Anne Bonny and Mary Read
Negril, Jamaica
What happened
In August 1720 Anne Bonny and Mary Read joined John Rackham's crew, which stole the sloop William from Nassau. On 22 October 1720 Captain Jonathan Barnet captured the crew near Jamaica. At their trial in Spanish Town in November, both women said they were expecting children, and their sentences were put off.
Why it matters
Bonny and Read are among the few female pirates recorded in the Golden Age of Piracy. Most of what is told about their early lives comes from a 1724 book that historians treat with caution, so those stories are left out.
What came next
Mary Read died in jail in Spanish Town around April 1721. What happened to Anne Bonny is not known for certain. One burial record from 1733 and a later claim of a death in South Carolina are both uncertain.
Did you know?
Anne Bonny is often shown with red hair, but that picture goes back to an 1888 cigarette card, and there is no evidence she was a redhead.
Timeline
- 22 August 1720Bonny, Read and Rackham's crew steal the sloop William from Nassau.
- 22 October 1720Jonathan Barnet captures the crew near Jamaica.
- 28 November 1720Bonny and Read are tried in Spanish Town.
- April 1721Mary Read dies in jail.
- 1724A book by 'Captain Charles Johnson' tells their story, though much of it may not be true.