The Resume

(1584-July 26, 1659)
Born in Barbican Estate, London, United Kingdom
Legendary vagabond
Member of London’s criminal underworld
Famous for wearing men’s clothing
Subject of the Dekker play ‘The Roaring Girl’ (1611)
Main biographical source is ‘The Life and Death of Mrs. Mary Frith’ (1662)

Why she might be annoying:

She was foul-mouthed.
She was a renowned pickpocket (hence the name).
She was a pimp, madame and a go-between for hookers.
She allegedly rode horseback through the streets of London in men’s clothes on a bet, wielding a trumpet and banner.
The scene caused a riot in the streets after she was quickly recognized, with some of the crowd clamoring for her to be pulled from the horse and others cheering her on.
Much of the historical material relating to her life is either embellished, myth or invented.
Legend claims that, during the English Civil War, she held up Royalist leader General Thomas Fairfax in his carriage and then shot him in the arm when he refused to cooperate (she was in her fifties!).
She allegedly asked to be buried face down, bearing her backside to the world, as a defiant gesture.

Why she might not be annoying:

She was orphaned as a child.
Her uncle tried to have her kidnapped and put on a ship to America, but she escaped.
She was arrested for performing onstage in men’s clothing at the Fortune Theater.
She is said to be the first woman in England to have smoked tobacco.
She owned two mastiffs, in her later years, whom she pampered.
She probably inspired Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders.
She spent her life in and out of prison, including a sentence at Bethlem Hospital, and was burnt on her hands.
John Milton wrote the epitaph on her gravestone (which was later destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666).

Credit: BoyWithTheGreenHair

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Alleged Hermaphrodites
• Asexuals
• BoyWiththeGreenHair’s Profiles [Series 24]
• Celebrity Restaurant Owners
• Criminals
• Fashion Role Models
• Female Cigar Smokers
• I Died in Debt
• I Have a Heart Murmur
• I was Adopted or Orphaned
• I was Kidnapped
• Look at Me, I'm Wearing a Ruffled Collar
• Look at Me, I've Been Caught Smoking
• Look at Me, My Picture Is Art
• Man's World
• Mastiff Owners
• Nobody Told Me I'm Old
• People with John or Mary in their Names
• Philosophers: 20th Century [1900-2000]
• Pimps and Madames
• Profiles 57251-57500 (Ranked: 57252)
• Psychics
• Renaissance Men (and Women)
• Satirists and Wits
• Shoplifters and Alleged Shoplifters
• Tomboys
• Whores and Johns

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 16 Votes: 62.50% Annoying