Pirates are really fascinating beings. They roamed in ships and looted people for their money, jewelry, and other precious items. Our pop culture has in a way mystified them and increased our interest in them. Anne Bonny was one such pirate. She was also one of the few female pirates of her time who terrified the men of the Caribbean Sea.
Anne Bonny, One Of The First Female Pirates
Anne was an Irish pirate and is still one of the few female pirates in recorded history. The pirate queen operated in the Caribbean Sea in the 18th century. Her extraordinary life has inspired several myths and legends.
Whatever little we know about the breast-baring pirate comes from British author Captain Charles Johnson’s 1724 book ‘A General History of the Pyrates’. Born around 1700 in a wealthy Irish family. Her father, an attorney named William Cormac, had an affair with his maid, which made his wife leave him. The maid, Mary Brennan, gave birth to Anne, and over time they all started living together.
Anne moved to London and then to the Province of Carolina when she was a kid. She married sailor James Bonny in 1718 and moved with him to Nassau in the Bahamas. It was a sanctuary for pirates.
Legends have it that Anne abandoned her husband to become a pirate after meeting Calico Jack Rackham. The two became partners in crime and lovers. It is believed that she launched her pirating career by creating a fake corpse by twisting the limbs of a dressmaker’s mannequin and covering it with fake blood. When the crew of a passing French merchant ship spotted Anne wielding an ax over the mannequin, they surrendered their cargo in no time.
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Anne, The Lesbian Pirate
While engaging with other ships, Anne dressed like a man. She wore a loose tunic, short trousers, a sword, and a brace of pistols tucked in a sash. She also wore a small cap perched atop a thicket of dark hair.
It is said that Anne would show her breasts to her victims right before shooting them to death. In her journey, she also met Mary Read who was the only other female pirate. The two were apparently in a lesbian relationship.
In 1720, their ship was ambushed by a pirate hunter when most of the crew was heavily boozed. Only Anne and Read put up a fight. The entire crew was then sent to jail in Spanish Town, Jamaica. Anne and Read claimed they were pregnant to avoid getting killed.
Calico Jack was hanged to death and Mary Read died in prison. But the fate of Anne is still unknown. Some think she also died in the Jamaican jail while others think she lived till age 84 and died in South Carolina.
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