Editing William Kidd (section)

===Early voyages===
As a young man, Kidd settled in [[New York City]], which the English had taken over from the Dutch.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://boroughsofthedead.com/captain-kidd-new-york-city/|title=Captain Kidd in New York City {{!}} Boroughs of the Dead|date=23 May 2014 |language=en-US|access-date=19 November 2019}}</ref> There he befriended many prominent colonial citizens, including three governors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2010/01/infamous-captain-kidd-and-his-swanky.html|title=Captain Kidd and his swanky New York waterfront home|last=Boys|first=Bowery|date=27 January 2010|website=The Bowery Boys: New York City History|language=en|access-date=19 November 2019}}</ref> Some accounts suggest that he served as a seaman's [[apprentice]] on a pirate ship during this time, before beginning his more famous seagoing exploits as a [[privateer]].

By 1689, Kidd was a member of a French–English pirate crew sailing the [[Caribbean Sea|Caribbean]] under Captain [[Jean Fantin]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ferminiatures.com/shop/magna-historica/jean-fantin-st-kitts-1689-limited-edition/|title=Jean Fantin, St. Kitts, 1689 Limited Edition|website=Ferminiatures.com|language=en-US|access-date=19 November 2019}}</ref> During one of their voyages, Kidd and other crew members mutinied, ousting the captain and sailing to the British colony of [[Nevis]].<ref name="The Pirate Hunter">{{cite book|last1=Zacks|first1=Richard|title=The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd|date=2003|publisher=Hachette Books|location=New York|isbn=978-1401398187|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TbqZAAAAQBAJ|access-date=31 August 2017|language=en}}</ref> There they renamed the ship ''[[Blessed William]]'', and Kidd became captain either as a result of election by the ship's crew, or by appointment of [[Christopher Codrington]], governor of the island of Nevis.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/23/day-1701-pirate-caribbean-william-captain-kidd-meets-end-execution/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/23/day-1701-pirate-caribbean-william-captain-kidd-meets-end-execution/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=On this day in 1701: Pirate of the Caribbean, William 'Captain' Kidd, meets his end at Execution Dock|last=Selwood|first=Dominic|date=23 May 2017|work=The Telegraph|access-date=19 November 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Kidd was an experienced leader and sailor by that time, and the ''Blessed William'' became part of Codrington's small fleet assembled to defend Nevis from the French, with whom the English were at war.<ref name=Hubbard>{{cite book|last1=Hubbard|first1=Vincent|title=A History of St. Kitts|date=2002|publisher=Macmillan Caribbean|isbn=978-0333747605|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofstkitts00vinc/page/52 52]|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofstkitts00vinc/page/52}}</ref><ref name="Vincent">{{cite book|last1=Hubbard|first1=Vincent|title=Swords, Ships & Sugar|date=2002|publisher=Premiere Editions International, Inc.|location=Corvallis|isbn=978-1891519055|pages=104–105}}</ref> The governor did not pay the sailors for their defensive service, telling them instead to take their pay from the French. Kidd and his men attacked the French island of [[Marie-Galante]], destroying its only town and looting the area, and gathering around 2,000 pounds sterling.

Later, during the [[War of the Grand Alliance]], on commissions from the provinces of [[Province of New York|New York]] and [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts Bay]], Kidd captured an enemy [[privateer]] off the [[New England]] coast.<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911| wstitle =Kidd, William| volume=15 |pages=783–784}}</ref> Shortly afterwards, he was awarded £150 for successful [[privateer]]ing in the [[Caribbean]]. One year later, [[Robert Culliford|Captain Robert Culliford]], a notorious pirate, stole Kidd's ship while he was ashore at [[Antigua]] in the [[West Indies]].

In [[New York City]], Kidd was active in financially supporting the construction of [[Trinity Church, New York]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/history/?timeline|title=History|date=26 March 2016|work=trinitywallstreet.org|access-date=8 January 2017}}</ref><ref name="trinity kidd blog">{{cite web | url=http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/news/blogs/the-archivists-mailbag/question-of-the-day-trinitys-very-own-pirate | title=Question of the Day: Trinity's Very Own Pirate? | publisher=Trinity Church | work=The Archivist's Mailbag | date=19 November 2008 | access-date=18 December 2011 | archive-date=26 December 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111226044447/http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/news/blogs/the-archivists-mailbag/question-of-the-day-trinitys-very-own-pirate | url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 16 May 1691, Kidd married Sarah Bradley Cox Oort,<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/beyond-the-beyond/2018/02/mrs-captain-kidd-shore-side-piratess/|title=Mrs. Captain Kidd, shore-side piratess|last=Sterling|first=Bruce|date=2 February 2018|magazine=Wired|access-date=19 November 2019|language=en-US|issn=1059-1028}}</ref> who was still in her early twenties. She had already been twice widowed and was one of the wealthiest women in New York, based on an inheritance from her first husband.<ref>Zacks, Richard. ''The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd''. Hachette+ORM, 2003.</ref>