The new BBC4 documentary series, Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues, led by historian Dr Sam Willis, seeks to uncover how notorious criminals from the 17th and 18th centuries became romanticised figures. Rebecca Simon, currently writing up a PhD about the perception of early modern Atlantic pirates through the lens of their public executions in London, the Caribbean and North American colonies, lends her expertise to the second episode, airing on 30 November at 21:00. For this episode, Rebecca will discuss the trial and execution of the pirate, Captain William Kidd, how the public perceived him, and the rise of his post-humous notoriety by looking at copies of his published trial, images from the Newgate Calendar, and a glimpse at the silver oar of the Admiralty.

Rebecca Simon is a PhD student of the early modern Atlantic World under the supervision of Richard Drayton.  Her research interests include cultural and intellectual history, identity, piracy, religion and print culture. For her PhD Rebecca is researching pirate executions in the Atlantic World with focuses on London, the Caribbean and Colonial America, looking specifically at the early modern legalities and the processes/transference of English law to its overseas planations and colonies through the establishment of Admiralty Courts.  In addition to looking at the functionality of these courts, Rebecca Simon is also analysing the cultural history of pirate executions through printed media in the 17th and 18th centuries.   

Watch on BBC4 at 21:00, 30 November or online shortly after the broadcast