Page 73 - All About History - Issue 54-17

Regency women

Ching Shih was arguably
one of the most successful
Sarah Moore pirates in history

Grimké

26 November 1792 — 23 December 1873
From her early teens, Sarah fearlessly fought
slavery with education

When a young South Carolinian girl called Sarah watched her brother
receiving a full classical education, she wondered why she couldn’t
enjoy the same privilege. She shared his ambition of becoming a
lawyer, but instead she was tutored in the ways of a lady, with an
emphasis on more dainty pursuits.
But Sarah longed to do more and as a teenager she secretly tutored
the family slaves, teaching them to read despite it being against the
law to do so. Left at home when her brother went to Yale University,
she immersed herself in books, training herself to be a lawyer despite
what society may think.
When Sarah’s brother died, she learned that he had fathered three
children by a slave and raised them as her own. She became a loud Ching Shih enforced a
and proud abolitionist, yet found herself shunned by members of her rigid code of conduct,
particularly with regards
Quaker community who didn’t think much of this noisy, opinionated to prisoners. Rulebreakers
woman. But Sarah wouldn’t be silenced, writing and speaking were punished harshly
extensively in favour of abolition.
Soon she was speaking out for women, too, challenging the
Quakers to practise what they preached and allow women to join
the clergy. To Sarah, life wasn’t about master and slave, nor man and
woman, but equality for all.
Ching Shih

When she was 12
years old, Sarah began
to spend her Sunday
afternoons teaching
Bible classes to her
parents’ slaves
1775-1844
Married into a pirate dynasty in 19th century China,
Ching Shih ruled the waves

When Ching Shih inherited her late husband’s business, she took to it like a
duck — or pirate — to water. She was working as a prostitute when she was
captured by pirate captain Cheng I. They hit it off and were soon married,
with Ching Shih becoming an enthusiastic member of the crew.
When her husband died in 1807, Ching Shih inherited command of his
pirate force. The Red Flag Fleet consisted of 300 ships crewed by more
than 30,000 men. It was one of the most formidable fleets ever to sail.
Ching Shih ruled with a rod of iron and everyone was expected to
follow the strict rules that she put in place. She seemed unstoppable and
out-sailed every force, both Chinese and international, that attempted to
take her down.
For Ching Shih, crime definitely paid. In 1810, she took advantage of an
amnesty to leave her nautical life behind and settle down as a rich woman.
She was allowed to keep her booty and lived in luxury for three more
decades as mistress of an upscale gambling establishment, a far cry from
her poverty-stricken early years.
rs
© Alamy
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