| Anne Bonny | |
|---|---|
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Anne Bonny from a Dutch version of Charles Johnson's book of pirates.
| |
| Born | Unknown, c. 1700 Kinsale, Ireland |
| Disappeared | Port Royal, Jamaica |
| Died | Unknown (possibly 22 April 1782) Charleston, South Carolina |
| Piratical career | |
| Nickname | Anney |
| Type | Pirate |
| Allegiance | None |
| Years active | 1718–October 1720 |
| Base of operations | Caribbean |
After being sentenced, Read and Bonny both "pleaded their bellies": asking for mercy because they were pregnant.[13] In accordance with English common law, both women received a temporary stay of execution until they gave birth. Read died in prison, most likely from a fever from childbirth.[8]
In October 1720, Rackham and his crew were attacked by a "King's ship", 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. However, Read and Bonny fought fiercely and managed to hold off Barnet's troops for a short time. Rackham and his crew were taken to Jamaica, where they were convicted and sentenced by Governor Lawes to be hanged.[11] According to Johnson, Bonny's last words to the imprisoned Rackham were: "Had you fought like a man, you need not have been hang'd like a dog." [12]
There is no historical record of Bonny's release or of her execution. This has fed speculation that her father ransomed her, that she might have returned to her husband, or even that she resumed a life of piracy under a new identity. There is some conjecture that she, Anne Mac Cormac, might have lived to the age of eighty.
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