This essay was published in the 1957 book Tales Retold Under the Old Town Clock. Theoretically this is a collection of articles related to Nova Scotia. According to the Mary Read bio, Mary learns French while working as a pageboy. Borrett embroiders the tale of Mary and the Fleming by having her start crying and… Continue reading Mary Read: Pirate by William Coates Borrett
Tag: in-court gender reveal
A History of Us: Student Sheets, Team Sheets, and Documents
This worksheet book was published in 2005 to supplement the middle school textbook A History of Us, and it includes a packet featuring biographies of famous pirates, according to which Mary Read was born in London. James Bonney is described as a soldier when he marries Anne, who then sails with Jack Rackham for "several… Continue reading A History of Us: Student Sheets, Team Sheets, and Documents
Female Pirates
This article was published in the April 23, 1910 issue of Harper's Weekly. Mary Read is 19 before she works as a sailor or soldier, and her soldier husband also becomes a pirate. Anne Bonney dresses as a man to run away from home with her husband, with whom she works as a pirate. When… Continue reading Female Pirates
Particulars of the Promiscuous by Kip W. Ives
This book was published in 2002. Ives writes that Mary Read convinced Anne Bonney to dress as a man, and they used seven-inch soap dildos to have sex as men. They are arrested as men and get naked in court to prove they are pregnant.
Masqueraded As Men: Women, Who Sailed on Pirate Ships, Once Sentenced to Death
This article was published in the September 7, 1907 issue of the Victoria Daily Times. It says Mary Read lived in France when she married her soldier husband, who dies a few years later, and Anne Bonney dresses as a man to elope with her husband. They are arrested and tried as men, and it's… Continue reading Masqueraded As Men: Women, Who Sailed on Pirate Ships, Once Sentenced to Death
Mort ou vif: Les chasses à l’homme les plus extraordinaires by Pierre Bellemare and Jean-François Nahmias
This book was published in 2007. Mary Read is born in Redruth, Cornwall. Her mother's husband was a naval officer. Mary's brother Mark dies before she is born. Read is a married name that she gets from her first husband, William Read. She leaves Europe on a Dutch merchantman transporting wheat, which is captured by… Continue reading Mort ou vif: Les chasses à l’homme les plus extraordinaires by Pierre Bellemare and Jean-François Nahmias
Wolves of the Sea: Two Women Pirates by MV Campbell
This article was published in the June 1909 issue of Uncle Sam's Magazine. When Mary Read joins a privateer crew that turns pirate, Jack Rackam and Ann Bonny are a married couple and both on the crew. Ann's family disowned her when she married him. Mary's new lover is a painter whom Jack recruits to… Continue reading Wolves of the Sea: Two Women Pirates by MV Campbell
World Famous Mistakes by Jesse Flowerfoot and Esme Hawes
This book was published in 1994. In its account of Ann Bonny and Mary Read, Ann is born in Kinsale, and the ship she steals with Jack Rackam is called Haman's Sloop instead of the William. Mary "reveals" her gender to Ann by taking off her hat to show her long hair (uuugggghhhh) even though… Continue reading World Famous Mistakes by Jesse Flowerfoot and Esme Hawes
Fearless Pirate Maids by Libby Franck
This story was recorded on the 2002 CD Women of the Sea. In this story Anne Bonny hates high society and meets James Bonny at a tavern in Charleston. In Nassau he catches her cheating on him and the next day she meets Jack Rackam in a tavern. James takes her to court for her… Continue reading Fearless Pirate Maids by Libby Franck
Forging an Iron Woman by Christine Hernandez
This article was published in the spring 2009 issue of the Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal. Hernandez says that Mary Read was born after her brother died. Anne Bonny's mother dies in Ireland, and she and her father move to North Carolina. Hernandez uses the story (from John Carlova by way of Ulrike Klausmann and Marion… Continue reading Forging an Iron Woman by Christine Hernandez
Depictions of John Rackam, Anne Bonny, and Mary Read 