The piratical seizure of the brig Cyprus

In 1829, convicts hijacked the brig Cyprus as it was transporting them to the penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land in Australia. 

They evaded the Royal Navy, outsmarted the East India Company and, without navigational aids, sailed over 14,000 kilometres to Japan before deliberately sinking the brig off the Chinese coast. 

When five of these escaped convicts were apprehended on the streets of London and put on trial for piracy, their daring escape from Van Diemen’s Land made headlines around the world.

Remarkably during the trial, only William Swallow gave a full account of the escape. He was eventually acquitted, but his testimony condemned William Watts and George Huntly, who became the last men executed for piracy in England. 

With the whereabouts of the vessel and nine of her crew still unknown, academics and historians have had doubts about Swallow's testimony. However, all that changed in 2017 when samurai manuscripts confirmed his story.

In this talk, Timothy Stone will present new evidence about the piratical seizure of the Cyprus brig, its travels to New Zealand, Tonga, Japan and China, and current efforts to locate the shipwreck.

About the speaker: Timothy Stone

Timothy Stone is an award-winning producer, writer and art journalist with extensive experience working across broadcast, digital and print mediums. His documentaries, shorts, and reportage have screened at prestigious film festivals across the globe, including Raindance, Hollyshorts, Cannes Short Film Corner and the Streamy Awards. 

In 2023, Timothy was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to retrace the journey taken by escaped convicts that sailed from Tasmania across the Pacific to Japan before their miraculous return to England in 1830. His Fellowship will culminate in a major exhibition to be staged in Australia ahead of the bicentenary of their daring escape.

Header image: 'A Pirate hanged at Execution Dock' (PAJ0887) © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London