John Rackham, better known as Calico Jack, was an English pirate captain who operated in the Bahamas and Cuba during the latter years of the “Golden Age of Piracy.” While his career was relatively short and he was never considered one of the most successful pirates in terms of plunder, his legacy has far outlasted his own life. He is primarily famous for two reasons: his iconic Jolly Roger flag design and for having two of the most famous female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, as part of his crew.

Name: John Rackham (Rackam)

Date of birth: December 26, 1682

Date of death: November 18, 1720 (aged 37)

Place of birth: England (exact location unknown)

Family:

• Spouse’s Name: Anne Bonny. While Anne was married to another sailor, James Bonny, she and Rackham had a relationship and lived as husband and wife.
• Children’s Names: He had one known child with Anne Bonny, though the child’s fate is unknown.

Profession: Pirate Captain

Nationality: English

Biography and What Famous For: Little is known of John Rackham’s early life before he became a pirate. He first appears in historical records as a quartermaster for the pirate Captain Charles Vane in 1718. Rackham grew tired of Vane’s leadership, particularly his decision to flee from a heavily armed French warship. Branding Vane a coward, Rackham led a vote that deposed Vane and was subsequently elected as the new captain.

Rackham earned his nickname “Calico Jack” due to his preference for wearing brightly colored calico clothing. His fame, however, comes less from his fashion sense and more from his associations. While in the pirate haven of Nassau, he began an affair with Anne Bonny, the wife of a sailor who worked for the governor. When their affair was discovered, Rackham and Bonny escaped together, stealing a sloop named the William and returning to a life of piracy, thus nullifying Rackham’s recent pardon.

What made Rackham’s crew legendary was the inclusion of not one, but two female pirates. Mary Read, who had spent much of her life disguised as a man to serve in the British military, was captured by Rackham’s crew and, upon revealing her true identity, was welcomed into their ranks. Both Anne Bonny and Mary Read proved to be as fierce and capable in combat as any of the male pirates, earning the respect of the crew and solidifying the ship’s infamous reputation.

Calico Jack’s career was not marked by the capture of massive treasure ships like some of his contemporaries. His crew primarily targeted smaller merchant vessels and fishing boats along the coasts of Jamaica and Cuba.

Capture and Death: In October 1720, the Governor of Jamaica commissioned pirate hunter Captain Jonathan Barnet to capture Rackham and his crew. Barnet surprised them at Bry Harbour Bay in Jamaica, where Rackham’s crew was reportedly celebrating a recent prize and were too drunk to put up a fight. Accounts from the time claim that only Anne Bonny and Mary Read offered any real resistance.

The entire crew was captured and taken to Spanish Town, Jamaica, for trial. On November 18, 1720, Calico Jack and the male members of his crew were found guilty of piracy and hanged in Port Royal. As a warning to other pirates, Rackham’s body was gibbeted (hung in a cage) on a small cay at the entrance to the harbor, which is still known today as Rackham’s Cay.

Anne Bonny and Mary Read were also sentenced to hang, but they both avoided execution by revealing they were pregnant. Mary Read died in prison shortly after from a fever, but Anne Bonny’s ultimate fate remains a mystery. According to legend, Bonny’s last words to Rackham were, “I am sorry to see you here, but if you had fought like a man, you needn’t be hanged like a dog.”