Anne Bonny

Anne Bonny (likely died December 1733) was a pirate who served under John Rackham. Amongst the few recorded female pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy, she has become one of the most recognized pirates of the era, as well as the history of piracy in general. Much of Bonny's background is unknown. The first biography of Bonny comes from Captain Charles Johnson's 1724 book A General History of the Pyrates. According to Johnson, Bonny was born in Ireland, the illegitimate daughter of an attorney and his servant. Bonny and her father later moved to Carolina, where she married a sailor. Although Johnson's version of events has become popular over the centuries, there is little evidence to support it. At an unknown date, Bonny travelled to the Bahamas where she became acquainted with the pirate John Rackham. In August 1720, Bonny joined Rackham's crew, alongside another female pirate, Mary Read. Together they stole the sloop William owned by John Ham from Nassau on 22 August 1720. Rackham and his crew carried out a number of attacks on merchant ships in the West Indies until they were captured by former privateer Jonathan Barnet following a brief naval engagement on 22 October 1720 near Jamaica. Rackham, along with all male crew members, were tried, sentenced, and executed, but Bonny and Read had their executions stayed due to both of them claiming to be pregnant. Read died in jail around mid April 1721, but Bonny was likely let go at an unknown point, living until 1733.