Calico Jack Rackham Captured
We’re going to Port Royal, Jamaica, but this isn’t a Disney romp.
Today is October 20, 2017, and on this date, 297 Years Back, in 1720, Captain Calico Jack Rackham was was captured by pirate hunters.
Calico Jack was one of the most famous of the real-life pirates of the Caribbean who operated during the Golden Age of Piracy. While he was a successful pirate, his exploits are not all that notorious. Much of his fame came from his relationship with the female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Notably, he also altered the traditional skull and crossed bones of the traditional Jolly Roger to feature a skull and two crossed swords, a motif that remains popular to this day.
Rackham became the captain of the sloop Ranger in 1718 After deposing the former captain and labeling him a coward. Shortly after, he made the recently captured Kingston, a Jamaican ship, his flagship. His piracy was mainly limited to smaller vessels, which had less monetary value, but were safer to attack. On a few occasions he did lead his crew against much more impressive vessels.
Soon, though, in early 1719, he lost the Kingston to bounty hunters, but avoided capture by hiding in a forest on shore.
Then, Calico Jack met, and began an affair with Anne Bonny. They stole a ship and sailed away together, like a maritime Bonnie and Clyde, or Bonny and Jack, if you prefer.
In October of 1720, Rackham and his crew were officially declared pirates by the Governor of the Bahamas, and pirate hunters set out to capture them. Jonathan Barnet, a pirate hunter, working with former pirate Jean Bonadvis, attacked Rackham’s ship while at anchor, when Rackham and his crew were drinking with the crew of another vessel.
After a short fight, Rackham and his entire crew were captured, and taken to Spanish Town, Jamaica for trial.
Calico Jack was convicted of piracy, and he and most of his crew were executed on November 18, 1720 in Port Royal. Rackham’s corpse was the hanged for display on a gibbet on a small island in the harbor that is today called Rackham’s Cay.
Mary Read and Anne Bonny both avoided execution by claiming to be pregnant during their trials, a ploy that earned them a temporary stay until the truth could be ascertained. Mary Read was actually pregnant, and is believed to have died due to complications during childbirth the following April. Anne Bonny’s fate has become a mystery, as there are no records of her being released, escaping, or executed.
Thanks for listening, and be sure to check back tomorrow for the launch of one of the most impressive warships of its era.
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