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The Trials of Rackham's Company

Vice-Admiralty proceedings at St Jago de la Vega that tried John Rackham's company (16 to 17 November 1720) and, separately, Mary Read and Anne Bonny (28 November 1720).

FromNovember 1720Also writtenRackham trials; The Tryals of Captain John Rackam

The sittings that hanged John Rackham's company ran at St Jago de la Vega (Spanish Town), the seat of the Jamaica Vice-Admiralty court, under Governor Sir Nicholas Lawes. Rackham and his male crew were tried on 16 and 17 November 1720. Mary Read and Anne Bonny were tried on 28 November. All of it survives in one printed pamphlet, The Tryals of Captain John Rackam and other Pirates, printed at Spanish Town in 1721.4,7

The capture that filled the dock came late in October 1720. Governor Lawes' contemporary letter suggests about 30 October. The frequently cited date of 22 October appears to come from the Negril men joining Rackham, not from the seizure itself.3

Both trials turned on the same four articles, one for each taking of the cruise: the seven fishing boats off Harbour Island about 3 September, the two merchant sloops off Hispaniola about 1 October, Thomas Spenlow's schooner off Porto Maria Bay on 19 October, and Thomas Dillon's sloop the Mary off Dry Harbour Bay on 20 October. The men were convicted on the third and fourth articles. So were the women. The court applied a broad test: armed presence aboard a pirate sloop, willingly, was treated as proof enough.2,4

The executions came in three batches. On Friday 18 November 1720, five men hanged at Gallows Point, Port Royal: Rackham, George Fetherston, Richard Corner, John Davies and John Howell. The bodies of the first three were hung in chains at Plumb Point, Bush Key and Gun Key. The next day, four more hanged at Kingston: Noah Harwood, James Dobbin, Patrick Carty and Thomas Earl. On the Monday following, Thomas Brown alias Bourn and John Fenwick hanged at Gallows Point. That is eleven men, and it reconciles Governor Lawes' report of 28 December 1720 exactly: "Rackum the Pirate and ten more have been tryed and executed". The ten are the eight convicted of Rackham's own crew, plus Brown and Fenwick, all within November. A separate group of nine, charged with going over to Rackham near Negril, were tried later, in January 1721.5,6

The women's trial on 28 November was the same court, the same articles and much of the same testimony. Dorothy Thomas, the two French prisoners and Thomas Dillon described Read and Bonny armed, in men's clothes when giving chase and women's clothes otherwise, handing gunpowder, cursing, and acting "of their own Free-Will and Consent". Both were convicted and sentenced to hang. Both prisoners then informed the court "that they were both quick with Child", and the court ordered execution respited "and that an Inspection should be made". Mary Read died in custody and was buried on 28 April 1721.7,8,9,10

The trial is a good record of rules and a poor one of arguments. It fixes dates, vessels, values and verdicts, and says almost nothing about how the accused answered for themselves.

The Tryals is the only contemporary printed account of these sittings, and it stops at the order. What the inspection found, whether either woman was reprieved, and what became of Anne Bonny are not in it, and neither is the day of the capture that filled the dock.

What the evidence does not settle

Outcome of the pregnancy inspection

  • The outcome of the ordered inspection of the womenConfirmed

Date of the capture

  • The capture preceding the trial is not dated in the printVery likely

Each line is one question with its own grade, taken from the register where a claim carries it. Nothing here is graded as a whole.

Sources for this record

Every statement above that rests on a checked claim carries a small number; the numbers lead here. Each entry gives what is claimed, how far the record supports it, and where it comes from.

  1. Rackham's company stole the sloop William, about twelve tons, owner John Ham, out of Nassau harbour on 22 August 1720, with Anne Bonny and Mary Read aboard. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Proclamation (via contemporary reprint): Woodes Rogers' proclamation, reprinted in the Boston Gazette 10-17 October 1720; known from later carriers; the original issue is not in evidence
  2. The 1721 indictments charge four takings: seven fishing boats off Harbour Island (about 3 September), two merchant sloops off Hispaniola (about 1 October), Thomas Spenlow's schooner off Porto Maria Bay (19 October), and Thomas Dillon's sloop the Mary off Dry Harbour Bay (20 October). Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Trial record: The Tryals of Captain John Rackam (1721), men's Articles I-IV and the women's Articles I-IV
  3. Barnet's sloop took the William off western Jamaica near Negril Point in late October 1720. Governor Lawes' letter of 13 November 1720 suggests a capture around 30 October; the frequently cited 22 October is the date the Negril men are charged with going over to Rackham, not a capture date, and the print does not date the seizure. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Correspondence and trial record: Lawes to London, 13 November 1720, CSP Colonial vol 32 item 288; The Tryals (1721) marked p32
  4. Rackham and his male crew were tried at St Jago de la Vega on 16 and 17 November 1720 and found guilty on the third and fourth articles. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial record: The Tryals of Captain John Rackam, and other Pirates (Jamaica: printed by Robert Baldwin, 1721), the men's trial of 16 and 17 November 1720
  5. Rackham was hanged at Gallows Point, Port Royal, on Friday 18 November 1720; the bodies of Rackham, Fetherston and Corner were hung in chains at Plumb Point, Bush Key and Gun Key. The print does not record a beheading, refuting that variant. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial record: The Tryals (1721), executions passage, marked p15
  6. Eleven men were executed in November 1720 (five on 18 November at Gallows Point, four on 19 November at Kingston, two on the following Monday), reconciling Lawes' report that "Rackum the Pirate and ten more have been tryed and executed": Rackham plus eight of his crew, plus Thomas Brown alias Bourn and John Fenwick. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial record and correspondence: The Tryals (1721), executions passage; Lawes to London, 28 December 1720, CSP Colonial vol 32 item 340
  7. Mary Read and Anne Bonny were tried at St Jago de la Vega on 28 November 1720, pleaded not guilty, and were found guilty on the third and fourth articles and sentenced to death. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial record: The Tryals of Captain John Rackam, and other Pirates... As Also, the Tryals of Mary Read and Anne Bonny, alias Bonn (Jamaica: printed by Robert Baldwin, 1721), the women's trial of 28 November 1720
  8. Dorothy Thomas deposed that the two women wore "Mens Jackets, and long Trouzers, and Handkerchiefs tied about their Heads", that each "had a Machet and Pistol in their Hands", and that they "cursed and swore at the Men, to murther the Deponent"; she knew them for women "by the largeness of their Breasts". Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial testimony: The Tryals (1721), Dorothy Thomas deposition, marked p18
  9. The French prisoners John Besneck and Peter Cornelian testified that the women were "very active on Board, and willing to do any Thing", that Ann Bonny "handed Gun-powder to the Men", and that they did not seem detained by force "but of their own Free-Will and Consent". No witness reported either woman firing a gun or fighting hand to hand. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial testimony: The Tryals (1721), Besneck and Cornelian, marked p18
  10. After sentence both women informed the court "that they were both quick with Child", and the court ordered execution respited "and that an Inspection should be made". The print records the order but no outcome: no inspection result, no reprieve and no later hearing of the two women. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Trial record: The Tryals of Captain John Rackam, and other Pirates... As Also, the Tryals of Mary Read and Anne Bonny, alias Bonn (Jamaica: printed by Robert Baldwin, 1721), marked p19