Anne Bonny (1697-?) was a pirate of Irish descent who sailed with Calico Jack Rackham throughout the Caribbean. Various sources disagree about her birth year, but it was probably between 1697 and 1705. Anne Bonny, born Anne Cormac in County Cork, Ireland, was a daughter of attorney William Cormac and his maidservant. Her mother was named either Mary or Peg Brennan. When the affair became public, Cormac with his new wife and newborn child, left Ireland for Charleston, South Carolina where he made a fortune and bought a large plantation.
What records of her that do exist seem to reflect is that she was intelligent, quick tempered, and pretty in her appearance. When Anne was thirteen she had supposedly stabbed a servant girl in the belly with a table knife. However it is uncertain, because her mother herself was a servant woman and there isn't enough solid proof to prove the story true. At sixteen, Anne married a sailor and small time pirate named James Bonny. James Bonny hoped to win possession of his wife's family estate, but Anne was disowned by her father.
According to legend, Anne started a fire on the plantation in retaliation against her father's decision. James Bonny then took his new bride to New Providence (modern-day Nassau), Bahamas, a pirate hub and base for many pirate operations, where he became an informant for Governor Woodes Rogers.
While in the Bahamas, Anne Bonny began mingling with pirates at the local drinking establishments, and met the pirate "Calico Jack" Rackham, with whom she shortly thereafter became involved in an affair. Rackham offered to buy Anne from James Bonny in a divorce-by-purchase, but James refused. He complained to the governor, who sentenced Anne to be flogged and to return to her legal husband. Anne Bonny and Rackham instead eloped together.
According to a superstition at that time that women aboard ships brought bad luck, it has been alleged that Bonny was not allowed to join Rackham's crew. Legend says that Bonny disguised herself as a male to come aboard the Revenge, Rackham's pirate ship. Anne and Jack stole a ship at anchor in the harbor and set off to sea, putting together a crew and taking several prizes. She took part in combat alongside the males. Also according to legend, she stabbed another pirate through the heart when he discovered her true sex.
However, according to the most recent History Channel documentary, True Caribbean Pirates, which aired July 9th, 2006, Bonny never hid her identity, and was well-known by the other pirates, having mingled with them socially, and she was readily accepted as a crew member.
Over the next three years or more, she and Rackham saw quite a few successes as pirates, capturing many ships, and bringing in an abundance of treasure. Although Bonny would become one of the most well known pirates in history, she never commanded a ship of her own, nor was she ever the deciding factor as to what ships they attacked. It is likely that her reputation as being a female pirate would be what would eventually lead to her fame. However, she was by all accounts competent, good in combat, and respected within pirate ranks. In October of 1720, Rackham and his crew were attacked by a sloop captained by Jonathan Barnet, who was working for the governor of Jamaica. Most of Rackham's pirates did not put up much resistance as many of them were too drunk to fight. However, Read and Bonny, who were sober, fought fiercely and managed to hold off Barnet's troops for a short time. After their capture, Rackham and his crew were sentenced to be hanged by the Governor of Jamaica. Jack hid while the pregnant (and recently proved) ladies dealt with a great number of captors. Bonny is reported to have chastised the imprisoned Rackham (who wanted to see her one last time) by saying, "I am sorry to see you there, but if you had fought like a man, you need not be hanged like a dog." Bonny disappeared from the historic record while in prison. There is no record of her release or of her execution. This is somewhat unusual and has led some to theorise that her father ransomed her and gave her an opportunity to begin a new life. Other sources claim that she returned to her husband, or even that she resumed a life of piracy under a new identity. The latter is very unlikely, as a female pirate would have been something to take notice of. The most accepted scenario is the first, that her wealthy father paid a ransom for her release.
If you want to know more, see Wikipedia.Tuesday 1 August 2006
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