Anne Bonny

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Left: Mary Read, Right: Anne Bonny
A true pirate of the seven seas! Anne Bonny is one of the most famous female pirates ever to have terrorised the oceans! The exact date of her birth is unknown but we do know that she was born in the County of Cork in Ireland to an attorney and his maid... Anne's father, however, left Ireland and moved to the Carolinas and bought a plantation. 

Over in the Carolinas, Anne was married by an infamous pirate or sailor, depending how you see it, James Bonny. Bonny hoped that Anne's father would exchange his plantation for his daughter. But, he did not expect her father to disown Anne! Bonny then took Anne to the Bahamas yet she quickly grew to despise her hard- hearted husband and fell in love with the famous Calico Jack Rackham. Calico offered James Bonny a large sum of money for his wife but, knowing what would happen, Bonny gave the matter to Governor Rogers of the Bahamas; he ordered that Anne was to be flogged and returned to her husband, as if she was an object that he owned! However that same night the two lovers escaped and began to lead a life of piracy together! This is now classed as a romantic tale, but in those days it was very scandalous. 

In 1720, Calico and Anne's ship was caught entirely by surprise and the crew and the captains were arrested. Anne and another female pirate- Mary Read- pleaded to have their trial separately from the men and as they were both pregnant, after their babies' birth. They were both sentenced to hang but Mary died of a fever, possibly developed from childbirth. Anne, on the other hand, disappeared from all historical records after 1720, she may have been hanged but her father, who disowned her, may have bought her back. It remains a mystery...

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