There were few female pirates. Two of the most famous were Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who both sailed with Captain John “Calico Jack” Rackham. When they were tried and condemned with Rackham in Jamaica in 1720, how did the two women — unlike their captain — escape hanging?
A) Anne’s wealthy father arranged their freedom B) Both were pregnant at the time of their capture ü C) Some of Rackham’s shipmates helped them break out of prison D) The law allowing execution of women was ruled unconstitutional
Although Bonny and Read sailed in the guise of men, and somehow managed to keep their true sex a secret from most of the crew, they were both expecting at the time of the trial. They were condemned to die nevertheless, but their pregnancies kept the executioner at bay long enough that his services were finally not required. Mary gave birth in captivity and afterwards died of illness. Anne Bonny’s story ends with a question mark: she vanishes from the official records without explanation before the birth of her child. It has been suggested that her family ransomed her back to the mainland, where she lived privately from then on.
