Tag Archives: the glamour of swashbuckling

Grimsby man stole his boat – and world fame

Some called him The Lone Captain, the BBC called him The Buccaneer. He called himself a Freelance of the Sea. But a criminal court judge had other words in mind and sent him to prison – and hard labour – for 18 months. But history, which dwells inordinately on the glamour of swashbuckling, has found a friendly niche for Dod Orsborne, a curious Jekyll and Hyde of a man who, in 1936, stole a seine netter from its owner and sailed out of Grimsby and into the newspaper headlines of the world. click here to read the story 12:56