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 Talbot shown with her claim to have been on the "Vesuvius" as a midshipman when it was captured by the French on the English Channel. The ship in question was, at the time of the alleged capture, serving in the West Indies. Mary Anne Talbot Mary Anne Talbot also known as John Taylor (2 February 1778 – 4 February 1808) was an Englishwoman who wore male dress and became a soldier and sailor during the French Revolutionary Wars. Mary Anne Talbot was born in London at 62 Lincoln's Inn Fields. Later she claimed that she was one of the sixteen illegitimate