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 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 from Stephen Slaughter. She obtained work copying other images but she also exhibited her own compositions too at the Society of Artists of Great Britain. She married Thomas Grace in 1744 in London. In 1749 a painting by her of the Reverend Thomas Bradbury was published after it was engraved by John Faber. The National Portrait Gallery