Swashbuckling outlaws Anne Bonny and Mary Read are finally taking their rightful place in pirate history. Immortalised in sculpture, they are now looking for a shorebound home, says Rosanna Morris
Ahoy there!
Enjoy buccaneering antics on the wild seas in Blackbeard the Pirate, a 1952 Technicolour film, available on BBC iPlayer.
Two mysterious figures stand proud, heads held high and looking out to the horizon, one with hair flowing in the wind, the other composed and grounded; undefined and inseparable, shoulders and hips touching. The overall effect of this two-metre-high sculpture speaks of strength and unity, of independence and an unshakeable bond.
Artist Amanda Cotton’s artwork Inexorable celebrates the rebellious lives of two remarkable women, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who became infamous pirates together in the Caribbean in 1720.
“I represented them as metaphors – earth and fire,” says Amanda. “Anne was fiery and acted impulsively. Mary was calm and calculated.Their appearances were different, too, and aligned with their personalities.”
While Anne and Mary were the most exceptional pirates of the Golden Age of Piracy between 1670 and 1730, their names had, until recently, been eclipsed by their male contemporaries, such as Blackbeard and Bartholomew Roberts. However, in the past couple of years, there has been a surge in interest in them. Audible produced the audio drama Hell Cats based on their story, in 2020; in 2021, author Kate Castle published a novella Born of the Sea, and the docu-drama The Lost Pirate Kingdom, released on Netflix, also featured Anne’s character. Then, this spring, Rebecca Simon, a historian of early modern piracy, published her book Pirate Queens, the first full-length biography of Anne Bonny and Mary Read.
“Anne and Mary were the most exceptional pirates of the Golden Age of Piracy”
Richard Blakemore, associate professor of social and maritime history at the University of Reading, believes their current popularity is part of a broader look at the treatment of women in history. “There’s a lot in their story that appeals in allowing us to tell a more diverse and interesting history,” he says.“Many social groups have not received the attention they deserve in historical records.”
Inexorable was due to be installed on Burgh Island in Devon, a place long associated with pirates. But in spring last year, Bigbury Parish Council rejected the planning application, deeming it unsuitable for the area. In contrast, when a mock-up of the artwork was placed at Execution Dock on the River Thames in Wapping, a site used for centuries to execute pirates, smugglers and mutineers, the public response was positive.
BREAKING CHAINS
“It’s not about the fact they were pirates but about what they symbolised,” says Amanda. Anne and Mary may have been pirates, but many admire their efforts to break free of the expectations of women in a male-dominated world.
“Anne and Mary were able to escape traditional gender roles, which both amazed and horrified people,” says Rebecca Simon. “There aren’t many well-known female pirates, let alone two who fought together. Over time, their story transformed into popular legends that portray them as feminist and queer icons. The most interesting facts about them are that they were some of the most active members of their crew – and they were pirates while pregnant. That’s quite a feat. They used pistols and cutlasses; Anne, in particular, managed the cannons. Supposedly they even fought with their shirts open, exposing their breasts.”
Richard believes the myths surrounding these two women have turned their piracy into legend. “What’s so fascinating about Anne and Mary is that they are mysterious,” he says. “We don’t know much about them that is reliably corroborated. We know that they were described as braver and more violent than the men and took a lead role in the activities.”
Historians have long tried to unravel the facts about Anne and Mary from the fictions. A General History of the Pyrates, a sensational collection of pirate biographies published in 1724, suggests both Anne and Mary were illegitimate children raised as boys to avoid social scandal, that Anne escaped to the sea while Mary entered military life as a man.
Many historians consider some of A General History as exaggeration, perhaps even invention; Richard views the book as an attempt to undermine them. “There is an agenda here to explain how these two women possibly ended up as pirates, as it’s so unusual,” he says. “A lot of the story is about how they pretended to be men. As pirates, they dressed as men in combat for practical reasons but, from the trial records, we know they dressed as women the rest of the time.”
Rebecca says it is established fact that Anne was born in Ireland and moved to the Carolinas with her parents, and Mary was born out of wedlock and raised as a boy so her widowed mother could claim financial support from her grandparents.
