When we think of adventurers taking the high seas, we often think of a bearded man risking his life against a storm to eventually find true paradise, and his return home to tell his tales. But even during times when women were only domestic servants or wives, there were some who dared and did more while writing their name in history. So, dive in, this is herstory of the High Seas.
Anne Bonny and Mary Read
Some people’s lives might as well be a book and such is the case of Anne Bonny, an illegitimate daughter of a lawyer and his maid from Ireland. She married a sailor, James Bonny, and sailed with him to the Bahamas in 1719. It was there she met and fell in love with the infamous Calico Jack joining his raids against Spanish Ships. During one of the raids, she met Mary Read.
Mary was an English woman who was raised as a boy to claim her father’s inheritance. She joined the Navy, deserted her ship and headed to the West Indies, where she eventually met Anne. They were all eventually captured, the men were hanged, and the two women were imprisoned due to both being pregnant. Mary died of fever within a year, and no one knows what happened to Bonny and her baby. But what they did in their lifetime was certainly memorable!
Ching Shih
She was not only a female pirate in the 1800’s, she is also one of the most successful pirates to have ever lived. Formally a prostitute, she eventually married, and after her husband’s death, she commanded his fleet called the Red Flag. Cheng married her for being a shrewd businesswoman, which came in handy with their pirating; their relationship being oddly balanced for that time.
The fleet was originally left to an adopted son, but she married him as well and gained control. In her lifetime she commanded some 1800 ships with 80,000 men. She ruled with an iron fist of strict and harsh laws. She managed to evade the Qing Dynasty, Portuguese Navy, and East India Company. She is probably one of the few if only pirates to ever retire with amnesty from the Chinese Government. She lived to a ripe old age at 69 and died in peace.
Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz
Ok, this story will not be about pirates, but rather a modern woman who still broke boundaries in our lifetime. Krystyna was born in 1936, Poland, and became a Polish Naval Architect and the first woman to sail solo around the world!
Her family moved during WW2, and she received her education in naval architecture. She met her husband in college and he built the Mazurek, which would be the vessel she would complete her voyage on. In 1978 she became the first woman to solo sail around the world, facing weather challenges and skepticism from the public on her ability and the safety of the vessel. She is still alive today, is considered a national hero in Poland, and trailblazer from women around the world!
Source:
https://www.marinersmuseum.org/sites/micro/women/goingtosea/pirates.htm
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-chinese-female-pirate-who-commanded-80000-outlaws
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/krystyna-chojnowska-liskiewicz-famous-explorers-of-the-world.html