The Glorious Revolution of 1688
The ‘Glorious Revolution’, or de Glorieuze Overtocht in Dutch, is often called the Bloodless Revolution as there was very little bloodshed in England itself, although in Ireland it was a particularly bloody affair. Most ordinary people weren’t directly affected by the invasion as they had been during the Civil Wars (1642-52). In his book The King Over the Water, Desmond Steward said of it: “The events of 1688 were not so much a revolution as an aristocratic coup d’etat that ended in a one party state …” The events of 1688 were probably more significant politically for England than the Civil Wars as there were very few real changes to the system after the latter. Although William was invited to take the throne by some notable English figures, his arrival on British shores is still viewed by many as an invasion of England by the Dutch to remove a potential ally of Louis XIV of France.…
Mary Read
Often overshadowed by her fellow pirate Ann Bonny, Mary Read is still better-known than many pirates with more successful pirating careers. Read and Bonny stood out because it was unusual at the beginning of the 18th century for a woman to be part of a pirate crew. Pirates, like all seamen, generally frowned upon a woman’s presence aboard a ship. Not so much is really known about Read’s early life, the main source being her trial documents, newspaper articles, and Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates. According to Johnson, Read’s unnamed mother is said to have been married to a seaman, who went to sea and never returned. Her first child, a son, died, but she then gave birth to Mary out of wedlock. One theory is that Mary’s mother was Ann Cantrell, who is recorded as sending a letter to Adam Baldridge, a smuggler and ex-privateer on Madagascar, laying claim to some money that her husband, a pirate called John Read, who died on Madagascar some time prior to 1698, had entrusted to Baldridge.…
