Anne Bonny

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"Anne Bonnie" redirects here. For the American comic book, see Anne Bonnie (comics).

Anne Bonny
Bonney, Anne (1697-1720).jpg
Bonny from a Dutch version of Charles Johnson's book of pirates
Born8 March 1697[1]
near Cork, Kingdom of Ireland
DisappearedApril 1721(1721-04-00) (aged 24)
Port Royal, Colony of Jamaica
Piratical career
NicknameAnney
TypePirate
AllegianceCalico Jack
Years active1718–October 1720
Base of operationsCaribbean

Anne Bonny (8 March 1697 – disappeared April 1721),[1][2] sometimes Anne Bonney,[3] was an Irish pirate operating in the Caribbean, and one of a few female pirates in recorded history.[4] What little that is known of her life comes largely from Captain Charles Johnson's (a possible pseudonym of Daniel Defoe) A General History of the Pyrates.

Bonny was born in Ireland around 1700 and moved to London and then to the Province of Carolina when she was about 10 years old.[5] She then married around 1715 and moved to Nassau in the Bahamas, a sanctuary for pirates. It was there that she met Calico Jack Rackham and became his pirate partner and lover. She was captured alongside Rackham and Mary Read in October 1720. All three were sentenced to death, but Bonny and Read had their executions stayed because both of them were pregnant. Read died of a fever in jail in April 1721 (likely due to complications from the pregnancy), but Bonny's fate is unknown.

Early life[]

Bonny's birthdate is speculated to be around 1700.[6] She was said to be born in Old Head of Kinsale,[7] in County Cork, Ireland.[8] She was the daughter of servant woman Mary Brennan and Brennan's employer, lawyer William Cormac. Official records and contemporary letters dealing with her life are scarce, and most modern knowledge stems from Charles Johnson's A General History of the Pyrates (a collection of pirate biographies, the first edition partly accurate, the second much embellished).[9][10][11]

Bonny's father William Cormac first moved to London to get away from his wife's family, and he began dressing his daughter as a boy and calling her "Andy". When Cormac's wife discovered William had taken in the illegitimate daughter and was bringing the child up to be a lawyer's clerk and dressing her as a boy, she stopped giving him an allowance.[12] Cormac then moved to the Province of Carolina, taking along his former serving girl, the mother of Bonny. Bonny's father abandoned the original "Mc" prefix of their family name to blend more easily into the Charles Town citizenry. At first, the family had a rough start in their new home, but Cormac's knowledge of law and ability to buy and sell goods soon financed a townhouse and eventually a plantation just out of town. Bonny's mother died when she was 12. Her father attempted to establish himself as an attorney but did not do well. Eventually, he joined the more profitable merchant business and accumulated a substantial fortune.[13]

It is recorded that Bonny had red hair and was considered a "good catch" but may have had a fiery temper; at age 13, she supposedly stabbed a servant girl with a knife.[10] She married a poor sailor and small-time pirate named James Bonny.[14] James hoped to win possession of his father-in-law's estate, but Bonny was disowned by her father. Anne's father did not approve of James Bonny as a husband for his daughter, and he kicked Anne out of their house.[15]

There is a story that Bonny set fire to her father's plantation in retaliation, but no evidence exists in support. However, it is known that sometime between 1714 and 1718, she and James Bonny moved to Nassau, on New Providence Island, known as a sanctuary for English pirates called the Republic of Pirates.[16] Many inhabitants received a King's Pardon or otherwise evaded the law. It is also recorded that, after the arrival of Governor Woodes Rogers in the summer of 1718, James Bonny became an informant for the governor.[17] James Bonny would report to Governor Rogers about the pirates in the area, which resulted in a multitude of these pirates being arrested. Anne disliked the work her husband did for Governor Rogers.

