Stede Bonnet, The Gentleman Pirate of The Cape Fear

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Stede Bonnet, the Gentleman Pirate of the Cape Fear is a North Carolina story with a documented core at Cape Fear River estuary, near Southport, Brunswick County. The sources are named below.

HistoryKind of story
2Named sources
CoastRegion
Oct 27Checked, 2026

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A story with a documented core.

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Stede Bonnet, The Gentleman Pirate of The Cape Fear

A wealthy Barbados planter, they say, gave up his comfortable life in 1717 to go pirating, paying his crew wages out of his own pocket. In the late summer of 1718 he hid his ship in the Cape Fear to be repaired, and was found there.

What The Record Shows

NCpedia (biography of Stede Bonnet, read October 27, 2026) says he was a planter and former army officer who in early 1717 bought a sloop he named the Revenge, paid his crew from his own funds, and sailed for a time with Blackbeard. In 1718 he took a pardon from Governor Charles Eden, then returned to piracy as "Captain Thomas". His ship, the Royal James, was taken into a waterway off the Cape Fear River to be cleaned when South Carolina's William Rhett arrived; after about six hours of fighting, Bonnet surrendered. He escaped on October 25, 1718, was recaptured, and was hanged at White Point in Charleston on December 10, 1718. State highway marker D-110 (North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, 2023 post, read October 27, 2026) places his base near present-day Southport in August 1718 and the Rhett attack in September 1718. It stands on NC 211 (Ferry Road) in Southport. Both sources date the death as December 10, 1718. The exact battle site is not named by either source beyond the Cape Fear estuary.

Sources: Bonnet, Stede, NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography); Stede Bonnet 1688-1718 (Marker D-110), N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

A Note

The state highway marker is on a public road, so pull off safely. Bonnet's crew was tried and hanged in Charleston, South Carolina, not in North Carolina.

Its home: State highway marker D-110 on a public road near Southport. Official page.

On this site: Coast Events, Wilmington.

Looked for and Not Found

The NCpedia Old Baldy Lighthouse page does not mention Stede Bonnet, so we did not tie him to Bald Head Island or Old Baldy.
The NCpedia biography does not use the name "Battle of Cape Fear River"; that name appeared only in search results from Wikipedia, which we did not use as proof.
Sources differ on the date and length of the battle (NCpedia and the marker say six hours; marker says September 1718); we found no page giving a single agreed date.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is the story of Stede Bonnet, the Gentleman Pirate of the Cape Fear true?

Is this a legend?

It is a story with a documented core. The facts are listed on this page with their sources.

Where do these facts come from?

From the named sources listed on this page: Bonnet, Stede, NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography); Stede Bonnet 1688-1718 (Marker D-110), N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Sources

Read on October 27, 2026. Stories are for fun; the facts come from these sources. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? tell us.

Cite this page: It's North Carolina, “Stede Bonnet, The Gentleman Pirate of The Cape Fear”, itsnorthcarolina.com/legends/stede-bonnet-gentleman-pirate/ (updated 2026-10-27). By the It's North Carolina editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.