John Phillips: Pirate in a Pickle
The pirate’s life wasn’t meant for John Phillips—but he ended up living it anyway. And though his time as a pirate was brief, the way it ended made him one of the more unusual characters in Atlantic piracy.
His name doesn’t carry the same weight as Blackbeard or Kidd, but from Newfoundland to the Caribbean, Phillips left his mark—and met a fate few could have predicted.
A Carpenter Turned Pirate
John Phillips was a ship’s carpenter by trade. On April 19, 1721, he was aboard a ship headed for Newfoundland, looking for honest work as a splitter in the fishery. But the voyage was interrupted when a pirate ship under the command of Thomas Anstis appeared on the horizon.
The pirates boarded, and the crew was given a choice: join or die. Phillips resisted, but Anstis saw his skills as too valuable to waste. He forced Phillips into service, putting him to work repairing hulls and keeping the fleet afloat.
Over time, Phillips began to adjust. Life at sea, though violent and unpredictable, offered freedom. By the time they reached Anstis’s base in Tobago, Phillips was no longer just a captive carpenter—he was a pirate.
That didn’t last long. A British warship descended on the base, and Anstis and his crew escaped by sea, leaving those on shore behind. Phillips fled into the forest with a handful of others. They survived for weeks before securing passage back to England.
He tried, briefly, to return to a normal life. But with many former pirates being arrested or hanged, Phillips knew it was only a matter of time before authorities came for him. So he left England—and piracy—behind. At least for a while.
The Revenge
In the summer of 1723, Phillips returned to Newfoundland as crewmen aboard a ship commanded by Captain Wadham. He had himself hired on as a splitter for the season, but piracy came calling again.
On the night of August 29, he and four companions stole a schooner from Petty Harbour, owned by a man named William Minnott. Phillips renamed the vessel Revenge.
He drafted a pirate code and made his men swear to it. Their plan was to quickly raid ships, grow their numbers, and make a name for themselves on the Atlantic.
-
One of the reasons John Phillips is remembered is because his 9-article pirate code was recorded. It’s pretty interesting reading.
Say what you will about pirates, they actually had some fairly sensible ideas about consent, smoking and insurance policies.
Phillips’ Articles
Every man shall obey civil command; the captain shall have one full share and a half in all prizes; the Master, Carpenter, Boatswain and Gunner shall have one share and quarter.
If any man shall offer to run away, or keep any secret from the company, he shall be marooned with one bottle of powder, one bottle of water, one small arm, and shot.
If any man shall steal any thing in the company, or game, to the value of a Piece of Eight, he shall be marooned or shot.
If at any time we should meet another marooner (that is, pyrate,) that man that shall sign his articles without the consent of our company, shall suffer such punishment as the captain and company shall think fit.
That man that shall strike another whilst these articles are in force, shall receive Moses's Law (that is 40 Stripes lacking one) on the bare.
That man that shall snap his arms, or smoke tobacco in the hold, without a cap to his pipe, or carry a candle lighted without a lantern, shall suffer the same punishment as in the former.
That man that shall not keep his arms clean, fit for an engagement, or neglect his business, shall be cut off from his share, and suffer such other punishment as the captain and the company shall think fit.
If any man shall lose a joint in time of an engagement, shall have 400 Pieces of Eight; if a limb, 800.
If at any time you meet with a prudent woman, that man that offers to meddle with her, without her consent, shall suffer present death.
One of the men forced aboard before they left the Grand Banks was John Rose Archer, a former crewman of Blackbeard. Phillips quickly promoted him to quartermaster, a move that caused tension among the original crew—especially those from Newfoundland who had expected the role themselves.
As Revenge sailed south, the crew struggled to find targets. Supplies ran low, and morale dropped. In December, they captured a French ship near Tobago. Soon after, they seized a small sloop and sent men aboard to retrieve her. One of them, Thomas Fern — who’d been with him since Petty Harbour — attempted to escape with the stolen ship.
He was caught.
According to Phillips’ pirate code, Fern should have been marooned. But Phillips showed leniency and let him stay aboard. Days later, Fern tried again. This time, Phillips killed him.
North Again
In early 1724, Phillips turned Revenge north. The plan was to raid vessels off the Grand Banks and recruit more men. Off Cape Sable, they captured thirteen ships in quick succession.
Then, they came across a schooner belonging to William Minnott—the same man Phillips had stolen the Revenge from some months ago.
“We have done him enough injury,” Phillips said, and let Minnott’s vessel go.
It was an unusual decision for a pirate.
It would also be one of his last.
The End of Phillips
On April 1, 1724, Revenge took another sloop—this one captained by Andrew Harradine. On board were several unwilling recruits who had been forced into piracy. After weeks under Phillips’s command, they had had enough.
On April 18, they acted.
The mutiny was quick and violent. Phillips was killed by a blow to the head. His body was decapitated, and his head nailed to the mast as a warning.
But the story doesn’t end there.
According to some accounts, his severed head went from the mast to a pickle barrel and was brought ashore as proof of his death.
A Short, Strange Legacy
John Phillips didn’t set out to be a pirate. He was a carpenter by trade—a man who fixed things for a living.
But one bad turn led to another.
Pressed into piracy, he adapted. Given a ship, he took it. Faced with mutiny, he killed.
What began as survival turned into ambition. And what started as a trade in wood and nails ended in theft, violence, and ultimately, a barrel.
His career lasted less than a year. He captured 34 ships, enforced his own pirate code, and tried—briefly—to bring structure to chaos.
But history doesn’t reward intent.
Instead of pirate glory, Phillips is remembered for the final image: his severed head, bobbing in a barrel of brine.
They say dead men tell no tales. But if Phillips could, he might suggest a few smarter choices along the way.
He lived by the sword, died by mutiny, and became the pirate in a pickle.
Not legendary, exactly, but undeniably memorable all the same.
-
A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates, Charles Johnson, 1724
Here Lies the Pickled Head of Captain John Phillips, Simmons University, PocketSights
The Reluctant Pirate from Ipswich, Captain John Fillmore, Historic Ipswich
The Pirates’ Who’s Who, Philip Gosse, 1924
John Phillips, goldenageofpiracy.org
