Irish-born Anne Bonny grew up to become one of history most famous female pirates. Her fame even rubbed off on others, and made otherwise forgettable historical figures famous as well. Best example of that being Anne’s lover, John Rackham, better known as Calico Jack. He is one of the Golden Age of Piracy’s best known pirates, but not because of his piratical exploits. He is known because his crew included famous female pirates Anne Bonny and her friend Mary Read.
Anne Bonny Was a Hellion from Early On
The illegitimate daughter of a lawyer and his housemaid, Anne Bonny was born in Ireland in 1697. Her father moved to London when she was a child, and took Anne with him. There was a problem, though: he was married, and depended on the financial support of his wife. Understandably, she would not be happy to know of her husband’s infidelity, or have his illegitimate offspring under her roof. So to conceal Anne from his wife, her father dressed her as a boy, and called her “Andy”.
His wife found out anyhow, however. She kicked him out, and cut off his allowance. So he moved to South Carolina, and took Anne with him. There, he became a businessman and eventually prospered. As to his daughter, however, he had a problem child on his hands. When she was thirteen-years-old, Anne stabbed a servant with a knife. Soon thereafter, she met and married a scheming sailor and minor pirate, who had an eye on her father’s estate. In response, Anne’s father kicked her out of his house, and disowned her.
Becoming a Pirate
Anne Bonny did not respond well to getting kicked out of home and disowned. By way of payback, she turned to arson and reportedly set fire to her father’s plantation. She and her husband eventually ended up moving moved to Nassau in the Bahamas, a notorious pirate haven at the time. There, Anne’s husband made money snitching on the pirates to the British authorities. His wife, who adhered to the eighteenth century version of the street code, disapproved of her hubby’s snitching.
It was around that time that Anne met the pirate Calico Jack Rackham, and became his lover. So she ditched her smalltime pirate husband to go pirating with her new beau, a pirate of greater stature. Anne disguised herself as a man aboard ship, with only Rackham and her friend Mary Read knowing the truth. Aboard ship, she performed all the duties of male crew members. She earned a reputation as a brave fighter, but the truth about her gender became evident when she got pregnant. She was landed on Cuba, where she gave birth to a son, then rejoined Rackham and Mary Read.
End of the Road
Rackham and his piratical crew specialized in plundering small vessels engaged in coastal trade. They fell upon larger ships when the opportunity presented itself, however. In October, 1720, a pirate hunter chanced upon their ship at anchor. Rackham and most of his men were too drunk to fight, indeed, most of them fled in terror to try and hide in the cargo hold. The only resistance was offered by Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who fought ferociously before they were finally subdued. The captured pirates were taken to Jamaica, where they were tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang.
Anne was spared the noose by “pleading her belly” – she was pregnant, and under English common law, that entitled her to a stay of execution until she gave birth. She had little sympathy for her lover when he sobbed as he bid her goodbye before his execution. Anne reportedly sneered at his tears: “if you had fought like a man, you would not hang now like a dog!” Anne Bonny was not executed after she gave birth. She disappeared from history, and her ultimate fate is unknown. A 1733 burial register lists an “Ann Bonny”, who might or might not be the famous pirate, who was buried in Spanish Town, Jamaica.
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Some Sources & Further Reading
History Halls – Sayyida al-Hurra: The Pirate Queen Who Terrorized the Mediterranean
Woodard, Colin – The Republic of Pirates (2007)
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