“MISTRESS OF THE SEAS” (Anne Bonny-female
pirate-Grades 5-8)
Story and Links By Rhonda Culp
Based on a book by John Carlova
At the end of the seventeenth century, a little girl was born on March 8th to a lawyer, William Cormac, and his wife’s maid, Mary Brennan. Together, they fled from County Cork, Ireland to the Carolinas in the United States. Once there, Cormac worked his way to becoming a wealthy plantation owner. Together, Mary and he raised their daughter, Anne, amidst the wealthy gentry of the South.
In spite of her wealthy upbringing, Anne went on to marry James Bonny, a poor pirate, when she was in her late teens. Because of her marriage to Bonny, Anne’s father disowned her, which foiled Bonny’s plans of stealing the family fortune. Instead, Bonny took Anne to the Bahamas where he became a traitor to his pirate friends by helping the governor catch pirates.
While her husband was catching and hanging pirates, Anne was befriending them. One pirate friend in particular was .Calico Jack Rackham. When Calico Jack decided to go back to sea with Captain Charles Vane, Anne stated that she was going with him. According to the pirate code, women were not allowed on pirate ships and a person could be hung for bringing one aboard, so Anne disguised herself as a man. Together, they started their short stint of piracy together.
Anne was just as much a pirate as any other member of the crew on Jack’s ship. She was an expert at using the pistol and the rapier. Many times, she was part of the boarding party that was the first to board a ship that was being captured as a prize. Anne was a natural pirate with her fiery personality and explosive temper.
After a while out on the seas, Anne discovered she was pregnant. She went ashore to have the baby. There are two different versions about what happened to the baby girl. One says that she was born prematurely and died two days later. The other says that Anne left her and went back to piracy with Jack.
While on land, Anne and Jack ran into some trouble with Anne’s husband. He was upset that she was with Jack. They escaped in the middle of the night, along with some of Jack’s old pirate crew. They stole a ship and returned to piracy.
When out to sea, Anne noticed a member of the crew whom she did not know. As she approached, she realized that this was a woman. It was Mary Read, another famous female pirate.
In October of 1720, they were near the island of Jamaica. When Governor Lawes, the governor of Jamaica, heard this, he sent out an armed sloop to capture Calico Jack, Anne, Mary, and their crew. The Jamaican ship caught the pirates unaware as they were celebrating the capture of a ship. The drunken men all hid in the hold of the ship while Anne and Mary tried to fight off the Jamaicans. At one point, Anne and Mary were so exasperated with the cowardly men that they fired into the hold. Eventually, they were all captured by the Jamaicans and taken to stand trial for piracy.
Anne and Mary were given separate trials from the men. When asked if they had anything to say, Anne spoke up and said, “We plead our bellies, sir.” Anne and Mary were both pregnant and it was unlawful to hang a pregnant woman at that time. They were both sentenced to hang after they had their babies. Mary died from a fever while in prison, and thus escaped hanging. Anne’s hanging kept getting postponed. Eventually, she and her child disappeared and were never heard from again.
Some say that Anne’s wealthy father bought her a pardon and she went to live in the Carolinas under a new name. Others say that she was saved by Dr. Michael Radcliff, whose life she had saved earlier. He obtained a pardon for her from the governor that said she must leave the West Indies. They were married (Anne’s husband had died) and fled to Virginia. It is said that from there they went west as pioneers.
Even though only the first twenty years of Anne’s life are somewhat known, she is still an interesting figure in history. She is one of the very few women pirates that are a known part of history. Regardless of the fact that she was a woman, she was on an equal level with the male pirates. Because of the many terrible things, such as murdering and stealing, that Anne did, she should not be considered a role model. She was, however, one of the early women to break down barriers into what was truly a man’s world, undesirable as it was.
Answers To Comprehension Questions
SOURCES
*All of my sources were taken from the Internet. Some of the information may not be completely accurate, but given the nature of the story that is to be expected. The sources also have many good resources or activities to do that correlate with this story.
Anne Bonny http://www2.waikato.ac.nz/education/edstudies/0085204/amm6/bonny.htm
Anne Bonny http://www.powerup.com.au/~glen/anne.htm
Anne Bonny homepage http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/4704/annebonny.html
Female Pirates (Discovery Channel)
http://www.discovery.com/DCO/doc/1012/world/history/2pirates/2pirates2.html
The History of Piracy http://www.rr.gmcs.k12.nm.us/domagala.pirates.htm
Two Tough Pirates http://www.discovery.com/DCO/doc/1012/world/history/2pirates/2pirates4.html
**Disclaimer**
*I do not agree with all of the content that is presented on some of the pages that are linked.