The History of A West Indian Slave, Mary Prince Front Cover

Mary Prince (c. 1 October 1788 – after 1833) was a British abolitionist and autobiographer, born in

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

to a slave family of African descent. After being sold a number of times, and being moved around the Caribbean, she was brought to England as a servant in 1828, and later left her master. Prince was illiterate, but while she was living in London she dictated her life story to Susanna Strickland, a young lady living in the home of

Thomas Pringle Thomas Pringle (5 January 1789 – 5 December 1834) was a Scottish writer, poet and abolitionist. Known as the father of South African poetry, he was the first successful English language poet and author to describe South Africa's scenery, nati ...

, secretary of the

Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

(aka Anti-Slavery Society, 1823–1838). Strickland wrote down her

slave narrative The slave narrative is a type of literary genre involving the (written) autobiographical accounts of enslaved Africans, particularly in the Americas. Over six thousand such narratives are estimated to exist; about 150 narratives were published as s ...

which was published as ''The History of Mary Prince'' in 1831, the first account of the life of a black slave woman to be published in the United Kingdom. This first-hand description of the brutalities of enslavement, published at a time when slavery was still legal in

and British Caribbean colonies, had a galvanising effect on the British anti-slavery movement. It was reprinted twice in its first year.

Early life and education

Mary Prince was born a slave at Devonshire Parish, Bermuda. Her father (whose only given name was Prince) was a

sawyer *A sawyer (occupation) is someone who saws wood. *Sawyer, a fallen tree stuck on the bottom of a river, where it constitutes a danger to boating. Places in the United States Communities * Sawyer, Kansas * Sawyer, Kentucky * Sawyer, Michigan * S ...

owned by David Trimmingham, and her mother a house-servant held by Charles Myners. She had three younger brothers and two sisters, Hannah and Dinah.''The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave''
, F. Westley and A. H. Davis (eds). 1831. Online HTML edition,

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress) ...

. When Myners died in 1788, Mary Prince, her mother and siblings were sold as household servants to Captain Darrell. He gave Mary and her mother to his daughter, with Mary becoming the companion servant of his young granddaughter, Betsey Williams. At the age of 12, Mary was sold for £38 sterling (2021: ~£3,300; ~US$4,500) to Captain John Ingham, of Spanish Point. Her two sisters were also sold that same day, all to different slave traders. Mary's new master and his wife were cruel and often lost their tempers, Mary and others were often severely

flogged Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...

for minor offences. Ingham sold Mary in 1806 to a salt raker on Grand Turk in the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and ...

, who owned salt ponds. The Bermudians had used these seasonally for a century for the extraction of salt from sea water. The production of salt for export was a pillar of the Bermudian economy, but the production was labour-intensive. Originally, raking had been performed by whites due to the fear of slaves being seized by Spanish and French raiders (the slaves were considered property, and could be seized as such during hostilities). Blacks crewed the

Bermuda sloop The Bermuda sloop is a historical type of fore-and-aft rigged single-masted sailing vessel developed on the islands of Bermuda in the 17th century. Such vessels originally had gaff rigs with quadrilateral sails, but evolved to use the Bermuda ri ...

s that delivered the rakers to and from the Turks Islands and delivered salt to markets in North America, engaging in maritime activities while the whites raked. When the threats posed by the Spanish and French in the region decreased, however, the slaves were put to work in the salt pans. As a child Mary worked in poor conditions in the salt ponds up to her knees in water. Due to the nature of salt mining, Mary and others were often forced to work up to 17 hours straight as owners of the ponds were concerned that if the workers were gone for too long rain would come and soil the salt. Generally, men were the salt rakers, forced to work in the salt ponds, where they were exposed to the sun and heat, as well as the salt in the pans, which ate away at their uncovered legs. Women did the easier packaging of salt. Mary Prince was returned to Bermuda in 1810, where her master at the time had moved with his daughter. While here, she said in her account that she was physically abused by her master, and forced to bathe him under threat of further beatings. Mary resisted her master's abuse on two occasions: once, in defence of his daughter, whom he also beat; the second time, defending herself from her master when he beat her for dropping kitchen utensils. After this, she left his direct service and was hired out to Cedar Hill for a time, where she earned money for her master by washing clothes. In 1815, Mary was sold a fourth time, to John Adams Wood of

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

for $300 (2021: ~£3,900; ~$5,300). She worked in his household as a domestic slave, attending the bedchambers, nursing a young child, and washing clothes. There she began to suffer from rheumatism, which left her unable to work. When Adams Wood was travelling, Mary earned money for herself by taking in washing and by selling coffee, yams and other provisions to ships. In Antigua, she joined the

Moravian Church The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...

