Samuel Bellamy-Samual Bellamy, later to be called "Black Bellamy", was known to be one of the most active freebooters. As legend has it that he was a young English sailor, who traveled to the new world colonies to seek his fortune. He found a wealthy sponsor to finance an expedition South, to search for sunken Spanish treasure. This proved to be unsuccessful, and Bellamy returned home empty-handed, and married.
Maurycy Beniowski-Count Maurycy Beniowski (also known as Baron Maurice de Benyowski) was born in Poland to a noble family. At that time Poland was partitioned into three parts, Beniowski was born in the Russian part. As a youngster he took part in the Polish uprising to liberate Poland from the Russian rule (Konfederacja Barska) and after being captured by Russians was sent into exile to Siberia. However he managed to escape and after some tumultuous years he found himself leading an armed expedition headed toward Madagascar.
Stede Bonnet-One of the sea’s strangest, and most unlikely pirates, from the Virginia coast. He was originally a high ranking individual, known as Major Stede Bonnet. Bonnet came from an upright English family. He himself possessed a liberal education, and was known to be "a man of Letters". In his middle age he seemingly had everything needed in life to settle down, and live a comfortable life of a successful planter. His sugar plantation brought him reasonable wealth, and he found himself among the best society of Bridgetown on the island of Barbados
Anne Bonny-The exact date of Anne Bonny’s birth is not known, but it is believed that she was born illegitimately in County Cork, Ireland between 1697 and 1700 to the maid, Mary Brennen, who was in her father’s employ. Her father, William Cormac, had a legal practice in Kinsale that was ruined when his current wife made his adulterous affair public, and he was forced to leave Ireland in shame. Deciding to make a new start in a new world, William Cormac, along with the maid, Mary Brennan, and his baby daughter, Anne, traveled together to America. The little family settled around Charleston, South Carolina, which had a large shipping community at the time, and William, after presenting Mary Brennan to polite society as his wife and Anne as his legitimate daughter, started his legal practice again there.
Francis Drake-Sir Francis Drake was born around 1540 as the son of a puritan farmer and preacher. He taught himself the art of sailing as the navigator of a small merchant sail vessel. Later in the beginning of his career, he served as an officer aboard West African slave ships.In 1572 Drake was equipped with 2 ships and 73 sailors by his cousin Hawkins, and his associates. Queen Elizabeth also commissioned Drake as a privateer, to sail for America. In 25 days Drake crossed the Atlantic and found himself in the Caribbean Sea. After an unsuccessful attack on the Spanish port Nombre de Dios (today’s Nicaragua), Drake started to make new plans on plundering a Spanish caravan transporting gold.
William Kidd-One of the most well known Pirates of all times was Captain Kidd, who had originally been employed to rid the seas of pirates.Kidd was born around 1645 (the exact date is unknown). He found employment as an English Privateer who found such success in New York and the West Indies that he was called back to serve England. The King’s officers asked Kidd to captain a new powerful ship: the Adventure Galley. The Adventure Galley was equipped with 34 cannons and a crew of 80. Its mission was to capture all French ships, and the pirates of Madagascar. Kidd accepted the proposition.
Mary Read-Mary Read was born in London, England in the late seventeenth century to the wife of a sea captain. Some historical documents claim that Mary Read was disguised as a boy so that her father would believe that she was his son, whom had died while Mary’s father was at sea, asserting that Mary Read was supposedly the by-product of an illicit affair that her mother had engaged in with an unknown man. Other documents state that Mary’s mother was a widow, and simply wished for her daughter to have all of the advantages offered to a man. Either way, history agrees that Mary Read lived her entire childhood as a boy.