Rackham's partner[]

While in the Bahamas, Bonny began mingling with pirates in the taverns. She met John "Calico Jack" Rackham, and he became her lover. He offered money to her husband James Bonny if he would divorce her, but her husband refused and apparently threatened to beat John. She and Rackham escaped the island together, and she became a member of Rackham's crew. She disguised herself as a man on the ship, and only Rackham and Mary Read were aware that she was a woman[15] until it became clear that she was pregnant. Rackham then landed her at Cuba where she gave birth to a son.[12] She then rejoined Rackham and continued the pirate life, having divorced her husband and married Rackham while at sea. Bonny, Rackham, and Read stole the ship William, then at anchor in Nassau harbor, and put out to sea.[18] Rackham and the two women recruited a new crew. Their crew spent years in Jamaica and the surrounding area.[19] Bonny took part in combat alongside the men, and Governor Rogers named her in a "Wanted Pirates" circular published in The Boston News-Letter.[17]

Anne Bonny, Firing Upon the Crew, from the Pirates of the Spanish Main series (N19) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes MET DP835030

Capture and imprisonment[]

In October 1720, Rackham and his crew were attacked by a sloop captained by Jonathan Barnet under a commission from Nicholas Lawes, Governor of Jamaica. Most of Rackham's pirates put up little resistance, as many of them were too drunk to fight. They were taken to Jamaica where they were convicted and sentenced by Governor Lawes to be hanged.[20] According to Johnson, Bonny's last words to Rackham were: "Had you fought like a man, you need not have been hang'd like a dog".[21][22]

Read and Bonny both "pleaded their bellies", asking for mercy because they were pregnant,[23] and the court granted them a stay of execution until they gave birth. Read died in prison, most likely from a fever from childbirth. A ledger from a church in Jamaica lists her burial on 28 April 1721, "Mary Read, pirate".[24]

Death[]

There is no record of Bonny's release, and this has fed speculation as to her fate.[25] A ledger lists the burial of an "Ann Bonny" on 29 December 1733, in the same town in Jamaica where she was tried.[24] Charles Johnson writes in A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates, published in 1724: "She was continued in Prison, to the Time of her lying in, and afterwards reprieved from Time to Time; but what is become of her since, we cannot tell; only this we know, that she was not executed".[26]

In popular culture[]

  • Bonny and Read are portrayed in the Detective Conan animated film Detective Conan: Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure.
  • Bonny is featured in the video game, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, at first as a sub-character, and later as Quarter Master to Edward Kenway, she is voiced by actress Sarah Greene.
  • Bonny is a playable character in Fate/Grand Order as a Rider-class and an Archer-class Servant along with Read; Bonny is voiced by Ayako Kawasumi.
  • Bonny is a main character in the Starz series Black Sails and is portrayed by Clara Paget
  • Read (Cara Roberts) introduces herself to Bonny under the name of Mark Read in the final episode of Black Sails.[27]
  • Bonny is featured in the song "The Ballad of Mary Read and Anne Bonny" by the Baja Brigade.[28]
  • The second song from the Death Grips album Government Plates is named Anne Bonny.
  • Bonny is depicted as a pirate lord having founded Libertalia alongside Henry Avery, Thomas Tew, and several other famous pirates in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End in an altered version of the pirate colony's founding. Her corpse is encountered at a certain point in the game.
  • Bonny and Mary Read are mentioned in Charlie Kaufman's 2020 novel Antkind.
  • In the manga One Piece, the character Jewelry Bonney is named after Anne Bonny.
  • Bonny is portrayed by Mia Tomlinson in the Netflix series The Lost Pirate Kingdom.
  • Anne Bonny is a prominent character in the German animated film Die Abrafaxe – Unter schwarzer Flagge (The Pirates of Tortuga - Under the Black Flag).
  • Captain Anne Bonny is portrayed by Hillary Brooke in the 1952 comedy film Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd. She initially teams up with Captain Kidd in search of a treasure but is ultimately betrayed by him.

Statue[]

In 2020, a statue of Bonny and Read was unveiled at Execution Dock in Wapping, London. It is planned to eventually bring the statue to Burgh Island in south Devon.[29]

See also[]

