Mary Read (born c. 1695, England—buried April 28, 1721, St. Catherine, Jamaica) was an 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.