BRIEF BUT BRUTAL
Given the interest in their piracy, it is hard to believe Anne and Mary were only pirates for two months, between August and October 1720. They met on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas and sailed with Jack Rackham (‘Calico Jack’) on board the Revenge (formerly the William). The crew seized fishing boats and merchant ships in the Bahamas and Jamaica, until caught by pirate hunter Jonathan Barnet. Put on trial in Spanish Town, Jamaica, all were sentenced to death but Anne and Mary revealed their pregnancies – “My Lord, we plead our bellies” – and were granted a stay of execution. Mary died in prison in April 1721 of ‘gaol fever’. Anne’s fate has been a mystery for 300 years, but recent research of records in St Catherine’s Parish, Jamaica, found the death of an ‘Ann Bonny’ listed in December 1733.
Mystery also abounds about their relationship, some believing they were lovers. A General History of the Pyrates claimed that Mary entered into piracy because she had fallen in love with Anne; but Rebecca asserts that a romance between them is unlikely.
“The most obvious reason is that they were both married to men at the time of their capture,” she says. Anne was still reluctantly married to James Bonny, while in a relationship with Rackham, and Mary had wed another member of the crew.
Whatever we believe, there is much that inspires. Not that they were villainous miscreants – but that they were revolutionaries who unshackled themselves from a defined female role in the 18th century, forming a sisterhood on the high seas. And these two outlaws are due to come out of hiding when Amanda’s striking sculpture finds a permanent home in the near future.
FIVE PIRATICAL PLACES
BRIXHAM, DEVON
Devon has a rich history of piracy and the town of Brixham holds a pirate festival (pictured above) every spring. brixhampirates.com
RYE, EAST SUSSEX
Rye was a hotspot of piracy in the 13th century, and in the 1730s and 1740s, the Mermaid Inn was a stronghold of the Hawkshurst Gang, one of Britain’s most fearsome smuggling rings. Along the coast in Hastings, there’s an annual pirate day every summer.
CLEW BAY, COUNTY MAYO
The most significant female pirate to rule the seas before Anne Bonny and Mary Read’s reign was the Irish pirate leader Grace O’Malley, who operated off the west coast of Ireland in the 16th century. She based herself in Clew Bay.
CASNEWYDD BACH, WALES
The village of Casnewydd Bach in Pembrokeshire is the birthplace of Captain Bartholomew Roberts, who would become the most successful pirate of all, robbing some 470 ships in his three-year career between 1719 and 1722.
BRISTOL
Blackbeard was born Edward Teach in Bristol in 1680. Teach turned to piracy after serving on a British warship in the War of the Spanish Succession and became renowned for his formidable appearance and thick black beard. Join a guided Pirate Walk (below) to learn more. piratewalks.co.uk
SEVEN SEASIDE ARTWORKS
Spectacular – and some controversial – installations on the UK coast
1 ANOTHER PLACE
Anthony Gormley’s installation Another Place on Crosby Beach near Liverpool consists of 100 cast-iron figures standing across 3km of sandy coastline, which he described as a poetic response to the individual and universal sentiments associated with emigration.
2 SCALLOP
Maggi Hambling’s giant Scallop sculpture on the beach near Aldeburgh, Suffolk, was created in 2003 as a tribute to composer Benjamin Britten, who lived in the town and walked daily along that stretch of coastline.
3 CONVERSATION PIECE, SOUTH SHIELDS
At the mouth of the River Tyne on Littlehaven beach in South Shields, 22 bronze statues by Spanish artist Juan Muñoz, called Conversation Piece, peer out over the sand dunes towards Herd Groyne Lighthouse.
4 VERITY
Damien Hirst’s sculpture Verity, a 65-foot stainless steel and bronze sculpture, stands on the pier at the entrance to Ilfracombe harbour in Devon. When it was unveiled in 2012, responses were mixed – some calling it a monstrosity and an eyesore, others viewing it as beautiful and unique.
5 FOLKESTONE ARTWORKS
The UK’s largest urban contemporary art exhibition is sited in and around the town and harbour in Folkestone, Kent. The changing exhibition currently consists of 74 artworks by 46 artists, including Tracey Emin and Cornelia Parker. creativefolkestone.org.uk
6 THE LANDING, HASTINGS
The Landing sculpture on Hastings beach, depicting the prow of a Norman longboat, was designed by artist Leigh Dyer and commissioned by Hastings Borough Council to mark the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in 2016.
7 MARY’S SHELL
Set on Cleveley Beach, Blackpool, Mary’s Shell celebrates The Sea Swallow, a 2011 children’s book about local legends. The swirling metal shell is engraved with words from the book, and almost submerged twice daily by the tide.
Rosanna Morris is a freelance writer and editor who lives in Somerset.
When she isn’t writing, she will usually be gardening, painting or out walking.