Mary Read

Mary Read (died April 1721), was an English pirate who served under John Rackham. She and Anne Bonny were among the few female pirates during the "Golden Age of Piracy". Much of Read's background is unknown. The first biography of Read comes from Captain Charles Johnson's 1724 book, A General History of the Pyrates. According to Johnson, Read was born in England, dressed as a boy much of her childhood, eventually joined the military and later moved to the West Indies. Although Johnson's version of events has become popular over the centuries, there is little evidence to support it. At an unknown date, Read traveled to the Bahamas where she became acquainted with the pirate John Rackham. In August 1720, Read joined Rackham's crew, alongside another female pirate, Anne Bonny. 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 the male crew members, were tried, sentenced, and executed, but Read and Bonny both claimed to be pregnant during their trials and received a stay of execution. While Anne Bonny’s fate is unknown, Mary Read died while imprisoned in Spanish Town around late April 1721 of an unknown cause, likely a fever.