Pirates in Paradise: Original Pirate ‘Cross-Dressers’ ~ Ann Bonny and Mary Read
Ann Bonny and Mary Read were two women pirates of the Caribbean who stand out in the “Golden Age of Piracy” that lasted from 1715 to 1725. An often repeated account says that Read was raised as a boy by her mother, dressed as a man, and ultimately served as a sailor aboard a merchant ship that was captured by pirates in Nassau, Bahamas. Bonny escaped from her ‘rank-in-file’ pirate husband James Bonny, and ran off with another man. Her choice was flamboyantly dressed Pirate John Rackman (aka “Calico Jack”) who had met her in Nassau and was taken fancy to her harloty-firey ways and her foul mouth. Ann Bonny and Calico Jack fell into a lusty love and had to run away to continue their relationship, and so they took to sea together in their own pirate enterprise.
It is said that Ann Bonny and Mary Read met while “Calico Jack” was recruiting disgruntled former pirates in Nassau as crew for their pirate sloop. Dressed as a man, Read was pressed into service. Bonny ‘took a liking to the fresh-faced recruit’, only discovering the “handsome young man” was a woman after making the moves on her.
It is a known fact that Ann Bonny, Mary Read, and “Calico Jack,” did go pirating together and that the women did become cross-dressing pirates. On August 22, 1720, along with six men, they captured the “William,” a 12-ton, 6 gun sloop known to be one of the fastest vessels in the Bahamas. The two women became inseparable pirates pillaging and plundering along side the men, actively participating in battles and terrorizing their captives at a time when even women sailors were unheard of.
Ultimately the women were captured along with their fellow pirates, by privateer Captain Jonathan Barnet who had been hunting for “Calico Jack” in his own armed ship. History is written that a former captive of pirates Bonny and Read, later testified at their trial, “When they (Bonny and Read) saw any vessel, gave chase, or attacked, they wore men’s clothes, and at other times they wore women’s clothes.”
The final demise of Calico Jack and their fellow prisoners was by ‘hanging until dead,’ in Jamaica and the same guilty sentence was given to Ann Bonny and Mary Read. But to the surprise of the officials it turned out they were both pregnant! To execute them would mean death to their fetuses and this was forbidden by law. Sentences postponed, they were both returned to prison where Mary ultimately died from fever and was buried at St. Catherine’s Church in Jamaica on April 28, 1721. As for Anne, there is still speculation. No burial records were found and it is said the her long-estranged and well-off father from South Carolina managed to obtain her release.
So it goes for “The Golden Age of Piracy” that lasted for only a decade. The entire short-lived escapade was, “conducted by a clique of 20 to 30 pirate commodores and a few thousand crewman” who knew one another and had served together aboard merchant or private vessels. And though three centuries have passed they remain folk heroes and romantic villains, fearless men (and women) who ‘spit in the eye’ of law, government, and society, to chase a life of adventure, merriment, and wealth on the Caribbean seas.
Key West shares in this colorful history and to this day, the spirit of piratical fun continues and is celebrated in the ‘Pirates in Paradise’ festival. Billed as “11 Days of Pure Piratical Escapades” the modern day pirate costume event for all ages celebrates the island’s rich and colorful maritime heritage with stage drama, a market place, a pirate pub, and a carnival. 2011 marks their 12th Annual Event ~ Nov. 24 – Dec 4.
Vacation Homes of Key West (VKHW.com) has an impressive collection of homes available to rent for this event. But did you know that some of these historic wooden homes were built during ‘the days of pirates’ and lore continues that there was treasure buried in some of the yards around the island that was never found. I guess we’ll never know for sure.
Reference: ‘The Republic of Pirates,’ Colin Woodard, Harcourt Books, 2008.
Pirate Ship photos by Serlunar
