Charlotte de Berry

Charlotte de Berry is today remembered as a Caribbean Sea female pirate only through the secondhand stories written about her life, and many historians have great concerns about their accuracy and truthfulness. As the first mentions in popular culture surfaced in 1836, exactly 200 years after her supposed birth, many believe that her life is entirely fictional.

According to the short tale written in Edward Lloyd's books "History of the Pirates," Charlotte de Berry was born in England. She fell in love with a sailor during her teens, and against her parents' will, she escaped with him to the sea. Dressed as a man, Charlotte fought beside her husband as an equal. Sadly, one of the officers aboard her ship took a liking to her and was determined to make her his at any cost. He constantly sent Charlotte's husband into the most difficult situations, but her courage and skill in combat always kept him alive. In the end, the evil officer accused her husband of mutiny and managed to sentence him to flogging. The flogging's execution went with the officer's wishes, and Charlotte's husband quickly died from his wounds. Enraged by his death, Charlotte swore for revenge and successfully killed the evil officer when they reached first port.

Again dressed as a man, she continued her work as a sailor, but her luck did not favor her when she became abducted and forced to marry the ruthless captain of a merchant ship. During their journey to Africa, the captain became so ruthless that Charlotte managed to stir a mutiny and her election as a captain. During the next few years, she operated successfully as a pirate captain, even managing to fell in love and married one crew member. Tragic fate again hit her when they all became marooned on a small island. When their hunger reached the tipping point, the entire crew picked straws to see which one of them will be killed for the food. Sadly, her husband was elected, and Charlotte fell into depression. Soon after they were rescued by the Dutch ship, Charlotte elected not to live anymore and caster herself into the sea to join her husband in the afterlife.

Although Edward Lloyd intended this story to be believable, many readers and historians dismissed it as fiction. In the years following her 1836 story debut, Charlotte de Berry's appeared in several other books, but mostly as a retelling of Lloyd's tale.