An extraordinary life: descendant welcomes biography of woman ‘gifted’ to Queen Victoria
Summary
Sarah Forbes Bonetta was a young African girl given to Queen Victoria by an African king in the 1800s. She was raised under royal care in England but was legally bound to the queen until she was 19. A new biography tells her story and reveals how her life was part of Britain’s wider colonial and anti-slavery agenda.Key Facts
- Sarah Forbes Bonetta was born in 1843 in southwest Nigeria as Àìná.
- Her family was killed in 1848 during an attack by King Ghezo of Dahomey’s forces.
- She was captured by the all-female military regiment of Dahomey and later taken to England by Frederick Forbes of the Royal Navy.
- Queen Victoria paid for her education, approved her marriage, and became godmother to her daughter.
- Legally, Bonetta was considered the property of the British crown until age 19, meaning she was indentured or bonded.
- After abolition, many Africans were forced into indentured servitude to pay for their own freedom, and Bonetta’s case was part of this system.
- Her image was used in Britain to support the idea of colonialism as a “civilising mission.”
- Bonetta attended the 1858 wedding of Queen Victoria’s daughter, an event seen by abolitionists as symbolic of Victoria’s belief in equality.
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