Blackbeard, by B. Barker, is is a very interesting account of Blackbeard's life as related in the old English. Edward Teach (also Edward Thatch, c.1680-22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was a notorious English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of the American colonies. Although little is known about his early life, he was probably born in Bristol, England.