Do you love STARZ Black Sails? Meet the REAL Anne Bonny!

NiceGirlsTV is addicted to the STARZ series Black Sails and in honor of Women’s History Month, we uncover the real pirate, Anne Bonny.  The female pirate is wonderfully brought to life in Black Sails by the talented Clara Paget. Anne Bonny was indeed a ginger and was born Anne McCormac in Ireland around 1700. In this story, truth is very much stranger than fiction.

Anne’s life began in scandal. She was the result of a liaison between lawyer, William McCormac and his maid. Everyone knows the bond between a father and daughter is special. This one was no different. It seems dear old Dad dressed little Anne as a boy, passing the child off as the son of distant relations in order to have her closer to home. However, the news of her father’s scandalous affair soon rocked local society. The lawyer was forced to retreat with his mistress and young daughter to America in an attempt to evade further gossip.

Young love. Anne was a girl of means thanks to her wealthy father and was expected to marry well. However, as is the downfall of many young ladies, she only had eyes for the bad boys. Anne was possibly as young as sixteen when she married the low level pirate James Bonny.  Her father wisely wasted no time and quickly disinherited his daughter. It seems James’ love for Anne ended abruptly once the money ran out. Anne was left despondent as there was no means for divorce in those days. The young bride was not about to be defeated and punished her husband by sleeping with every man in port.

Anne CHOSE piracy. History does have a way of repeating itself. Anne and her husband moved to Nassau in an effort to escape the scandal of her affairs. Soon after their arrival, Anne met a real pirate, ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham. Jack fell hard for Anne and spent much of his stolen bounty wooing her. Jack, thanks to a seldom used law, even tried unsuccessfully to buy her from James Bonny. By this time Anne had given birth to a son in Cuba, which may or may not have been James’ child. After the birth, Anne ran away with Jack to join his crew, leaving her husband and illegitimate child behind.

Anne was formidable. She knew very well how to defend herself from unwanted advances of men. Being the only female on a ship full of lonely men is a highly dangerous position. Anne once beat a would-be-rapist so badly that it took him quite some time to recover. Anne relished in her role as a pirate and took part in raiding right alongside the men.

Anne and Jack’s relationship was not without it’s own complications. The two had a tumultuous union and Anne was bitter after her lover’s irresponsibility lead to their capture. Jack was drunk at the time of the attack which left Anne and another well-known female pirate, Mary Read, to defend against the naval ship. She later told Jack “I am sorry to see you here, but if you had fought like a man, you needn’t be hanged like a dog.”

She was a survivor. In the end, Anne escaped hanging by claiming pregnancy which gave her just enough time to exit prison thanks to her rich father’s money. No one knows for sure what became of Anne after that, but she was rumored to have been married off to a man in Virginia where she reportedly gave birth to eight children and lived into her 80’s.

Need more Black Sails? Check out our other stories here! Be sure to tune in with us this Saturday for the season three finale of Black Sails at 9pm only on STARZ. Follow along with us, @nicegirlstv and @PxlWvr as we live tweet the event!

Black Sails is stuffed full of historical figures. Check out the video below to discover the real pirates behind the series!

Website Sources:
• “Anne Bonny”, Encyclopædia Britannica Online
•  “Anne Bonny”,  Wikipedia