Golden Age of Piracy on a navy ship. Many of the most well known pirates in historical lore originate from this Golden Age of Piracy. While most pirates were men, there were at least fifty cases of women entering the career of piracy (usually disguised as men). The best known female pirates were Anne Bonny (also sometimes spelled Bonney) and Mary Read. Bonny developed a notorious reputation in Nassau, and when she was unable to leave an earlier marriage, she eloped with her lover, Calico Jack Rackham. Mary Read had been dressed as a boy all her life by her mother and had spent
Mary Grace has copies of this print and another, again after Mary Grace, of Thomas Bradbury, but engraved by Jonathan Spilsbury. In about 1770 Thomas Grace died leaving property in Hackney but she had other property by 1799 or 1800 as she died at Weymouth Street in Marylebone leaving £1300. In 1785 her own self-portrait was engraved and published. Mary Grace Mary Grace ( – 1799/1800) was a self-taught professional portrait painter and copyist in the 18th century. Mary Hodgkiss' father was a shoemaker so her skill as a painter is thought to be self-taught although she may have had some assistance