Departures of note

Sir Francis Verney, a Hertfordshire nobleman, was among the most successful captains on the Barbary coast in the early 1600s despite having no seafaring experience. He became second-in-command of the Tunisian pirate fleet led by John Ward, and in 1610 was accused of converting to Islam, a charge that caused considerable controversy in England. He was later captured, spent two years as a galley slave in Sicily, and was freed in 1614 on the condition that he convert to Catholicism.

Born in 1584 at Pendley Manor, Verney was the only son of Sir Edmund Verney. In 1599, he was married to his stepsister, Ursula St. Barbe, in an arrangement made by his stepmother, Lady Mary, to protect her own interests. A private act of Parliament confirmed a settlement that divided the property granted to Francis by his uncle's will with his half-brother Edmund. After his father died in 1600, Verney ran up huge debts, spending as much as £3,000 a year, and lived separately from his wife in a debtors' sanctuary.

When he came of age, Verney challenged his stepmother in court over the inheritance terms, appealing to the House of Commons to reverse the family arrangement. The case went through much debate, but the courts favored Lady Mary and upheld the terms. Bitter over the loss and facing overwhelming debt, Verney sold his estates, deserted his wife, and went abroad, wandering the continent and visiting Jerusalem before leaving England for good in 1608.

Family tradition claims he joined relatives in Morocco serving a claimant to the throne, and after they were killed, he took to piracy. He captured merchant vessels, including one carrying French wine for the court of King James I, prompting the king to assign a warship to escort merchant vessels. Verney died on 6 September 1615 in a pauper's hospital in Messina, Sicily, where he was found by Scottish traveler William Lithgow, who recorded his last days. His personal effects, including a turban and pilgrim's staff, were sent to Claydon House, where his portrait has hung for over 400 years.