Charlotte de Berry was born in England, in 1636. Growing up, she met a sailor, fell in love and married him. However, he was soon deployed by the Royal Navy and, unable to bear being apart from him, Charlotte disguised herself as a man and joined him, posing as his brother.

After fighting in some large battles with her husband, Charlotte de Berry’s true identity was then discovered by one of the ship’s officers. He kept this revelation to himself, however, as he secretly desired Charlotte for himself.

To get rid of her husband, the officer falsely accused him of attempting to start a mutiny, a crime for which he was flogged around the whole fleet. This punishment killed Charlotte de Berry’s husband.

After her husband’s untimely demise Charlotte rejected the officer’s approaches, killing him instead. She then went into entertainment, performing in coastal bars and taverns until a captain kidnapped her, forced her into marriage and then took her to Africa.

Somehow Charlotte convinced the crew to mutiny. After killing the captain in a duel she then took command of the ship and further convinced the crew to become pirates. Charlotte de Berry is then believed to have continued to dress as a man, perhaps as an attempt to to legitimise her captaincy. She also developed a reputation as a cruel and vicious adversary.

The facts of her death are uncertain but it is believed that she later married a wealthy Spaniard who had joined her crew of pirates. When their ship was sunk in a ferocious storm the crew escaped in rafts. After several days their food ran out so they chose ‘lots’ to decide who should die first in order to feed the others.

Unfortunately for Charlotte, her husband was the first to die, just before they were rescued by a passing merchant vessel. Straight after their rescue the merchant ship was attacked by pirates. Charlotte fought off the attackers then dived overboard to join her dead husband.

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