Privateering has existed since the 17th century, but it wasn't until the 18th century that Privateering became prevalent, especially along the Nova Scotian and New England coast. During the American Revolution (1776 - 1783), American privateers infested Nova Scotian waters and attacked towns that lacked adequate military protection. To protect themselves, townsmen in such ports as Liverpool and Lunenburg outfitted schooners (because they were faster than other types of ships and were more easily maneuvered) and wreaked havoc on American shipping. Liverpool's Privateering heritage began about 1777, when an Act of the Imperial Parliament in England granted Letters of Marque to those people who wished to go out in vessels armed at their own expense.

These vessels would attack enemy shipping for profit, to allow the Royal Navy to concentrate on its job of blockading the enemy coast. The prize vessels brought in by the privateers were sent to the Privateers Wharf in Halifax to allow the Justice of the Court of Vice-Admiralty to decide whether the prize was captured legally or illegally. If the vessel was captured legally, it and its cargo were sold at auction. The distribution of prize money went something like this. A third went to the King; a third went to the lawyers, justices and anyone else involved in the legal aspects; and a third when to the owner of the privateer of which it was subsequently divided between himself, the captain and officers of the privateer, most going to the owner/owners. If anything was left, it went of the crew. Usually only a few shillings went to each crewman. So, the people who did the most work got the least pay. Not very many people got rich.

Many people think that a privateer and a pirate were one and the same. That's not true. A privateer needed a Letter of Marque, whereas a pirate didn't. A privateer captured only enemy ships; a pirate could and did attack any ship he saw. A privateer took his prize to a court to sell legally; a pirate sold his prizes and cargo to anyone. A pirate engaged in battle until every man on the opposing ship was murdered; a privateer only fought when the captain though he had a chance of victory. When there was no chance, he gave up.

Privateer crews were treated well and set ashore while the ship was sold at the court, whereas a pirate pressed people on board and beat them to work and committed acts of atrocity. A privateer called for volunteers and treated everyone fairly. A pirate was a vulture and was despised whereas a privateer was a gentleman and engaged in a commercial enterprise. As you can see, a privateer and a pirate were two different individuals - one to be respected, the other feared and tolerated.
The first privateer out of Liverpool was the Enterprise in which Simeon Perkins held a share.

The second was the privateer Lucy, owned by Simeon Perkins and others. (To see how this privateer was outfitted and how well it performed, see his diary in 1778 at the Queens County Museum). During the Napoleonic wars, such privateers as the Duke of Kent, Charles Mary Wentworth, Nymph, Swallow, Dolphin and the Rover called Liverpool home. The river, captained by Alexander Godfry, has as its claim to fame the capture of the Spanish schooner flagship, Santa Rita, and its two gunboats in 1800. The Rover's crew of 55 captured the Santa Rita and their crews of 125 without the Rover losing one man. The capture made Godfry a hero in England, which offered him his own ship in the Royal Navy.

The war of 1812 saw Liverpool as homeport for a large number of privateers including the Retaliation, Sir John Sherbrooke, (the largest privateer in Nova Scotia), Shannon and the infamous Liverpool Packet, owned by Enos Collins, who was lieutenant on the Charles Mary Wentworth during the American Revolution. The greatest privateer of all time, the Liverpool Packet, was originally a slave tender off Africa and was captured by a British warship. She was sold to Collins at Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1811 to be used in the packet service between Liverpool and Halifax to carry mail, passengers and freight. When was broke out between Britain and the United States, she became the second ship to obtain a Letter of Marque and the first to get out to sea. Between 1812 and 1814 the Liverpool Packet and its captain Joseph Barss and crew captured between 100 and 200 vessels.

These valued between $250,000 and $1 million caused so much turmoil to American shipping that a canal was built through Cape Cod to allow the Americans to get their cargo to its destinations. The profits made in these ventures were used to build many of the homes in and about Liverpool. Collins himself was declared to be the richest man in British North America upon his death at age 93. After the war and until his death Collins lived and worked in Halifax focusing his attention there. He created the Bank of Halifax. Saint Mary's University stands on the site of his home named Gorsebrook. He married late in his life and had a son Brenton Haliburton, who was worth $90 million when he died in England in the late 1800's. Nothing much is known about Collins, though he played an important part in Privateering. With so much success by the privateers, it is no wonder Liverpool is known as the port of the Privateers.