  • Capture of the sloop William

Notes[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Anne Bonny - Famous Pirate - The Way of the Pirates". www.thewayofthepirates.com. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  2. ^ "Anne Bonny - Irish American pirate". Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  3. ^ Simon, Ed, Return to Pirate Island, JSTOR Daily, August 4, 2021 with several references
  4. ^ "Anne Bonny and Famous Female Pirates". www.annebonnypirate.com. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  5. ^ The Legend Of Anne Bonny, retrieved 14 August 2021
  6. ^ "The Story of Female Pirate Anne Bonny". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  7. ^ Rediker, Marcus (1993). "When Women Pirates Sailed the Seas". The Wilson Quarterly. 17 (4): 102–110. JSTOR 40258786.
  8. ^ "Anne Bonny – Famous Female Pirate". www.famous-pirates.com. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  9. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Online
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Meltzer (2001)
  11. ^ Bartelme, Tony (21 November 2018). "The true and false stories of Anne Bonny, pirate woman of the Caribbean". The Post and Courier.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b Joan., Druett (2005) [2000]. She captains : heroines and hellions of the sea. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. ISBN 0760766916. OCLC 70236194.
  13. ^ Johnson (1725)
  14. ^ Lorimer (2002), p. 47
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b Johnson, Charles (14 May 1724). The General History of Pyrates. Ch. Rivington, J. Lacy, and J. Stone.
  16. ^ Sharp (2002)
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b Woodard, Colin (2007). The Republic of Pirates. Harcourt, Inc. pp. 139, 316–318. ISBN 978-0-15-603462-3. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  18. ^ Druett, Joan (2000). She Captains: Heroines and Hellions of the Sea. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0684856905.
  19. ^ Canfield, Rob (2001). "Something's Mizzen: Anne Bonny, Mary Read, "Polly", and Female Counter-Roles on the Imperialist Stage". South Atlantic Review: 50.
  20. ^ Zettle, LuAnn. "Anne Bonny The Last Pirate". Archived from the original on 22 May 2019.
  21. ^ "Ann Bonny and Mary Read's Trial". Pirate Documents. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  22. ^ "When women pirates sailed the seas". link.galegroup.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  23. ^ Yolen, Jane; Shannon, David (1995). The Ballad of the Pirate Queens. San Diego: Harcourt Brace. pp. 23–24.
  24. ^ Jump up to: a b Bartleme, Tony (28 November 2020). "A 22-year-old YouTuber may have solved Anne Bonny pirate mystery 300 years after trial". The Post and Courier.
  25. ^ Carmichael, Sherman (2011). Forgotten Tales of South Carolina. The History Press. p. 72. ISBN 9781609492328.
  26. ^ Captain Charles Johnson, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates, Chapter 8, Archived 18 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 21 September 2017 ISBN 978-1-60949-232-8
  27. ^ Patten, Dominic (2 April 2017). Fleming, Mike (ed.). "'Black Sails' Creators On Tonight's Series Finale & More Possible Pirate Adventures". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  28. ^ "The Ballad of Mary Read and Anne Bonny, by The Baja Brigade". The Baja Brigade. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  29. ^ "Female pirate lovers whose story was ignored by male historians immortalised with statue". The Independent. 18 November 2020.

References[]

Websites

Books

  • Baldwin, Robert (1721). The Tryals of Captain John Rackam and Other Pirates. in The Colonial Office Records in The Public Records Office at Kew, (ref: CO 137/14f.9).CS1 maint: location (link)
    Details the trials of Jack Rackam, Mary Read, Anne Bonny, and Charles Vane.
  • Carlova, John (1964). Mistress of the Seas. Citadel Press.
  • Cordingly, David. "Bonny, Anne (1698–1782)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Accessed 18 November 2006.
  • Druett, Joan (2000). She Captains: Heroines and Hellions of the Sea. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0684856905.
  • Gosse, Philip; De Marco, Guy Anthony (2015). The Pirate Who's Who (Extended ed.). Amazon: Villainous Press. pp. 52, 53, 54. ISBN 978-1-62225-650-1.
  • Jarrells, Ralph E. (2019). "Fiery Red Hair, Emerald Green Eyes and A Vicious Irish Temper", WordCrafts Press. 2019. ISBN 978-1-948679-64-0
  • Johnson, Captain Charles (1724). Hayward, Arthur L. (ed.). A history of the robberies and murders of the most notorious pirates from their first rise and settlement in the island of Providence to the present year. London: George Routledge & Sons, Ltd.
  • Lorimer, Sara; Synarski, Susan (2002). Booty: Girl Pirates on the High Seas. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
  • Meltzer, Milton; Waldman, Bruce (2001). Piracy & Plunder: A Murderous Business. New York: Dutton Children's Books. ISBN 0-525-45857-3.
  • Sharp, Anne Wallace (2002). Daring Pirate Women. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications.
  • Zettle, LuAnn (2015). Anne Bonny The Last Pirate. Amazon: Arrowhead Book Co. pp. 8, 9, 11. ISBN 978-0-9826048-6-1.
  • Brown, Douglas (1962). Anne Bonny, Pirate Queen. Monarch #MA320.

Games

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