Raid on Fowey

The Raid on Fowey took place sometime in 1645, when Barbary Corsairs from Algiers attacked the coast of Cornwall near the town of Fowey enslaving 240 people.^[1]^[2]

Context

In 1625 Barbary Corsairs raided Mount's Bay enslaving 60 people^[3]^[4] the next year they raided St Keverne multiple times^[5] the ports of Looe, Penzance, Mousehole and oher Cornish ports were blocked by the Corsairs.^[3] They also raided Penzance in July 1640.^[6]

Raid on Fowey

The Barbary Corsairs landed in Fowey in 1645, enslaving a total of 240 people, most of them being women^[1]^[2]^[7]

Aftermath

In 1646, Algiers and the English signed a treaty sending Edmund Cason to Algiers to retrieve English slaves^[8] who numbered about 2,555 captives in Algiers in March 1641.^[9]

The greatest part of the inhabitants had rather keep their slaves than permit them to be freed: they come to so much more per head than I expected, the reason is here be many women and children which cost £50 per head and might sell them for an £100. Besides them there are divers which are masters of ships and carpenters, caulkers, coopers, sailmakers, chirurgions and others which are here highly esteemed so that they do come £32 per man.
— Edmund Cason, ^[8]

Edmund Cason reportedly freed 250 English captives before running out of money.^[10] He also had to pay Pashas, Ottoman officials, and translators.^[8] Edmund would spend the remaining 8 years of his life trying to get the funds to free another 400 English captives but failed dying in Algiers.^[3]^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b Pritchard, R. E. (2020-07-30). Captain John Smith, Adventurer: Piracy, Pocahontas & Jamestown. Pen and Sword History. ISBN 978-1-5267-7363-0.
^ ^a ^b Capp, Bernard (2022-04-07). British Slaves and Barbary Corsairs, 1580-1750. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-267180-6.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Barbary Pirates and English Slaves". Historic UK. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
^ Konstam, Angus (2016-08-25). The Barbary Pirates 15th-17th Centuries. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-1544-6.
^ Hosken, Brindley (2023-08-18). Up Long Meadow. Austin Macauley Publishers. ISBN 978-1-0358-0673-7.
^ The Spectator. The Spectator. 1884.
^ Field, Cyril (2022-08-01). The British Navy Book. DigiCat.
^ ^a ^b ^c Auchterlonie, Paul (2012-03-24). Encountering Islam: Joseph Pitts: An English Slave in 17th-century Algiers and Mecca. Arabian Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9571060-8-6.
^ Appleby, John C. (2013). Women and English Piracy, 1540-1720: Partners and Victims of Crime. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84383-869-2.
^ ^a ^b Oborne, Peter (2022-05-12). The Fate of Abraham: Why the West is Wrong about Islam. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-3985-0104-1.

[:1-1] Pritchard, R. E. (2020-07-30). Captain John Smith, Adventurer: Piracy, Pocahontas & Jamestown. Pen and Sword History. ISBN 978-1-5267-7363-0.

[:2-2] Capp, Bernard (2022-04-07). British Slaves and Barbary Corsairs, 1580-1750. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-267180-6.

[:0-3] "Barbary Pirates and English Slaves". Historic UK. Retrieved 2025-07-21.

[4] Konstam, Angus (2016-08-25). The Barbary Pirates 15th-17th Centuries. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-1544-6.

[5] Hosken, Brindley (2023-08-18). Up Long Meadow. Austin Macauley Publishers. ISBN 978-1-0358-0673-7.

[6] The Spectator. The Spectator. 1884.

[:3-7] Field, Cyril (2022-08-01). The British Navy Book. DigiCat.

[:4-8] Auchterlonie, Paul (2012-03-24). Encountering Islam: Joseph Pitts: An English Slave in 17th-century Algiers and Mecca. Arabian Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9571060-8-6.

[9] Appleby, John C. (2013). Women and English Piracy, 1540-1720: Partners and Victims of Crime. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84383-869-2.

[:5-10] Oborne, Peter (2022-05-12). The Fate of Abraham: Why the West is Wrong about Islam. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-3985-0104-1.

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