Sarah Forbes Bonetta

Sarah Forbes Bonetta or Sally Forbes Bonetta (born Aina or Ina; – 15 August 1880)

Early life Lithograph of Forbes Bonetta, after a drawing by Frederick E. Forbes, from his 1851 book Dahomey and the Dahomans; being the journals of two missions to the king of Dahomey, and residence at his capital, in the year 1849 and 1850

Originally named Aina (or Ina), The Kingdom of Dahomey was under subjugation by Oyo, and it was a historical enemy of the Yoruba people. The Oyo Empire began to disintegrate by the 1830s, fragmenting Yorubaland into various small states. Dahomey's army subsequently began to expand eastwards into Oyo's former Yewa territory, capturing slaves in the process.

Captain Forbes at Dahomey In July 1850, Captain Frederick E. Forbes of the Royal Navy arrived in West Africa on a British diplomatic mission, where he unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate with Ghezo to end Dahomey's participation in the slave trade.

During his visit, Forbes witnessed the Annual Customs of Dahomey – a series of human sacrifice rituals in which captives were executed at the graves of Dahomey's deceased nobility. Forbes attempted to intervene and negotiate with Ghezo during the ritual, including attempts to stop the executions. Ghezo eventually allowed Forbes to bargain for some of the captives. However, Ghezo's interpreters clarified that the custom could not be discontinued without dishonouring the Dahomey people.

Among the captives was Aina, who had been designated for sacrifice. Forbes intervened on her behalf, assuring Ghezo that Queen Victoria would not honour a king who would kill a child. Ghezo then offered her to Forbes as a gift for Victoria. Forbes accepted, noting in his journal that to refuse "would have been to have signed her death-warrant, which probably would have been carried into execution forthwith."

Although her actual ancestry is unknown, Forbes believed Aina to be of high-status origin, citing the tribal markings on her face and the fact that she had not been sold to European slave traders. In his journal he described her as one of "the best born", reserved for "the high behests of royalty and the immolation on the tombs of the deceased nobility".

Queen Victoria Captain Forbes renamed her Sarah Forbes Bonetta, after himself and his ship HMS Bonetta. Forbes initially intended to raise her himself. However, Sarah was later taken to meet Queen Victoria.

In 1851, Sarah developed a chronic cough, which was attributed to the climate of Great Britain. Her guardians sent her to school in Africa in May of that year, when she was aged eight. who lived at Palm Cottage, Canterbury Street Gillingham. The house survives. In January 1862, she was invited to and attended the wedding of Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Alice.

Marriage and children

She was later commanded by the Queen to marry Captain James Pinson Labulo Davies at St Nicholas' Church in Brighton, East Sussex, in August 1862, after a period spent in the town preparing for the wedding. During her subsequent time in Brighton, she lived at 17 Clifton Hill in the Montpelier area.

Captain Davies was a Yoruba businessman of considerable wealth, and after their wedding the couple moved back to their native Africa, where they had three children: Victoria Davies (1863), Arthur Davies (1871), and Stella Davies (1873). Following the births, she began to work as a teacher. Bonetta's second daughter Stella Davies and Herbert Macaulay, the grandson of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, had a daughter together: Sarah Abigail Idowu Macaulay Adadevoh, named after her maternal grandmother Sarah and her paternal grandmother Abigail.

Death and legacy Sarah Forbes Bonetta died of tuberculosis on 15 August 1880 The inscription on the obelisk reads: A plaque commemorating Forbes Bonetta was placed on Palm Cottage in 2016, as part of the television series Black and British: A Forgotten History. A newly commissioned portrait of Forbes Bonetta by artist Hannah Uzor went on display at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight in October 2020 as part of an effort by English Heritage to recognise black history in England. She has also been painted by Joy Labinjo. Forbes Bonetta was portrayed by Zaris-Angel Hator in the 2017 British ITV television series Victoria. Victoria Princewill, the British novelist, has written a coming-of-age novel based on Bonetta's life, called The Diary of Sarah Forbes Bonetta.

A mural of Bonetta was included in a series of murals displayed in Gillingham between 2022 and 2023 as part of Medway Libraries' Circle of Six project.

Gallery