| content | ||||||||||||
| Charlotte Badger | |
|---|---|
| c.1778 - ? | |
| Type: | Pirate |
| Years of service: | 1806-1808 |
| Base of Operations: | New Zealand |
Charlotte Badger (b 1778 - d in or after 1816)[1] is widely considered to be the first Australian female pirate[2] despite being from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. She was also one of the first two white female settlers in New Zealand.[3]
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Biography
Charlotte came from a poor family, and one day in 1796,[4] she stole several guineas and a silk handkerchief in an attempt to support them,[5] but was caught and arrested. She was sentenced to seven years penal servitude in New South Wales.[5] She served at the Parramatta female factory there, during which she gave birth to a daughter.[3]
In 1806, three years after the end of her sentence, she was travelling with her child aboard The Venus, with plans to become a servant[5], when she became involved in a mutiny, which was started due to the captain, Samuel Chase, flogging the women aboard for entertainment.[5] She and another convict, Catherine Hagerty, talked the men on board into seizing the ship, while the captain was ashore at Port Dalrymple in northern Tasmania.[6] Charlotte and Catherine and their lovers, John Lancashire and Benjamin Kelly[2] went to the Bay of Islands in the far north of New Zealand, where they settled at the pa at Rangihoua, but led very difficult lives.[6]
Some stories suggest that the other mutineers all fled but were eventually caught and hanged,[5] while others suggest that they went pirating after Charlotte, Catherine, John and Benjamin left, despite not knowing how to navigate the ship.[2] Then the Māori captured The Venus, and burned it to get at the scrap metal, and cooked the men on board.[2] Meanwhile, John and Benjamin were also recaptured and Catherine died of a fever.[6] Charlotte's fate remains a mystery, although it has been said that she lived with a minor chief at the Bay of Islands,[2] or that she was picked up by a passing American whaler on Vavau in the Tonga Group.[2]
References in media
- Charlotte Badger is the title and subject of a June 2007 workshop play performed by residents of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England in the back garden of a pub called the Hop Pole. Later in the year a successful stage play was performed at the Artrix.[7]
- In May 2008 a Facebook Group was establish called the Bromsgrove Charlotte Badger Society
References
- ^ "Oxford Dictionary entry of Charlotte Badger". Oxford University Press (2004). Retrieved on 2008-06-16.
- ^ a b c d e f "Pirate Roster A". David Stapleton (2003). Retrieved on 2008-06-16.
- ^ a b "History of Immigration to New Zealand". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved on 2008-06-16.
- ^ Journal of Lesbian Studies Published 1997 Haworth Press [1] Retrieved on 2008-06-16
- ^ a b c d e "Frontier of Dreams trivia site". tvnz.co.nz. Retrieved on 2008-06-16.
- ^ a b c "Swashbuckle - Real women pirates". Kelly Gardiner (2006). Retrieved on 2008-06-16.
- ^ "Notice of Charlotte Badger epic". www.hop-pole.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-16.
Further reading
- Charlotte Badger - Buccaneer by Angela Badger; Published 2002, isbsbooks. ISBN 0957873522
