The Infamous Pirate Duo: Anne Bonny & Mary Read

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Two girls being raised as boys in modern day would seem like neglect or bad parenting. However, in the 1700’s, that may have been the only thing saving the lives of young Anne Bonny and young Mary Read. Both girls were born bastards, but it was easier to be a bastard son than a bastard daughter. Anne grew up being called “Andy” and Mary was called “Mark.”

Anne Cormac was born to an Irish lawyer and his maid. She was raised as a boy, and they told everyone she was a distant relative to keep her parents’ secret. After a failed attempt to keep Anne hidden, the family moved to what is now South Carolina. At 16, she fell in love with a sailor and got married without her father’s permission. She married James Bonny and took his name, officially known as Anne Bonny now.

Mary Read was born in Plymouth to a very recent widow. Her father had been a sailor who had died at sea. Around the time of her birth, her older brother had died as well. Her paternal grandmother was sending her mother money to help support the raising of her brother. In fear that the funding would be cut off after he died, Mary was forced into the role of her older brother. And it worked, her mother kept getting the funding for her son.

After a certain amount of time, you become comfortable with the disguise you live in. As such, Mary joined the British military and fought in the War of the Spanish Succession. While in the Netherlands, she met and fell in love with a man. She revealed she was a woman and left the military to be with her lover. The two of them opened a hotel together to create a happy life. Unfortunately, her husband died a few months later. She closed the hotel and rejoined the military under a different branch.

Then there’s a gap of time where people aren’t convinced about anything for certain but ends with both Mary and Anne on Captain “Calico Jack” Rackham’s ship as part of his crew. Anne is said to have joined the end of 1719 and Mary to have joined around the middle of 1720.

Anne, upon seeing “Mark” had fallen in love with “him.” Calico Jack was jealous, he was the only captain with a woman on his ship, and she dared fall for someone else? At least, that was until he realized “Mark” was actually Mary and therefore meaning he had two women on his ship. The two grew closer being the only women on ship. They became a deadly pair, if one was around, the other was close by. It is this closeness that leads historians to believe they were intimately involved with each other.

Who would have thought their downfall would be another woman. Dorothy Thomas was aboard a canoe that was nearby an attack site that Calico Jack was pillaging. Mary and Anne found her and reported to Jack that they should kill her. They had been worried about her speaking against them. Calico Jack however, had no such worries and sent her on her way.

Jonathan Barnet, a famed pirate hunter, was hired by the Jamaican governor, Nicholas Lawes. Jonathan had found Dorothy Thomas and questioned her about Calico Jack and his crew. She told him what she had seen. She claimed that the two women fought more viciously than the men. Having been given the information he needed, Jonathan waited in Negril Bay, now known as Bloody Bay.

After their latest victory, Calico Jack’s crew was celebrating. They had been getting drunk off stolen wine and having a very fun time. Only the women refused, saying they needed to be careful and keep watch.

Around 10 o’clock that night, Jonathan Barnet had approached Calico Jack’s ship claiming that they needed to surrender. Jack refused and ordered his men to hide below deck. Anne and Mary continued to fight above deck and asked their crewmates to fight with them. Eventually they lost the battle, and everyone was arrested. The women got let off by “pleading the belly,” or commonly known as saying they couldn’t be killed as they were pregnant.

Calico Jack was the first to be sentenced. He had asked to see the women for final words to comfort him. Little did he know they were still filled with rage from his actions. Anne had said, “if you had fought like a man, you need not be hang’d like a dog.” Those were her final words to him.

Mary died in prison, waiting for her child to be born so she could be properly sentenced. They believe the cause to be a combination of typhus and complications during childbirth.

Hello! I’m Chase Wonnacott, a Professional Writing student at Algonquin College.

I am an aspiring author who is forever longing for Smurf the cat; she is a calico cat who is currently living with my partner in Guelph. In my spare time, you can find me alone in my room, watching the same things I always do for comfort.

I forever love fantasy, pirates, horror, and all things middle ages. I look forward to sharing some of my favourite interests with you all!