Mary Read, Anne Bonny Mary Read

The Pirate's Realm

Mary Read was born in London and was the child of an affair like her friend and fellow pirate Anne Bonny. Mary's mother hid the news from relatives, dressed Mary up as the boy, and so continued to receive money that was given for the son's upbringing.

After tiring of serving as a footboy to a wealthy French woman, she spent time as a cabin boy on a warship before eventually fighting as a dragoon, where she met her future husband during the War of Spanish Succession.

Her pretending to be a man was over for a short time when they married, but his untimely death led her back to the only other life she'd ever known. She signed up to sail aboard a Dutch a ship bound for the West Indies, and when it reached the area, "Calico" Jack Rackham captured it and took Read and others to increase his crew...

The female pirate Anne Bonny was smitten with with the new 'male recruit', but became a close friend of Mary's upon discovering her true identity. Rackham quickly became jealous over what he saw as a man competing for Anne's attention, and so Mary's gender was revealed to him, as well. Some reports state that the true condition of these fierce pirates never became common knowledge among the crew.

Buy Flag (more info) In a short time, Mary developed a strong relationship with a fellow crew memeber, and, upon revealing her love and gender, her affection was returned as strongly. A quarrel arose between this man and another over Mary, and a duel was arranged to settle the matter. The fierce and proud Mary Read showed up early at the agreed place of engagement, fought the challenger with sword and pistol, and there dispatched him.

After the friendship with Anne Bonny and being tried for piracy with Rackham's crew, Read by most accounts contracted a virulent fever and died while still in prison.

• Mary Read, Pirate
  25 Jan 2012 at 8:46am
  Being a bloodthirsty pirate was not for men only! Case in point: Mary Read, who served along with Anne Bonny on "Calico Jack" Rackham's pirate crew in 1718-1720. Read was not only a good pirate, she was better at it than ...
  
• Notorious Women: Lessons Learned from a Pirate. Anne Bonney ...
  9 Jan 2012 at 3:52pm
  (Yes, I know it's corny, but how often do YOU get to talk like a pirate?!) I'm starting this first Notorious Women blog off with a pair of friends and kindred spirits: Female Pirates!! Anne Bonney and Mary Read. I had never even ...
  
• If There's a Man Among Ye: The Tale of Pirate Queens Anne Bonny ...
  9 Aug 2011 at 9:06am
  Not that Anne Bonny and Mary Read had much in common with kindly old David O'Keefe—they were pirates, for one thing, as renowned for their ruthlessness as for their gender, and during their short careers challenged the ...
  
• History Carnival CVI (December 2011-January 2012) – Frog in a ...
  1 Feb 2012 at 2:34am
  ... Best New Blog: Demography and the Imperial Public Sphere Before Victoria; Best Post: Karen Abbott's “If There's a Man Among Ye: The Tale of Pirate Queens Anne Bonny and Mary Read,” Past Imperfect, 9 August 2011 ...
  
• UPDATE: Former Alki Pirate, "Hurricane" to sign his "Memoirs of a ...
  20 Jan 2012 at 11:21pm
  Every great pirate, Captain Morgan, Blackbeard, and the two famous female pirates, Anne Bonney and Mary Read went to Port Royal. About two-thirds of the island sank in 1692 and 4000 died. Some remnants still wash up ...
  

Mary Read, Anne Bonny Mary Read