Red Legs Greaves

Intro
'Red Legs' Greaves was born in Barbados in the 1640-50's. He got his nickname from poor whites living in Barbados.

Early life
Greaves' parents were trailed for their participation in the War of the Three Kingdoms. He was thought to be born in 1649. He was eventually sold to a kind master. However, both his parents and master died, and the orphan was sold to another man who was claimed to be violent and often beat up Greaves.

Captain Hawkins
He joined a ship eventually, with the captain being someone named Captain Hawkins. Greaves overtook Hawkins and became the captain of the ship. Greaves resented Hawkins, because he wouldn't obey Hawkins' orders. Eventually, Hawkins was killed in a fight with Greaves. Greaves was voted on being the ship's new captain.

Captain Greaves
in acceptation of the crew, Greaves rewrote the ship's articles. Around 1675, he attacked Margarita Island, off the coast of Venezuela. After capturing the local Spanish fleet, he used their guns against the coastal defences and successfully stormed the town. After taking a large amount of pearls and gold, he soon left without looting the town, or harming the inhabitants.

Retiring from piracy
After the raid, Greaves was able to retire from piracy and settled in Nevis. However, after being recognized by one of his former victims, he was turned in to authorities to collect the reward offered for his capture. Greaves was found guilty of piracy and, despite his reputation, no leniency was shown towards him and he was sentenced to be hanged in chains. While imprisoned in the prison dungeon of Port Royal to await his execution, the town was submerged by an earthquake in 1692 with Greaves one of the few survivors eventually picked up by a whaling ship.

In gratitude, he joined the crew of the whaling ship and later became a pirate hunter, eventually earning a royal pardon for his efforts in the capture of a pirate ship which had been raiding local whaling fleets.

After his pardon, he again retired to a plantation and became known as a philanthropist in his later years, donating much of his wealth to various island charities and public works before his death of natural causes.