The Boston Gaol and Joseph Bradish

Welcome to the site of the Boston Gaol, the first jail in Boston. The gaol housed pirates, slaves, witches, and more during its time. Here, at 26 Court Street where the infamous building stood, the pirate Captain Joseph Bradish (1672-1700) was once held for his crimes against the state. The Golden Age of Piracy took place between 1650 and 1720, during which time thousands of pirates were active on the seas, causing fear and distress among countless nations, and stealing priceless goods from anyone whose paths they crossed. Even in the Colonies, piracy was rampant. Viewed by the majority of Colonists and governments as ruthless, pirates were commonly hanged for their crimes. Joseph Bradish and his fellow pirates terrorized the world for many years during the Golden Age of Piracy, and the Boston Gaol served as a pillar of safety for the people of Boston, who believed, they were saved from the treachery of the prisoners once those criminals were entombed inside the gaol's walls. As Justin Winsor notes, the stone jail--a “gloomy” and “somber” place with thick stone walls--must have filled those who were held there with dread.[1] So too piracy frightened those in Boston. Buildings such as the Gaol served as constant reminders of the dangers of the time.

Joseph Bradish, born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, would become one of the most dangerous and infamous pirates held in the Boston Gaol, alongside another well-known pirate of the seventeenth century, Captain Kidd. Joseph left home for the sea at the age of twenty-five, when he was a crew mate aboard the ship the Adventurer, which was bound for Borneo, that largest island in Asia. Before reaching the destination, however, a mutiny occurred. After marooning the captain and officers on an Indian island, Joseph was elected the new pirate captain of the ship, and they sailed back to Long Island.[2] Bradish and his crew of twenty-six pirates unloaded their stolen goods from the Adventurer, which included a multitude of jewels and pieces of eight. Bradish and his men then sank the Adventurer and travelled to Massachusetts, thinking themselves free and clear from being caught as pirates. As author Edward Rowe Snow says in his book Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast, “as soon as they entered the great seaport, the authorities arrested them and threw them into the great stone jail.”[3] Bradish was related to one of the jailers, however, and after several weeks of planning was able to attempt his escape from prison. The relative was dismissed on site by the Governor of Massachusetts, who then put out a reward of two hundred pieces of eight for anyone who could capture and return Bradish to the stone jail. Bradish was soon recaptured by an Indian sachem, and was returned to the jail to be held until he was eventually shipped to London to be hanged.

The building where he was held was the last relic of his piratical history, and therefore offered a historical monument to the long history of piracy in the United States. The Boston Gaol, also referred to as the Great Stone Jail, was retired in 1836 after the inmate demand became too much for the small space, so it was replaced by the Leverett Street Jail.[4] Once the building ceased being a jail, it was turned into a court, which housed many slave trials before finally being demolished in 1912. A new building was erected in its place, which housed the annex for Boston’s City Hall.[5]

While the original building where Bradish was held no longer stands, its history remains. Looking at the impressive building on the site today, it is not hard to imagine it as a holding place for notorious and dangerous people, such as Joseph Bradish and Captain Kidd. Even now, in the midst of the hustle and bustle there are signs that link modern Boston to its piratical past.

— Selma Watson

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[1] J. Winsor, “A Memorial History of Boston.” The Memorial History of Boston: Including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 1630-1880, archive.org/stream/memorialhistoryo01wins?ref=ol#page/xxiv/mode/2up/search/court street.
[2] “Census • Person • Captain Joseph Bradish.” Colonial Sense, www.colonialsense.com/Society-Lifestyle/Census/Person/Captain_Joseph_Bradish/5710.php.
[3] Edward Rowe Snow, Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast (Boston: Yankee Pub. Co, Jan. 1970), Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/piratesbuccaneer00snow/page/238.
[4] Delores Handy, “From Boston's 1st Jail To Fugitive Slave Trials, 26 Court St. Has History.” From Boston's 1st Jail To Fugitive Slave Trials, 26 Court St. Has History | WBUR News, WBUR, 8 Apr. 2015, www.wbur.org/news/2015/04/08/boston-old-courthouse-jail-court-street.
[5] Edward Rowe Snow, Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast (Boston: Yankee Pub. Co, 1970), Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/piratesbuccaneer00snow/page/238.

Picured: A true list of prisoners held in the Boston Gaol, 1777.

**To go to William Minot’s Office (Site 11), head west on Court St. toward Court Square and the destination will be on the right.**