Edward Low

Edward Low
Capt Edward Low in ye Hurricane which He and All the Crew had Like to Perish'd by J Nicholls and James Basire, hanging in the National Maritime Museum in London
Born	1690 Westminster, London
Died	Disputed (1724, or 1739+) Place of death Disputed
Piratical career
Nickname	Ned Low
Type	Pirate
Years active	c.1721–c.1724 (possibly to 1739+)
Rank	Captain
Base of operations	Atlantic Caribbean
Commands	Rebecca Fancy Rose Pink Ranger Fancy Merry Christmas

Edward "Ned" Low (also spelled Lowe or Loe; 1690–1724) was a notorious pirate of English origin during the latter days of the Golden Age of Piracy, in the early 18th century. Low was born into poverty in Westminster, London, and was a thief from an early age. He moved to Boston, Massachusetts, as a young man. His wife died in childbirth in late 1719. Two years later, he became a pirate, operating off the coasts of New England and the Azores, and in the Caribbean.

Low captained a number of ships, usually maintaining a small fleet of three or four. Low and his pirate crews captured at least a hundred ships during his short career, burning most of them.^[1] Although he was active for only three years, Low remains notorious as one of the most vicious pirates of the age, with a reputation for violently torturing his victims before murdering them.^[2]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described Low as "savage and desperate," and a man of "amazing and grotesque brutality."^[3] The New York Times called him a torturer, whose methods would have "done credit to the ingenuity of the Spanish Inquisition in its darkest days."^[4] The circumstances of Low's death, which took place around 1724, have been the subject of much postulation.