Born: 8 March 1702, Ireland
Died: 22 April 1782
Country most active: International
Also known as: Andy, Anne Bonney
In the 1700s, the height of the so-called Golden Age of Piracy, Mary Read and Anne Bonny met when both were disguised as men. For Mary, this was a lifelong habit and she was also known as Mark Read. Mary was the result of an extramarital affair and because her mother’s sailor husband had been lost at sea, there was no way she could pass Mary off as her husband’s. Instead, she hid her pregnancy and then dressed Mary up in boy’s clothes and presented her as her slightly older son, who had recently died. This was enough to trick her mother-in-law, who financially supported mother and “son” well into Mary’s teen years. Mary worked as a foot-boy and on a ship, then joined the British military. She was a good soldier, but fell in love with one of their allied Flemish soldiers. They married and opened an inn in the Netherlands, but after his death she returned to military service. But as the latest conflict was over, there was no room for advancement so she quit and left for the Caribbean. When her ship was attacked by pirates, she accepted their offer to join the pirate crew.
Anne was born in Ireland, the result of her father’s affair with his servant. He also dressed her as a boy and called her Andy. After her father’s wife found out and cut him off financially, her father, mother and Anne moved to the Americas when she was 10 and around age 18, she married a sailor and her father cut her off. The couple moved to Nassau in the Bahamas, which was a haven for pirates at the time. There she met and teamed up with pirate Calico Jack Rackham, who she also took as her lover.
In 1720, Mary and Anne’s lives intersected briefly. Mary joined Calico Jack’s crew, who all believed her to be a man. Anne reportedly revealed her gender to mary because she was attracted to her, which resulted in Mary telling Anne that she was also a woman. Anne also told Jack, to forestall his jealousy.
Their partnership latest mere months. On 15 November 1720, their ship was attacked by a pirate hunter. Jack and most of his crew ran for the hold, too drunk or cowardly to fight. Anne, Mary and one other crew member were the only ones to put up a fight and Mary angrily shot into the hold when the men would not come help, killing one and wounding others. Anne, Mary and Calico Jack were all captured and sentenced to death in Jamaica. Reportedly, Anne’s last words to Jack were, “Had you fought like a man, you need not have been hang’d like a dog”. Anne and Mary both claimed they were pregnant to forestall their executions, but Mary died of a fever in jail the following April and Anne’s fate is unknown.