John Rackham was hanged in Jamaica in 1720 after Captain Jonathan Barnet captured him.
Rackham is better known by his nickname, Calico Jack. He commanded a small crew in the Caribbean and is especially remembered because Anne Bonny and Mary Read were members of his crew. Their presence made the trial and later accounts of Rackham unusually famous.
In October 1720, Barnet, a privateer operating under authority from the governor of Jamaica, attacked Rackham’s vessel near the northern coast of Jamaica. Rackham and most of his crew were captured. Contemporary accounts say that Bonny and Read fought while many of the male pirates were incapacitated, though some details come from later retellings.
Rackham was tried and executed at Port Royal on 18 November 1720. His body was displayed at Rackham’s Cay, later associated with the name Rackham’s Cay. He is often confused with Charles Vane, whose former quartermaster he had been and whose execution took place the following year.