Lady Pirate
It is hard to separate the legend from the facts of Anne Bonny. The only thing we have we can be sure of is
that Anne Bonny was a strong, independent woman, who was way ahead of her time. The 18th century was
still a time when man made all important decisions, a time when women did not have many rights, in this
Men's world, it was hard for Anne Bonny to become an equal crew member and a respected pirate.
The exact date of Anne's birth is not known, but most historians think that she was born in Kinsale, County
Cork, Ireland in 1697. She was the illegitimate daughter of lawyer William Cormac and his servant woman,
Mary Brennan. William's wife made his adultery public, so after losing his reputation, William with his new
wife and newborn child decided to leave Ireland and strart again in the New World, they settled in
Charlestown, South Carolina where William began his legal career again. then they bought a plantation.
After losing her mother in her late teens, Anne had to care of her father's household. There are a lot of
stories about her teen years, some of them even claim that she murdered a servant girl with a knife, and
there is one about a young gentle that she put in hospital for several weeks, after his failed attempt to
sexually assault her.
When she was sixteen years old, she fell in love with a small time pirate, James Bonny, who just wanted
her estate, her father was against their relationship but she was stubborn and married him. William was
very disappointed, because he wanted to make a respectful lady of Anne, so he turned her out of the home.
James took his wife to the 'New Providence", pirate's hideout. He had a hard time supporting her, and in
the end, he became a pirate informer for the governor, Woodes Rogers, Anne was disappointed because
she had made many pirate friends, with the help of her good friend, Pierre, a celebrated homosexual
who ran a famous ladies establishment, Anne left her husband, she ran away with, Calico Jack Rackham,
romantic Pirate Captain who offered to buy her from Anne's Husband.
Anne was divorced from her husband, she took Calico Jack as her lover, then became his first mate of the
The ship Revenge. In Octtober of 1720, she and the rest of the Rackham's crew were captured despite
Bonny and her bosom buddy Mary Read's valiant attempts to fight of the advancing English forces. Bonny
blamed Rackham for their capture, her last words to him in prison are recorded as, "Sorry to see you
there, but if you'd fought like a man you would not have been hang' like a dog."
He was hanged,but Bonny's pregnancy earned her a stay of execution. However no historical record of
her death sentence was found, some speculate that her affluent father paid a handsome price to have
her set free.
(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_piracy
http://www.thewayofthepirates.com/famou ... nne-bonny/
