Mary Read She accepted the King's pardon c. 1718–1719, then took a commission to privateer, but joined the crew in mutiny. In 1720 she joined pirate John "Calico Jack" Rackham and his companion, Anne Bonny, who both believed her to be a man. On 22 August 1720, the three stole an armed sloop named "William" from port in Nassau. Scholars are uncertain how female pirates like Read and Bonny concealed their sex in a male-dominated environment. Some scholars, however, have theorized that the wearing of breeches by female pirates may have been either a method of hiding their identity or simply as
Mary Anne Burges Mary Anne Burges Mary Anne Burges (6 December 1763 – 10 August 1813) was a Scottish writer who wrote a successful sequel to "The Pilgrim's Progress". Burges was born in Edinburgh in 1763 to George and Anne Burges. Her father had distinguished himself at the Battle of Culloden by capturing the standard of Charles Edward Stewart and was later deputy paymaster in Gibraltar; he was in charges of the customs when she was born. Her mother, Anne Whichnour Somerville, was the daughter of James Somerville, 13th Lord Somerville. Burges was a gifted linguist speaking five to seven European languages. Her