Calico Jack

And now we come to the final three, the big three, in the characters of Pirate Queens.  And to start the the end we take look at Captain John Rackham, better known as Calico Jack.  Very little is know of Jack's early days, other than he earned the nickname "Calico" thanks to the garish and calico clothing he was known to wear.  Other than that we know almost nothing about him before an incident on the pirate ship Ranger, a ship captained Charles Vane.  Vane was a cruel and hateful man that kept company with the likes of Blackbeard, he was one of the most notorious captains that sailed the Bahamas.  And Rackham was his quartermaster.

According to the few texts that are written about him at this time, Jack was a loyal man to Vane, even when the captain undertook actions that were not always to the betterment of the ship and crew.  That is until a fateful day when the Ranger came face-to-face with a French man-o-war on the open sea.  Although the Ranger, a sloop, was smaller than the French naval ship, they knew the crew of the pirate ship was greater than what the man-o-war was carrying, but Vane called a retreat, sighting caution as his reason.  But Jack protested this action.  Although the sloop was faster, the heavy guns of the man-o-war could easily clear the distance between them, also he knew a French ship that size was sure to be laden with much needed supplies.  In Jack's mind, if they ran they were dead.

Of the ninety men that sailed on the Ranger, only fifteen sided with Vane.  The crew mutinied against Vane and displaced him and Calico Jack became the captain.  This is where his story begins.

A French Man-o-War could carry up to 1,000 crewman onboard, a British sloop on the other hand, such as the Ranger, would only crew between 60-100 men

After disposing of Vane as the captain and taking on the mantle for himself, Rackham led the crew to victory against the French vessel.  He then placed Vane and his fifteen supporters in a long-boat and set them towards an island.  It was only out of respect for their old captain that they provided him and his "crew" with supplies they would need to survive.

When Jack did this, he unknowingly endeared himself to Woodes Rogers, the new governor of Nassau and the Bahamas.  Charles Vane was one of two pirates that Rogers was deeply concerned about.  It was believed that he had such notoriety among the pirates of the Caribbean that if he so chose to he could rally a small fleet of them together and sail on the British government in the Bahamas, thus starting a small war that Rogers quite frankly wasn't sure he could win.  When Calico Jack displaced Vane and took command of his vessel, he did Woodes Rogers a huge favor.  Now Rogers only had one captain left to concern himself with: Blackbeard.

Rackham's career as a pirate captain involved plundering small vessels that sailed the West Indies off the coast of Bermuda.  He was nowhere near as violent and bloodthirsty as his predecessor, and had a habit of calling for the crew's surrender immediately.  Should the crew of the ship surrender, Rackham and his men would take what they wanted from the cargo hold and then leave the crew and ship in peace after they were done plundering.  This led to Jack and his crew being able to take a ship without confrontation more often than not.  If a merchant crew could avoid becoming involved in a battle for a cargo that wasn't their property in the first place, then they would be happy to just let the pirates be (although some merchant vessels did employ a fighting crew for just such an occasion, hence Jack's meeting with Mary Read).

Because of his habit of not killing the people whom he robbed, and because of his displacing Vane and taking him out of power, Governor Rogers never seemed to hunt Rackham with the determination and single-mindedness that he had when pursuing others of his ilk, such as Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, or Holford.  Infact, Rogers eventually extended his hand to Rackham and offered the man and his crew a pardon, on the condition that he would either join Rogers' own navy (a navy that was built of numerous ex-pirates, such as Ben Hornigold), or give up the sailing life altogether.

Jack, for his part, actually considered the pardon, and went to the governor's mansion in Nassau to meet with Rogers and discuss the prospect.  More than likely Calico Jack would have taken the pardon, probably joined Rogers' navy, and become a privateer in the service of British navy, and that is where Rackham's story would have ended.  Or at least our knowledge of his story anyway.

But as it would be, fate stepped in and had other plans for Rackham.  While he was in midst of debating to take the pardon or not, he happened to be at Rogers' mansion on the same night as another sailor, James Bonny and, more importantly, his wife, Anne Bonny.  This is when Jack and Anne would have their fateful meeting, and after this history would be made.

What happens next?  Well, you'll have to see the show, won't you?  Please help make that happen!

The story of Anne and Mary, and to a lesser extent, Jack, is one that should be told.  Pirate Queens is an original play in three acts that entertained audiences at seated readings and now needs to be put on stage.  And we can do it with your help!

Please click on the link above and visit our GoFundMe page to see how you can help and how we will gladly reciprocate your generosity!  Also, visit the links below to learn more about this original work, Pirate Queens!