Mary Read

Mary Read from England. Little we know about this lady who lived at the turn of the 17th and 18th century. When in her early twenties she was a sailor on a big Dutch armed trading ship. In order to survive in this man's world Mary dressed and acted as a man. One day on a journey in the Caribbean, their ship was attacked by pirates from captain John Rackham. Many sailors on both sides died and the pirates captain took a number of Dutch prisoners on his ship as replacement for his own fallen men. Among this bunch of prisoners was Mary Read.
She quickly adapted to the pirate's life. She became very close with Ann Bonny, the captain's mistress and for years they spread terror on the Caribbean.
But ones enemy never rests and one day they ran into an ambush, set up by a traitor named Pew and were captured by the British Navy. All pirates were hung, except for the two ladies who both happened to be pregnant at that time. They weren’t killed, though Mary would never breath free air again. She died a few month after the execution of captain Rackham while giving birth to a daughter, Elisa.
More information about her short life can be found in the book A general history of the robberies & murders of the most notorious pyrates, by captain Charles Johnson. Published in 1724 in London.

Series Barbe-Rouge, © Dargaud 2004
For the Dutch edition, series Roodbaard, © Dargaud 2004
The series Barbe-Rouge was originally created by Jean-Michel Charlier and Victor Hubinon
Artwork taken from album 34, Het geheim van Elisa Davis 2 (Le secret d'Elisa Davies, tome 2)

Writer: Christian Perrissin. Artwork: Marc Bourgne. Coloring: Jean-Jacques en Yves Chagnaud

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