Edward Low

Edward "Ned" Low (1690 – 1724) was a notorious English pirate during the latter days of the Golden Age of Piracy, in the early 18th century. He was born around 1690 into poverty in Westminster, London, and was a thief from an early age. Low moved to Boston, Massachusetts, as a young man. His wife died in childbirth in late 1719. Two years later, he became a pirate, operating off the coasts of New England and the Azores, and in the Caribbean.

He captained a number of ships, usually maintaining a small fleet of three or four. Low and his pirate crews captured at least a hundred ships during his short career, burning most of them. Although he was active for only three years, Low remains notorious as one of the most vicious pirates of the age, with a reputation for violently torturing his victims before killing them.

Biography[edit | edit source]

In September 1722, Low captured the Jackdaw while its captain Edward Kenway was underwater in the diving bell, looking for the gold of a sunk Spanish vessel, the Polvora. Threatening the lives of his crew, the infamous pirate forced Kenway to lift the rest of the treasure back to the surface. Unfortunately for him, Kenway trapped the bell, filling it with not just barrels of gold, but also barrels of gunpowder. When Low and his men brought the diving bell back onto the ship, it exploded, launching the gold pieces like shrapnel in every direction.^[1]

Using the distraction, Kenway sneaked on board the Jackdaw and released his men. Together they pushed the other pirates back on their own ship, and an enraged Low prepared to fire with his cannons on the defenseless Jackdaw. However, Kenway had also placed several gunpowder barrels of the Polvora on the deck of Low's ship, which he fired upon with a musket, causing considerable damage and neutralizing his rival.^[1]