Blackbeard amusement park rides. Much of what is known about him can be sourced to Charles Johnson's "A General Historie of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates", published in Britain in 1724. A recognised authority on the pirates of his time, Johnson's descriptions of such figures as Anne Bonny and Mary Read were for years required reading for those interested in the subject. Readers were titillated by his stories and a second edition was quickly published, though author Angus Konstam suspects that Johnson's entry on Blackbeard was "coloured a little to make a more sensational story." "A General
Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck (née Galton, 25 November 1778 – 29 August 1856) was a British writer in the anti-slavery movement. Born at Birmingham, she was eldest child of Samuel "John" Galton and his wife, Lucy Barclay. Both parents were members of the Society of Friends, and brought up their children strictly. In 1785 the family moved to Barr, Staffordshire. There among their frequent visitors were James Watt, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Thomas Day, Joseph Priestley, Samuel Parr, and Erasmus Darwin whose daughter Violetta married Mary Anne's eldest brother, Samuel Tertius Galton. When about eighteen Mary Anne visited her