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Mary Lacy, born in 1740, left skirt and bonnet behind and
slipped into breeches and waistcoat at the age of 19, called herself "William
Chandler" (Chandler being her mother's maiden name). In 1763 she started an
apprenticeship in Portsmouth dockyard and received her shipwright's certificate
in 1770and went to sea aboard the Sandwich.
From our modern point of
view, it seems unbelievable that a young woman could have lived among sailors
for such a long time without being found out. But at the end of the day, Mary
was a sailor, too. She didn't pretend. When she was finally found out, it was
through betrayal by another woman, a "false friend", and surprisingly enough,
the men who were informed about the "lady in disguise" did nothing. There were
no consequences. It was merely noted, and that was it. And when Mary Lacy
resigned from the Navy through rheumatism, she was granted an annual pension
for "Superannuated Shipwrights" of £ 20 per year by the Admiralty,
despite giving her real name in the papers! There are reports of women
disguised as men who were punished and had to face harsh consequences for their
actions. The fact that this was not true in Mary Lacy's case is interesting -
maybe because her case wasn't that unique after all?
Mary mentions many
"romances" in her memoirs. From the distance of over 250 years, it's difficult
to tell how much of her flirting was to add credibility to her portrayal as a
young man, and how much was romantic interest in her own gender. Margarette
Lincoln, Deputy Director of the National Maritime Museum who wrote the
introduction to the small book, doesn't rule out that possibility. Judging by
the facts at hand, it seem perfectly plausible to me that Mary Lacy was
interested in both genders; after all she claimed an unhappy love affair with a
young man as one of the reasons why she ran away from home (beside being a real
wild child). Later in her life, she called herself "Mary Slade", claiming that
she had married some Mr. Slade - however, no proof of marriage can be found,
but she did live for with one Elizabeth Slade until that woman's death.
Mary Lacy lived a hard life, had to do heaviest manual work, was beaten
by her master, went without food at times and without shoes in winter, survived
the harshest conditions both ashore and at sea, and all this under the constant
pressure and fear that she might be found out.
Source:
http://joyfulmolly.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/real-kick-ass-women-ii-mary-lacy-1740-1795-female-shipwright/
Book:
The Female Shipwright by Margarette Lincoln National Maritime Museum Hardcover
144 pages ISBN: 9781906367015 |