In 1721 two woman pirates were put on trial at Port Royal. Their names were Anne Bonny and Mary Reade. The trial caused an international sensation because it was the first and only time women were tried for piracy. Also on trial for his life was Calico Jack Rackman. A notorious pirate who had escaped death in 1719 when he was given a pardon at Providence, due to a pirate amnesty. Calico Jack had sailed under the command of Charles Vine, a freebooter, who was being hunted by Woodes Rogers and the British Navy. The circumstances are not clear but somehow Calico Jack took over command of Vine’s ship. Anne Bonny met and became romantically involved with Calico Jack and decided to accompany him, along with Mary Reade and Jack’s crew on board the sloop William. They sailed the coast off Cuba, where they captured and plundered the riches of several Spanish vessels.

In Charles Johnson’s General History of Pyrates, written in 1724, Johnson gave his version of the story, which subsequently became a bestseller. Mary Reade was born in London and Anne Bonny in Ireland. Reade’s mother raised Mary dressed as a boy so she could benefit from an endowment from a relative. Bonny also dressed as a boy, apparently because she wanted to. Reade worked as a domestic servant, then joined the army masquerading as a man. She revealed her identity to a soldier with whom she had fallen in love with, and they were married. When her husband was killed fighting in Flanders, the cross dressing Reade took passage on a ship bound for the West Indies as a seaman. The ship was captured by pirates and Reade was forced to join their ranks. The pirate ship eventually made port at Providence, where Reade was unemployed until she met Calico Jack.

Anne Bonny.

Anne Bonny had a very different beginning. She was taken to Charleston, South Carolina by her father. She gained a reputation as a tough character after she beat off a rapist, who almost died of his injuries. She then ran away to Providence where she met and formed a friendship with her fellow kindred spirit, Anne Bonny.

Calico jack Rackman was known for his extravagant style of dress.

When Bonny and Reade joined Calico Jack and his crew a board the sloop William they proved themselves as tough pirates and fundamental to the crews fighting force. Woman pirates were generally frowned upon. Many pirates believed woman to be bad luck, because jealous fights would often break out between the men. But its interesting to note that no where else could woman be the equivalent of men in the seventeenth century, except outside the normal rules of society.

Anne Bonny and Mary Reade.

After a number of successful robberies, an English patrol vessel spotted the sloop William anchored off the western coast of Jamaica. Most of the pirates were asleep, drunk and slow to react. The sloop William cut anchor and tried to escape but it was too late. The English marines boarded the vessel and demanded the pirates surrender, which they did. Apart from Bonny, Reade and one other pirate who were prepared to fight flintlocks in hand. However they were captured and taken to Port Royal, where they were put on trial for piracy. Calico Jack and his crew met their fate at the gallows. The trial of Bonny and Reade was rather sordid because the actions of the two woman were seen as taboo. Their cross-dressing past was brought up and they were portrayed as scoundrels’ who would do anything to achieve their objectives. To avoid the gallows they pleaded that they were pregnant. This was subsequently found to be the case.

After watching her former lover swing from the gallows, Anne Bonny remarked, “if he had fought like a man, he need not have been hung’d like a dog”

Images form flickr.com

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