death_date death_place birth_place allegiance birth_date image article_title name type
23 may 1701 wapping , england dundee , scotland scotland 1645 william kidd.jpg william kidd
 william kidd pirate hunter
william kidd

captain william kidd -lrb- c. 22 january 1645 -- 23 may 1701 -rrb- was a scottish sailor who was tried and executed for piracy after returning from a voyage to the indian ocean .
some modern historians deem his piratical reputation unjust , as there is evidence that kidd acted only as a privateer .
kidd 's fame springs largely from the sensational circumstances of his questioning before the english parliament and the ensuing .
his actual depredations on the high seas , whether piratical or not , were both less destructive and less lucrative than those of many other contemporary pirates and privateers .
