Mary Read
English pirate who disguised herself as a man for much of her life, first as a soldier in Flanders and then as a sailor. She joined Calico Jack Rackham's crew in the Caribbean, where she sailed alongside Anne Bonny. When Rackham's ship was captured by a sloop commissioned by the Governor of Jamaica in October 1720, Mary Read and Anne Bonny were reportedly the only crew members to fight while the men hid below decks drunk. Convicted of piracy, she died in prison in Jamaica in 1721, reportedly of fever while pregnant. Her story, alongside Anne Bonny's, was immortalised in Captain Johnson's General History of the Pyrates (1724).
- Lived: 1695 CE – 1721 CE
- Nationality: English
- Roles: Pirate
