Jan Willems

Jan Willems (died 1688), also known as Janke or Yankey Willems, was a 17th-century Dutch buccaneer. Based out of Petit-Goâve, Willems participated in a number of expeditions against the Spanish during the early to mid-1680s with other well-known privateers including Michiel Andrieszoon, Thomas Paine, Laurens de Graaf, Nicholas van Hoorn and Michel de Grammont.

Biography

Although a Dutchman, Willems worked with English privateers during the first years of his buccaneering career raiding Rio de la Hacha with Thomas Paine in 1680. In September 1681, he and English privateer William Wright sailed together from Bocas del Toro. Although Willems did not have a commission himself, he captured a Spanish merchantman with a cargo of sugar and tobacco while sailing with Wright south along the caribbean coast of New Granada actual Colombia. Taking the Spanish prize as his own, he gave his old barque to Wright who burned his own ship. They attempted to sell the Spanish cargo at Curaçao, however they were forced to leave by the governor. He and Wright then sailed to the Islas Las Aves and Los Roques where they remained until February 1682 and presumably parted ways soon after. During next year, he was among those present at a conference on Roatan in one of the largest held gatherings of the "Brethren of the Coast".