Piracy in the Atlantic World been coerced into joining the pirate gang. Two of the other captives were not as lucky, and were "condemned to die." The third captive was pardoned. Three years later, another female pirate, Mary Crickett, along with five others, was ordered to be executed. When Mary Read and Anne Bonny were captured, they faced execution. However, once their pregnancies were known, they were pardoned from the gallows. Both women were sentenced to prison, where Mary Read eventually perished and Anne Bonny later escaped. In 1724, the first edition of A General History of Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates
Anne Bonny along his former serving girl, the mother of Bonny. Bonny's father abandoned the original "Mc" prefix of their family name to blend more easily into the Charles Town citizenry. At first the family had a rough start in their new home, but Cormac's knowledge of law and ability to buy and sell goods soon financed a townhouse and eventually a plantation just out of town. Bonny's mother died when she was 12. Her father attempted to establish himself as an attorney, but did not do well. Eventually, he joined the more profitable merchant business and accumulated a substantial fortune. It