It is not necessary to get involved in pirates in order to know the name of Mary Reid - one of the most famous female pirates. Despite the fact that, as a rule, men dominated in this kind of activity, history did not do without the participation of the fair sex. Thanks to our article today, readers will learn about what Mary Reid was like in her life, and they will also meet another interesting person whose fate was closely connected with our main character - a woman named Anne Bonnie.
Scraps from the past
To begin with, we are transported to the distant past. In the courtyard of 1720, November 2, and our story begins with a warship belonging to the King of England George I. This frigate, whose command was led by Captain Barnett. He headed for the Caribbean with the aim of tracking down and capturing the brigantine of Jack Rackham, also known as Printed Jack.
The sea robbers recently robbed another ship, so it was this moment when all the crew members were supposed to be drunk to death that they considered the most suitable for capture. Only three pirates fought to the very end, trying to protect their ship, despite a hopeless situation. One of them was a simple sailor, but the other two were actually women.
Female pirates their fate: what do we know about them
The life of Mary Reid and Anne Bonnie really captivated all the researchers whose work was dedicated to the golden age of piracy. After they were captured, they were brought to trial in Jamaica. All men were sentenced to death by hanging; the sentence was executed within one day. When the process reached women, an interesting discovery was made: they were both pregnant. The court handed down a sentence of hanging, however, given the slight delay.
Over time, the adventures of Mary Reid and her companions were shrouded in numerous legends. The fact is that in those days detailed records of what was happening were not kept, so tracking the life path of a person seemed a rather difficult task. However, some details still managed to reach us.
Early biography of Mary
The future famous female pirate was born in the city of London, presumably in 1685. Dates always vary, but you can confidently answer the question of how old Mary Reid died - at 36. When she was thirteen, she decided to change into a boy and enlist as one of the ships for one of the ships. After the onset of eighteen Mary Reed joined the ranks of the British army, just during the War of the Spanish Succession. The girl spent several years in Holland, fighting as an infantryman, and then a cavalryman. It was on the battlefield that Reid met her first love and confessed her secret. The secret was kept, and then, after the war, the couple sealed the relationship by marriage. On their savings, the newlyweds were able to acquire a small tavern, which was called "Three Horseshoes."
Life after marriage and joining the pirate ranks
Family life went quietly and peacefully until her husband Mary suddenly died, after which she again decided to change her appearance. Now, under the name of Mark Reed, the girl became a sailor on a Dutch vessel that specialized in trading with the West Indies company. As soon as the ship was in the waters of the Caribbean, it was immediately attacked by pirates, led by the notorious Jack Rackham and his companion Anne Bonnie. There was a battle, and Mary, and the crew of the Dutch ship were quickly captured. Unfortunately, there is no detailed information about what happened to the captives, but it is known for certain that only the only English sailor managed to escape. It's not hard to guess who it was.
Reed’s courage struck the pirates so much that she was immediately invited to join their ranks. The girl was not connected with her past life, so she easily agreed. Anne Bonnie was the first to notice what Mary Reid looked like, and the first to admit that she herself was a girl. A little later, the secret was revealed to the captain.
New love
The status of a pirate did not prevent the girl from gaining new happiness in her personal life. Soon, she realized that she fell in love with a carpenter who was taken to their ship as a prisoner. Among the pirate team, almost no one knew how to do such a thing, so the man’s skills were very useful. Mary Reid did not want to reveal her true gender; she kept her feelings a secret. Everything changed when she had to challenge one of the pirates to a duel in order to save her lover from the same fate. The girl won a brilliant victory and told the carpenter about her secret. After that, another happy couple appeared on Calico Jack's ship.
Further adventures of Mary Reid
After the fateful event for Ann Bonnie, when she lost her baby, the team decided to return to New Providence and live a new honest life. There were no objections from the sailors, and soon everyone arrived ashore. However, there they were expected by Ann's former official husband, who demanded that the governor of justice and the immediate execution of the pirates. Wreckham's team was lucky that by that time they had already been granted amnesty, so only Bonnie suffered, since she was assigned to beating for treason.
After that, the pirates stole the schooner from the port and set off again to plow the expanses of water. The number of people in Calico Jack's crew ranged from twenty to forty sailors. Despite such a small (by the standards of many) numbers, pirates captured ships that could only fall under the onslaught of large armada. Rackham and his team won one victory after another, and soon the mere mention of them inspired fear in every inhabitant of the Caribbean archipelago. Some ships were ready to surrender to the pirates, barely seeing their flag waving in the distance.
By the way, it’s quite interesting that at first Calico Jack preferred to swim under the sign of the Jolly Roger, which is typical for all Bahamian sea robbers. However, jokers appeared on his team who liked to laugh at the crossed bones, calling them the symbol of two women who swam with them. Soon Rackham came up with the idea of redoing the flag and under the skull he painted a pair of large crooked knives.
Sentence and death
Free swimming and the detached life of a pirate came to an end in November 1720. The appearance of the vessel to capture the Wreckham team was not accidental - the order was issued by the Governor of Jamaica. As we already said, “Williams” were left to defend only three people, among whom were Mary Reid and Anne Bonnie. Despite their courage and efforts, defeating the dead drunk pirates was not difficult.
By the decision of the court, all men were expected to be hanged, and as for the sentence to women, he was postponed for a certain period. Rumor has it that before that death, Jack was allowed to see Ann for the last time. She admitted that she felt sorry for him, but he himself deserved such a fate for the dog. If Jack defended his ship, as befits a real man, then everything could have ended differently.
As for the fate of the two female pirates, they escaped the execution itself. They say that Mary Reid died during childbirth from a fever, but this is not the only version of what happened. Someone still believes that the famous sea robber was secretly killed, but direct evidence was never found.
Anne Bonnie also went through childbirth, a boy was born. After that, she disappeared and her whereabouts, as well as her future fate, remained covered in mystery. According to some rumors, her family bought it. Subsequently, the woman got married, gave birth to more children and died at a respectable age in the state of Virginia.
Appearance in movies and video games
The character Mary Reid has often been portrayed in various pop culture products. Among the films it is worth noting the series "Black Sails" and the film "Real Caribbean Pirates", released in 2014 and 2006, respectively. Also, the image of Mary was used in thematic video games, such as "Tropico 2", "Assassin's Creed: Black Flag" and "Avatar".