PIRATE GIRL ANNE BONNY

Our character Anne Bonnie is based on real life pirate girl Anne Bonny.
Anne Bonny, along with Mary Read, are the two most well known female pirates. Anne Bonny sailed with and was romantically linked with Calico Jack Rackham and she was a fearless as any other pirate. Born in County Cork, Anne Bonny was the daughter of an attorney and his maid. Her father left Ireland in disgrace but found his fortune in the Carolinas, where he bought a large plantation. James Bonny, a pirate, married Anne in an attempt to obtain the plantation, but Anne's father simply disowned her. Bonny then took Anne to the Bahamas where he turned informer to Governor Woodes Rogers and turned in any sailor he didn't like as a pirate for a handsome reward. Anne grew to dislike James Bonny and instead fell for Calico Jack Rackham, a pirate of some renown. Governor Rogers had recently passed an amnesty for pirates which left James Bonny out of work. The admiration between Anne and Calico was mutual. Calico Jack was a handsome man who liked to spend money, as well as steal it. Anne was an attractive woman with a good figure and fiery spirit and her a temper that equaled any man. Jack Rackham offered to buy Anne from Bonny but Bonny took the matter to Governor Rogers, who decided that Anne was to be flogged and returned to James Bonny. That night Calico Jack and Anne slipped out in the harbor, stole a boat and began a life of piracy. Anne Bonny fought in men's clothing and was an expert with both cutlass and pistol. She was fearless in battle and usually a member of any boarding party. In October 1720, the governor of Jamaica, hearing of the couple's presence, sent an armed sloop to capture Calico's ship the "Revenge". Caught by surprise and much to Calico and Anne's dismay, the crew put up little resistance and were taken easily. Anne Bonny and Mary Read, another female pirate, were both captured but, upon confessing their "sex", pleaded to be tried separately after they had both given birth. (Both were pregnant at the time). Although they recived separate trials from the men, they were also sentenced to hang. Mary Read escaped the noose by dying from fever in jail. Anne Bonny, however, received several stays of execution before mysteriously vanishing from official records. It is believed that her father, who had influential connections, forgave Anne and ransomed her back to the Carolinas where she assumed a new name and life.