August '06 - Thomas Tew

Thomas Tew was born to a well-to-do family in Newport, Rhode Island, but it's not clear who his parents were. Actually not much is known about Thomas Tew before his arrival in Bermuda in 1692 where he was a succesful privateer during Britains conflict with France.

In 1693 Thomas was elected Captain by members of the ship 'Amity's venture and sent with a letter of marque from Bermuda Governor Isaac Richier to attack french ships and french slave stations on the west african coast. He was to have the assistance of the royal african company upon arrival, but after being separated from his privateer parter George Drew in a storm, Thomas abandoned the original mission and headed the ship south towards the Cape of Good Hope after convincing the crew of 60 to turn pirate.
After a short stop in Madagascar for supplies, they went on to the Red Sea and captured a vessel belonging to the Great Moghul of India. After stripping the ship off an enormous fortune, Thomas returned to Newport by early 1694 after a 15 month journey.
He sold the 'Amity', paid the crew, and then spent the next months on land. He travelled with his family to New York, where he met and became friend with Governor Benjamin Fletcher.
Thomas may not have had any intentions of returning to sea at first, but by late summer, he had returned to Newport to have a new Amity fitted for a second trip to the Indian Ocean.
He left in November 1694, accompanied by the well-known pirates Thomas Wake and William Want and a letter of marque purchased from Governor Fletcher for 300 pounds. While it is known that Thomas stopped at Madagascar, other details before his demise are unclear. His success in piracy lead to Madagascar becoming a huge pirate base.

In the late summer-months in 1695, he sighted another Indian ship and was prepared to loot it, but it was armed and prepared to defend itself and Thomas got killed on deck. His crew then surrendered and was probably killed on the spot or taken to die in India

sources:
The Pirate's Realm
Red Flag