Anne Bonny from Black Sails: Did the pirate really exist?

Fans of the “Black Sails” series know Anne Bonny as a beautiful and nefarious pirate. But did she really make a name for herself in the male-dominated pirate scene?

Anne Bonny – real pirate or fairytale character?

Anne Bonny is a protagonist in the US series “Black Sails”, which aired on the Starz channel from 2014 to 2017. She also appears as a character in the book “A General History Of The Pyrates” by Daniel Defoe and Captain Charles Johnson (presumably a pseudonym), which was published in 1724. In both media formats, her character experiences adventurous stories whose veracity cannot be estimated. But she certainly did exist.

• Various records suggest that Anne Bonny actually lived. As documented in an official document from 1721, she was part of Captain Jack Rackham’s crew.

• Rackham was one of many pirates who terrorized the British and Spanish colonies in the Caribbean with their followers, especially between 1650 and 1720. During a raid on a merchant ship, the captain and his crew were captured and put on trial in Jamaica.

• In addition to Anne Bonny, another woman’s name appears in the records: Mary Read. Both women escaped the death sentence, presumably because they were both pregnant at the time of the trial. Rackham and the rest of his crew were executed

• The ages of Bonny and Read and much more information remain completely unknown. Some researchers believe that the two women were lovers. Johnson, on the other hand, wrote in his book that Bonny left her first husband for Rackham and became part of his crew disguised as a man.

• What is relatively certain are their dates of death: Bonny died in 1733, Read a few months after the trial in 1721.Both women were buried in Jamaica.

Anne Bonny: Parallels in “Black Sails “

The creative freedom afforded by a TV series has led to Anne Bonny’s life being significantly more embellished in “Black Sails”.

• In the series, Anne finds piracy through Jack Rackham. He meets her when she is 13 years old and helps her to free herself from her violent marriage.

• In the course of the series, an intimate relationship develops between the two, which Defoe and Johnson also allude to in their book.

• Anne Bonny and Mary Read also meet at the end of the series. Mary is brought on board disguised as a man by Jack Rackham, but Anne sees through her immediately.