Who were Anne Bonny and Mary Read?

Firm friends and fierce fighters, Anne Bonny and Mary Read were some of the most infamous pirates of the 18th century.

Operating during the so-called ‘golden age’ of piracy, the female duo upend traditional perceptions of piracy and seafaring. 

Their exploits are recorded in Captain Charles Johnson’s 1724 work A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates. While the book’s accuracy is doubtful – Johnson himself wrote that ‘some may be tempted to think the whole story no better than a novel or romance’ – the author’s vivid accounts have shaped how we see pirates like Bonny and Read today.

Now a major exhibition at the National Maritime Museum promises to trace the changing depictions of pirates through the ages, and reveal the brutal reality behind the fiction.

How did Bonny and Read gain their notorious reputation – and what was life as a female pirate really like? Discover more about their story below, and book tickets to Pirates to discover the truth behind pirate life.

Anne Bonny encountered the pirate Captain John ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham in Nassau in the Bahamas. Their relationship flourished and Bonny soon abandoned her husband to join Rackham's pirate crew. 

While operating in the region, Bonny and Rackham met Mary Read. Read had been on a ship that was attacked by pirates, and as a result found herself on the vessel commanded by Rackham. 

In his account, Captain Johnson states that Bonny and Read became close companions – much to the jealousy of Rackham, who thought Read was male. While sources are conflicted as to whether Read joined the crew disguised as a man, the formidable trio were soon wreaking havoc on the vessels they encountered.

One of their most ambitious missions occurred in August 1720, when Rackham, assisted by Bonny and Read, stole the ship William from the harbour in Nassau. The incident caused public outrage. 

Rackham and his crew then set off on a raiding expedition around the Caribbean, sailing to Harbour Island in the Bahamas, around the coast of Cuba and on to Jamaica.  

But their luck was not to last. While anchored off Negril, located in western Jamaica, Rackham and his crew were attacked by Captain Jonathan Barnet. The pirate hunter had been instructed by the Governor of Jamaica to seize the ship. 

Bonny and Read reportedly fought fiercely, urging the rest of Rackham's crew to join them in defence of the ship – but no one came to their assistance. The entire crew was captured and taken to Spanish Town for trial.

At the trial 'Calico Jack' Rackham was sentenced to death and hanged at Port Royal. According to Captain Johnson, Bonny said 'that she was sorry to see him there, but if he had fought like a Man, he need not have been hanged like a Dog.'

Bonny and Read escaped the death sentence by pleading that they were pregnant. Read however died of a fever in prison in April 1721. 

Little is known about what happened to Bonny, but it’s claimed she returned to South Carolina, where she died in April 1782.

In the centuries following their death, the lives of Anne Bonny and Mary Read have become part of pirate legend and mythology. Anne’s story has formed the subject of films such as Anne of the Indies (1951), and Mary appeared as a character in the video game Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. A sculpture of the duo titled Inexorable was temporarily displayed at Execution Dock in Wapping. Made by artist Amanda Cotton, the work champions the duo’s powerful bond and independent spirit.