John Rackham (hanged 18 November 1720), perhaps known as Calico Jack, was a

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

captain operating in the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

during the early 18th century. Rackham was active in 1720, towards the end of the " Golden Age of Piracy". He is most remembered for having two female pirate crew members: Mary Read and Anne Bonny. Rackham's life prior to piracy is unknown. He first appears in records around August 1720 after stealing merchant John Ham's sloop from Nassau harbor. After a short run, Rackham was captured by Jonathan Barnet, a former English privateer. Rackham was put on trial by Sir Nicholas Lawes, Governor of Jamaica, and hanged on the 18th of November that year in Port Royal,

Early life

Little is known of Rackham's upbringing or early life. The surname Rackham is English in origin, and many Rackham's are recorded in the

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

and

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

region of England. During his short fight with Jonathan Barnet, Rackham said he was "Of Cuba" which could mean born in Cuba, lived in Cuba, frequented Cuba, or simply was sailing from Cuba. Unlike his associates Anne Bonny and Mary Read, no description was given during his trial. Prior to August 1720, its difficult to say anything definitive about John Rackhams early life.

Early life according to ''A General History of the Pyrates''

Captain Charles Johnson Captain Charles Johnson was the British author of the 1724 book ''A General History of the Pyrates, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates'', whose identity remains a mystery. No record exists of a captain b ...

claims Rackham began his pirate career as a

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land army, armies, a quartermaster is an officer who supervises military logistics, logistics and requisitions, manages stores or barracks, and distri ...

on Charles Vane's

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Ol ...

''Ranger'', operating out of New Providence island in the Bahamas, which had been a notorious " pirates nest" since 1713. Vane and his crew robbed several ships outside New York City, then encountered a large French man-of-war. The ship was at least twice as large as Vane's brigantine, and it immediately pursued them. Vane commanded a retreat from battle, claiming caution as his reason. Jack Rackham quickly spoke up and contested the decision, suggesting that they fight the man-of-war because it would have plenty of riches. In addition, he argued, if they captured the ship, it would place a much larger ship at their disposal. Of the approximately ninety-one men on the ship, only fifteen supported Vane in his decision. Vane declared that the captain's decision is considered final and despite the overwhelming support for Rackham's cry to fight they fled the man-of-war. On 24 November 1718, Rackham called a vote in which the men branded Vane a coward and removed him from the captaincy, making Rackham the next captain. Rackham gave Vane and his fifteen supporters the other ship in the fleet, along with a decent supply of ammunition and goods. According to Charles Vanes trial transcript, a crew vote did occur leading to his ouster. However the quartermaster is unnamed, making it unclear if Rackham was actually associated with Vane.

Pirate career

Despite claims from A General History, John Rackham does not appear to have been a pirate before August 1720. He is not listed on Vincent Pearse's list of pardoned pirates, nor does any newspaper mention him by name. It all likelihood, Rackham was not even a pirate until the year 1720.

Pirate career according to A General History

According to Captain Charles Johnson, in 1719 Rackham sailed into Nassau in the Bahamas, taking advantage of a general amnesty for pirates to obtain a royal pardon and commission from Governor Woodes Rogers. Rogers had been sent to the Bahamas to address the problem of pirates in the Caribbean who had started to attack and steal from British ships. In December, he captured the merchant ship ''Kingston''. The ''Kingston'' had a rich cargo, and promised to be a big score for Rackham and his crew. Unfortunately for him, the ''Kingston'' had been taken within sight of Port Royal, where outraged merchants outfitted bounty hunters to go after him. They caught up with him in February 1719, while his ship and the ''Kingston'' were anchored at Isla de los Pinos off Cuba. Rackham and most of his men were on shore at the time, escaping capture by hiding in the woods, but their ship and rich trophy were taken away. In reality the ''Kingston'' was stolen by Captain Joseph Thompson and not John Rackham. Rackham and his men were at a town in Cuba refitting their small sloop when a Spanish warship charged with patrolling the Cuban coast entered the harbour, along with a small English sloop which they had captured. The Spanish warship saw the pirates but could not get at them at low tide, so they anchored in the harbour entrance to wait for morning. That night, Rackham and his men rowed over to the captured English sloop and overpowered the Spanish guards there. As dawn broke, the warship began blasting Rackham's old ship, now empty, as Rackham and his men silently sailed past in their new prize. Rackham and his men made their way back to Nassau, where they appeared before Governor Rogers and asked for the royal pardon, claiming that Vane had forced them to become pirates. Rogers hated Vane and chose to believe them, granting them the pardon and allowing them to stay. Their time as honest men, however, did not last long.

