Mary Read c. 1700-?
Like fellow pirate Anne Bonny, Mary Read was born out of wedlock. Her mother had given birth to a baby boy who died in infancy about a year before Mary’s birth. To try to legitimize Mary, her mother dressed her as a boy and claimed she was the dead infant son. To keep the deception alive, she was raised as a boy.
Mary proved to be rather shiftless, holding several menial jobs before becoming a pirate. Still dressing as a boy, she became the footman of a French woman at age 13. She soon left this job and over a few years worked as a sailor on a Man of War ship, a soldier in Flanders and a member of the French cavalry. When none of these careers panned out for Mary, she became a privateer, which was a semi-legal pirate. Deciding semi-legal was no way to live, the crew on her ship mutinied and turned to piracy. As a powerful member of the new pirate crew, she had finally found her niche.
Mary is probably most famous for reversing the roles of chivalry by saving her lover’s life. During her time as a pirate, she had become involved with a male colleague. When this man got in an argument with another pirate, the two agreed to row ashore and duel to the death the following morning. Knowing her lover wasn’t a great fighter, Mary intentionally started a fight with the same man and challenged him to an earlier duel. The next day the two dueled and Mary won, killing the other man and saving her lover from probable death.
Her illustrious pirating career came to the same end as Anne Bonny's. Mary was on the ship with Anne when it was captured by pirate hunter Captain Barnet. Along with the rest of the crew, she was sentenced to death. Like Anne, she claimed to be pregnant and her sentence was reduced to time in prison. Unfortunately, she was not as lucky as her friend. Instead of serving a short sentence, she died in prison of a fever.
Despite her unremarkable end, Mary was quite a dynamic figure. Bold to the end, at her trial Mary claimed she supported the death penalty for pirates. The reason? The severity of the punishment helped keep people out of the trade, leaving more room (and wealth) for her.
More Female Pirates
Grace O'Malley
Lai Choi San
Anne Bonny
Sources Used
Robert C. Ritchie. "Pirate." World Book Online Reference Center. 2006. World Book, Inc. 1 Mar. 2006
Charles Johnson. "A General History of the Pyrates." 1 Mar. 2006. http://www.arthur-ransome.org/ar/literary/pyrates.htm
Deanna J. Jones. "Life in a Man's World: Mary Read." 1 Mar. 2006. http://www.arthur-ransome.org/ar/literary/pyrates.htm 
