Current media has made pirates a more popular and interesting subject than ever. While many documentaries and books focus on pirate history, there is less out there about famous female pirates. While we may not even always know her real name, pirate women fought, sought glory and treasure, and even captained more than one pirate ship.

Women on a Pirate Ship

While the pirate code banned women from pirate ships, women did serve as pirates, primarily by cross dressing as men. Regardless of the pirate code ban on women on pirate ships, women not only were pirates, but in some cases even captained fleets of pirate ships.  More than one pirate woman is found in the history of piracy and pirate ships, ranging from the sixteenth century all the way to the eighteenth century.  While we often think that a pirate woman lived in the Caribbean in the 17th century, the list of famous female pirates at http://www.deadmentellnotales.com/onlinetexts/womenlist.shtml shows that there was many a pirate woman from the ancient world into that of nineteenth century China.

Famous Pirate Women

Two of the most famous pirate women of all time were Anne Bonny and Mary Reed. Anne Bonny was an eighteenth century Irish woman, who moved to the Bahamas after marrying a small-time pirate. She eloped with another, more successful pirate, Jack Rackham, and dressed as a man began her own career in piracy. More information on Anne Bonny can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Bonny. Anne Bonny was imprisoned while pregnant, and received a stay of execution due to the pregnancy. Her final fate is unknown.

Mary Read served alongside Anne Bonny on Rackham’s ship. Read spent much of her life dressing as a man, serving in the military, marrying and running an inn as a woman, and eventually turning to piracy. She and Anne Bonny served on the same ship, and Bonny kept her secret for quite some time. Even after her gender was revealed, Read was accepted and served on the ship alongside Rackham and Bonny. Captured alongside Anne Bonny, read died in prison, possibly due to complications of childbirth or a fever.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Read offers a more thorough look at this fascinating pirate woman.

More Information on Real Pirate Women

With the growing interest in the history of piracy and pirate ships, as well as famous female pirates, you can find a lot of good, accurate information on many a pirate woman online.  For more information about female pirates, including the well known Anne Bonney and Mary Read, see http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/famous-women-pirates.htm. By whatever name, pirate women added to the history and color of this fascinating era.