Remembering Lady Sarah Forbes Bonetta Davies
A couple of weeks ago, I came across an article on Sarah Forbes Bonetta Davies 'The African Princess'. The photographs were very regal and very English. I of course was very interested in learning more about this enigmatic character of African descent, who was wildly popular in Victorian England but virtually forgotten today. Sarah Forbes Bonetta is believed to have been born in 1842 to a royal family in the old Egbado Yoruba country. It is claimed she said Ina was her name. She was an Egbado Omooba (Egbado princess) and was seized when her town was raided by the Dahomeians, where her parents and siblings were decapitated. She was kept by King Ghezo of Dahomey, who planned possibly to use her as a sacrificial offering, as opposed to being sold as a slave due to her royal blood. After persuasion from Captain Forbes, she was offered as a gift from the ‘King of Blacks to the Queen of Whites’, Queen Victoria, in good faith to end the slave trade from his Kingdom. ...
