeditionwhydah00barr/page/261}}
* {{cite book|last2=Turchi|first2=Peter |first1=Barry |last1=Clifford|title=The pirate prince : discovering the priceless treasures of the sunken ship Whydah : an adventure|year=1993|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|isbn=978-0-671-76824-9|edition=1993 Hardcover}}
* {{cite book|last=Woodard|first=Colin|title=The republic of pirates : being the true and surprising story of the Caribbean pirates and the man who brought them down|year=2008|publisher=Harcourt, Inc.|location=Orlando, Fla.|isbn=978-0-15-603462-3|edition=1st Harvest|pages=28–29|url=http://www.republicofpirates.net/Bellamy.html|access-date=6 December 2008|archive-date=4 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104141059/http://www.republicofpirates.net/Bellamy.html|url-status=usurped}}
* [http://www.thewayofthepirates.com/famous-pirates/samuel-bellamy.php The Way of the Pirates, "Famous Pirate: Samuel Bellamy, The Romantic Pirate"]
{{Pirates of the Modern Age}}
{{pirates|state=uncollapsed}}

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[[Category:1689 births]]
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[[Category:18th-century English criminals]]
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[[Category:Criminals from Devon]]
[[Category:Deaths due to shipwreck at sea]]
[[Category:English pirates]]

[[Category:Maritime folklore]]
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[[Category:Piracy in the Caribbean]]
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