Anne Bonny

A General History claims after taking the pardon, Rackham began an affair with a woman named Anne Bonny. Johnson claims Bonny had come to Nassau with her husband, and two became pirates shortly after. Bonny is referred to as a spinster in her trial making this claim unlikely. What relationship Bonny had with Rackham, and why they decided to become pirates, is unclear. On the 22nd of August, Rackham, Bonny, and a crew including another woman, Mary Read, stole the merchant sloop ''William'' owned by the Leeward Island merchant and former pirate John Ham. Rackham managed to escape Nassau harbor with ease, beginning a short pirate career.

Capture, trial and death

Proclamation from Woodes Rogers naming Jack Rackham and crew as pirates

In September 1720, Bahamian Governor Woodes Rogers issued a proclamation declaring Rackham and his crew pirates—although it was not published in the American Colonies until October 1720. After publication of the warrant, Rackham continued his spree, capturing numerous small fishing vessels and terrorizing fishermen along the northern Jamaican coastline. In mid October, former privateer Jonathan Barnet and a captain named Bonadvis left

in two trading sloops. Rackham and his crew had been sailing west, towards Negril. On October 22, 1720 Rackham's sloop was laid at anchor and fired a gun which caught the attention of Bonadvis' sloop. Bonadvis reported this to Barnet who sailed to investigate the sloop. At 10 PM Barnet called out to the sloop and inquired who they were. The reply was "John Rackham from Cuba" and Barnet immediately ordered him to strike his colors. Someone (Barnet testified that because of it being so dark he could not identify who) replied, "We shall strike no strike" and fired a swivel gun at Barnet's sloop. Barnet ordered a broadside which destroyed the boom on Rackham's ship and his crew called for quarter. Barnet had the men put ashore at Davis's Cove near Lucea, Jamaica, where Major Richard James, a militia officer, placed them under arrest. Rackham and his crew were brought to

Spanish Town Spanish Town (Jamaican Patois: Spain) is the capital and the largest town in the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica, St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica, Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and Briti ...

, Jamaica, in November 1720, where they were tried and convicted of piracy and sentenced to be hanged. Rackham was executed in Port Royal on 18 November 1720. According to writer James Knight, Rackham was beheaded and his head was

gibbet Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of criminals were hanged on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. Occasionally, the gibbet () was also used as a method of public ex ...

ed on a very small cay at the main entrance to Port Royal now known as Rackham's Cay.

Fate of his crew

Anne Bonny and Mary Read both claimed to be pregnant at their trials, ten days after Rackham's execution, and so were given a temporary stay. Whether they were actually pregnant is debatable. Read died in April 1721, cause unknown. There is no historical record of Bonny's release or of her execution. George Fetherston (Master), Richard Corner (Quarter-Master), John Davis, and John Howell were executed along with Jack Rackham in Port Royal. Patrick Carty, Thomas Earl, James Dobbin and Noah Harwood were executed the next day in Kingston. Nine men who had been caught drinking with Rackham's crew (John Eaton, Edward Warner, Thomas Baker, Thomas Quick, John Cole, Benjamin Palmer, Walter Rouse, John Hanson, and John Howard) were tried and convicted on 24 January 1721. On 17 February John Eaton, Thomas Quick and Thomas Baker were executed at Gallows Point, at Port Royal, and the next day John Cole, John Howard and Benjamin Palmer, were executed at Kingston. The fate of the remaining three (Edward Warner, Walter Rouse and John Hanson) is unknown.

Crossed Swords Jolly Roger

The flag commonly associated with Rackham depicts a white skull above crossed swords on a black background, and Rackham is sometimes credited with inventing or designing the Jolly Roger design. At trial, however, no witness described Rackham ever using such a flag, only noting that his sloop flew "a white pendant" ( pennon). The skull-and-crossed-swords design likely dates to the early 20th century, and attaching it to Calico Jack can be traced to a 1959 book by Hans Leip, ''Bordbuch des Satans''.