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Mary Read, also known as Mark Read, (born c. 1695, England-buried April 28, 1721, St. Catherine, Jamaica), English pirate of the early 18th century who, with her crewmate Anne Bonny, became legendary as one of the few female pirates.

Read's early life is largely unknown. Much of the information is derived from Capt. Charles Johnson's A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates (1724), a highly disputed work. According to that book, Read's mother was married to a sailor, with whom she had a son. After the man deserted the family, she had an affair that resulted in the birth of Mary. Following the death of her half-brother, Mary was passed off as the deceased boy in order to receive money from his paternal grandmother. Mary was 13 when the elder woman died, but the young girl continued to dress as a boy. She later worked as a servant before journeying to Flanders to serve in the military. During this time she met another soldier, and, after revealing her true sex, they later married. The couple opened an inn near Breda, Netherlands, but Read's husband died.

Read went back to living as a man and eventually found work as a sailor. She took to the sea during an era that was considered the "golden age" of piracy-a period that roughly spanned 1650 to the 1720s. When her ship was seized by pirates in the West Indies, Read decided-or was possibly forced-to become a buccaneer. She and her crewmates sailed to Nassau, Bahamas, in about 1717, following the issuance of a royal edict that extended a pardon to any pirate who surrendered. Although some of her crewmates accepted the offer, it is unclear if Read did. It is known, however, that she soon joined a pirate ship captained by John ("Calico Jack") Rackham. Among the crew was Anne Bonny, who did not hide her sex-she was having an affair with Rackham-except during battles. Read continued to masquerade as a man, although others realized that she was a woman.

Read and Bonny earned a reputation for ruthlessness and were described as "very profligate, cursing and swearing much, and very ready and willing to do anything on board." According to various accounts, Mary fell in love with a carpenter on Rackham's ship, but his life appeared in danger after a pirate challenged him to a duel. The protective Read allegedly intervened, forcing a duel with the other man and killing him.

In August 1720 Read and her crewmates commandeered the 12-ton sloop William from Nassau Harbor on New Providence Island. The following month the governor of the Bahamas declared that the hijackers-both Read and Bonny being specifically named-were "Enemies to the Crown of Great Britain." The stolen vessel was located by privateer Jonathan Barnet in October. According to legend, a number of pirates were inebriated, and Rackham quickly surrendered. The two women, however, refused and fought their would-be captors until finally being overwhelmed. The pirates were taken to Jamaica, and in November 1720 the male crew members were tried, convicted, and hanged. On November 28 the two women went on trial, and they were also convicted and sentenced to death. However, both Read and Bonny were pregnant, causing their executions to be postponed. In April 1721 Read died in prison-reportedly after developing a fever-but Bonny was eventually freed.

Amy Tikkanen

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Mary Read, also known as Mark Read, (born c. 1695, England-buried April 28, 1721, St. Catherine, Jamaica), English pirate of the early 18th century who, with her crewmate Anne Bonny, became legendary as one of the few female pirates. Read's early life is largely unknown. Much of the information is derived from Capt.

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Mary Read (1690? -1721) was an English pirate who sailed with "Calico Jack" Rackham and Anne Bonny. Although little is known for sure about her former life, she was well-known as a pirate from 1718 to 1720. When captured, she was spared hanging because she was pregnant but died shortly after that due to illness.
EARLY LIFE
Most of the little that is known about Mary Read comes from Captain Charles Johnson (believed by many, but not all, pirate historians to be a pseudonym for Daniel Defoe).

Johnson was descriptive, but never mentioned his sources, so most of her background is in doubt.

Read was supposedly born sometime around 1690 to the widow of a sea captain. Mary's mother dressed her up as a boy to pass her off as her older brother, who had died, to get money out of Mary's paternal grandmother. Mary found she liked dressing as a boy and as a young "man" found work as a soldier and sailor.
MARRIAGE IN HOLLAND
Mary was fighting for the British in Holland when she met and fell in love with a Flemish soldier. She revealed her secret to him and they married. They operated an inn named "The Three Horseshoes" not far from the castle at the town of Breda. When her husband died, Mary could not operate the inn alone, so she went back to war. Peace was soon signed, and she was out of work. She took a ship to the West Indies.
JOINING THE PIRATES
While en route to the West Indies, Read's ship was attacked and captured by pirates.

Read decided to join them and for a while lived the life of a pirate in the Caribbean before accepting the king's pardon in 1718. Like many former pirates, she signed on board a privateer commissioned to hunt down those buccaneers who had not accepted the pardon. It didn't last long, as the whole crew soon mutinied and took over the ship.
MARY READ AND ANNE BONNY
Calico Jack already had a woman on board: his lover, Anne Bonny, who had left her husband for a life of piracy. According to legend, Anne developed an attraction for Mary, not knowing she was a woman. When Anne tried to seduce her, Mary revealed herself. According to some accounts, they became lovers anyway, with Rackham's blessing (or participation). In any event, Anne and Mary were two of Rackham's most bloodthirsty pirates.
TOUGH FIGHTER
Mary was a good fighter. According to legend, she developed an attraction for a man who had been forced to join the pirate crew. The object of her affection managed to irritate a certain cutthroat on board who challenged him to a duel. Mary, fearing that her would-be lover might get killed, challenged the brute to a duel of her own, timing it for a couple of hours before the other duel was supposed to take place. She promptly killed the pirate, in the process saving the object of her attentions.
CAPTURE AND TRIAL
By late 1720, Rackham and his crew were well-known as dangerous pirates, and bounty hunters were sent out to capture or kill them. Captain Jonathan Barnet cornered Rackham's ship in late October of 1720.

According to some accounts, Anne and Mary fought valiantly while the men hid below deck. Rackham and the other male pirates were quickly tried and hanged in Port Royal on November 18, 1720. Bonny and Read, at their trial, declared that they were pregnant, and it was soon determined to be true. They would be spared the gallows until they had given birth.
DEATH
Mary Read never got to taste freedom again. She developed a fever and died in prison not long after her trial, probably sometime in early 1721.
LEGACY
Most of the information about Mary Read comes from Captain Johnson, who most likely embellished at least some of it. It is impossible to say how much of what is commonly "known" about Mary Read is true. It is certainly true that a woman by that name served with Rackham, and evidence is strong that both women on his ship were able, skilled pirates who were every bit as tough and ruthless as their male counterparts.

As a pirate, Read didn't leave much of a mark. Rackham is famous for having female pirates on board (and for having a cool pirate flag), but he was strictly a small-time operator, never getting close to the levels of infamy of someone like Blackbeard or the success of someone like Edward Low or "Black Bart" Roberts.

Nevertheless, Read and Bonny have captured the public imagination as being the only two well-documented female pirates in the so-called "Golden Age of Piracy." In an age and society where the freedom of women was greatly restricted, Read and Bonny lived a life at sea as full members of a pirate crew. As subsequent generations increasingly romanticize piracy and the likes of Rackham, Bonny, and Read, their stature has grown even further.

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Biography of Mary Read, Woman Pirate of the Caribbean

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Mary Read (1690? -1721) was an English pirate who sailed with "Calico Jack" Rackham and Anne Bonny. Although little is known for sure about her former life, she was well-known as a pirate from 1718 to 1720. When captured, she was spared hanging because she was pregnant but died shortly after that due to illness.