Mary Read (1685-1721), also known as Mark Read, was an English pirate. She and Anne Bonny are two of the most famed female pirates of all time; they are two of only a few women known to have been convicted of piracy during the early 18th century, at the height of the Golden Age of Piracy.
Video Mary Read
Early life
Mary Read was illegitimately born in England in 1685. Her mother had married a sailor and had a son, but he went back to sea on a voyage. Mary's mother had become pregnant as a result of an affair following the disappearance of her husband, Read's mother attempted to hide the birth of her daughter, Mary, by going to live with friends of hers in the country. Shortly after she left on her retreat, her legitimate son died, and she gave birth to Mary Read. Her mother then became stressed financially, and as a result, had decided to disguise Mary as her dead son in order to receive the financial support from her late husband's mother. The grandmother was apparently fooled, and Read and her mother lived on the inheritance into her teenage years. Still dressed as a boy, Read then found work as a foot-boy, and later found employment on a ship.
She later joined the British military, allied with Dutch forces against the French (this could have been during the Nine Years War or during the War of the Spanish Succession). Read, in male disguise, proved herself through battle, but she fell in love with a Flemish soldier. When they married, she used their military commission and gifts from intrigued brethren in arms as a funding source to acquire an inn named "De drie hoefijzers" ("The Three Horseshoes") near Breda Castle in The Netherlands.
Upon her husband's early death, Read resumed male dress and military service in Holland. With peace, there was no room for advancement, so she quit and boarded a ship bound for the West Indies.
Maps Mary Read
Becoming a pirate
Read's ship was taken by pirates, who she then willingly joined. She took the King's pardon c. 1718-1719, and took a commission to privateer, until that ended with her joining the crew in mutiny. In 1720 she joined pirate John "Calico Jack" Rackham and his companion, the pirate Anne Bonny, who both believed her to be a man. On 22 August 1720 the three stole an armed sloop named William from port in Nassau. Scholars are often logically confused as to how female pirates like Read and Bonny were able to conceal their sexes in a male-dominated environment. Some scholars, however, have theorized that the wearing of breeches by female pirates may have been either a method of hiding their identity or simply as practical clothing that solidified their working place on board the ship among the other seamen.
Read's sex was revealed when Bonny told Read that she was a woman, apparently because she was attracted to her. Realising this, Read revealed that she too was a woman. Speculation over the relationship between Bonny and Read led to new images emerging showing the two in battle together. However, Rackham, as Bonny's lover, did not know this and suspected romantic involvement between the two. To abate his jealousy, Bonny told him that Read was also a woman.
A victim of the pirates, Dorothy Thomas, left a description of Read and Bonny: They "wore men's jackets, and long trousers, and handkerchiefs tied about their heads: and ... each of them had a machete and pistol in their hands and they cursed and swore at the men to murder her [Dorothy Thomas]." Thomas also recorded that she knew that they were women, "from the largeness of their breasts."
Capture and imprisonment
On 15 November 1720 pirate hunter Captain Jonathan Barnet took Rackham's crew by surprise while they were hosting a rum party with another crew of Englishmen at Negril Point off the west coast of Jamaica. After a volley of fire left the pirate vessel disabled, Rackham's crew and their "guests" fled to the hold, leaving only the women and one other to fight Barnet's boarding party (it is also possible that Rackham and his crew were too drunk to fight). Allegedly, Read angrily shot into the hold, killing one, and wounding others when the men would not come up and fight with them. Barnet's crew eventually overcame the women. Rackham surrendered, requesting "quarter".
Rackham and his crew were arrested and brought to trial in what is now known as Spanish Town, Jamaica, where they were sentenced to hang for acts of piracy, as were Read and Bonny. However, the women escaped the noose when they revealed they were both "quick with child" (known as "pleading the belly"), so they received a temporary stay of execution.
Read died of a violent fever while in prison. Her 28 April 1721 burial is in the records of St Catherine's church in Jamaica. There is no record of the burial of her baby, suggesting that she may have died while still pregnant.
In popular culture
- Mary Read is a character in the 2013 video game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and is voiced by Olivia Morgan. She poses as James Kidd, the illegitimate son of Captain William Kidd, and is a member of the Assassin Order.
- The 2006 TV film True Caribbean Pirates featured Mary Read portrayed by Kimberly Adair.
- The 1961 Italian film Le avventure di Mary Read told the story of Mary Read, who was portrayed by Lisa Gastoni.
- Mary Read is also portrayed in the Detective Conan animated film Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure along with Anne Bonny.
- Mary Read is a playable character in Fate/Grand Order as a Rider-class Servant alongside with Anne Bonny and is voiced by Ayako Kawasumi (Bonny) and Ai Nonaka (Read).
- Read (Cara Roberts) introduces herself to Anne Bonny under the name of Mark Read in the final episode of Black Sails.
- Mary Read is featured in the song "The Ballad of Mary Read and Anne Bonny" by the Baja Brigade.
- Mary Read and Anne Bonny are featured in the song "Five Guns West" by Adam and the Ants.
See also
- Women in piracy
- John Bear
References
External links
- General History of the Pyrates
- Mary Read article at woa.tv
- Mary Read at Find a Grave
Source of article : Wikipedia
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