, where she also attended classes and learned to read. She was baptised in the English church in 1817 and accepted for communion, but she was afraid to ask Adams Wood for permission to attend. In December 1826, Prince married Daniel James, a former slave who had bought his freedom by saving money from his work. He worked as a carpenter and

cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

. According to Mary, her floggings increased after her marriage because Adams Wood and his wife did not want a free black man living on their property.

Travel to England

In 1828 Adams Wood and his family travelled to London, visiting and arranging their son's education, and to bring their daughters home to the islands.Pringle (1831)
"Supplement"
, p. 30. At her request, they took Mary Prince with them as a servant. Although she had served the Woods for more than ten years, they had increasing conflict in England. Four times Wood told her to obey or leave. They gave her a letter that nominally gave her the right to leave but suggested that no one should hire her.Pringle
"Supplement to ''The History of Mary Prince''"
, ''The History of Mary Prince'', 1831, pp. 24–25, e-text, New York Public Library. Retrieved 5 April 2013. After leaving the household, Prince took shelter with the Moravian church in

Hatton Garden Hatton Garden is a street and commercial zone in the Holborn district of the London Borough of Camden, abutting the narrow precinct of Saffron Hill which then abuts the City of London. It takes its name from Sir Christopher Hatton, a favouri ...

. Within a few weeks, she started working occasionally for

, an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

writer, and Secretary to the Anti-Slavery Society, which offered assistance to black people in need. Prince found work with the Forsyth household, but the couple moved away from England in 1829. The Woods also left England in 1829 and returned with their daughter to Antigua. Pringle tried to arrange to have Wood

manumit Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that t ...

Prince, so she would have legal freedom. In 1829 Adams Wood refused either to manumit Mary Prince or allow her to be purchased out of his control. His refusal to sell or free her meant that as long as slavery remained legal in Antigua, Prince could not return to her husband and friends without being re-enslaved and submitting to Wood's power. After trying to arrange a compromise, the Anti-Slavery Committee proposed to petition Parliament to grant Prince's manumission, but did not succeed.Pringle (1831)
"Supplement"
, p. 26. At the same time, a bill was introduced to free all slaves from the West Indies in England whose owners had freely brought them there; it did not pass but was an indication of growing anti-slavery sentiment. In December 1829, Pringle hired Prince to work in his own household. Encouraged by Pringle, Prince arranged for her life narrative to be transcribed by Susanna Strickland, a writer better known under her later married name as

Susanna Moodie Susanna Moodie (born Strickland; 6 December 1803 – 8 April 1885) was an English-born Canadian author who wrote about her experiences as a settler in Canada, which was a British colony at the time. Biography Susanna Moodie was born in Bungay, ...

. Pringle served as editor, and her book was published in 1831 as ''The History of Mary Prince.'' The book caused a commotion as it was the first account published in Great Britain of a black slave woman's life; at a time when anti-slavery agitation was growing, her first person account touched many people. In the first year, it sold out three printings. Two libel cases arose out of it, and Prince was called to testify at each. She is known to have remained in England until at least 1833, when she testified in the two Washington cases. That year, the

Slavery Abolition Act The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in most parts of the British Empire. It was passed by Earl Grey's reforming administrati ...

was passed, to be effective August 1834. In 1808, Parliament had passed the

Slave Trade Act Slave Trade Act is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom and the United States that relates to the slave trade. The "See also" section lists other Slave Acts, laws, and international conventions which developed the c ...

of 1807, which outlawed the slave trade but not slavery itself. The 1833 law was intended to achieve a two-staged abolition of West Indian slavery by 1840, allowing the colonies time to transition their economies. Because of popular protests in the West Indies among the

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom ...

, the colonies legally completed abolition two years early in 1838.

The History of Mary Prince

When Prince's book was published, slavery was arguably still legal in England, and had not been clearly abolished by the 1772 Somerset v Stewart ruling, as previously believed by historians and contemporaries. Parliament had also not yet abolished it in the colonies. There was considerable uncertainty about the political and economic repercussions that might arise if Britain imposed an end to slavery throughout the empire, as the sugar colonies depended on it for labour to raise their lucrative commodity crop. As a personal account, the book contributed to the debate in a manner different from reasoned analysis or statistical arguments. Its tone was direct and authentic, and its simple but vivid prose contrasted with the more laboured literary style of the day. An example is Prince's description of being sold away from her mother at a young age:

It was night when I reached my new home. The house was large, and built at the bottom of a very high hill; but I could not see much of it that night. I saw too much of it afterwards. The stones and the timber were the best things in it; they were not so hard as the hearts of the owners.''The History of Mary Prince'', 1831.

Prince wrote of slavery with the authority of personal experience, something her political opponents could never match. She wrote:

I have been a slave myself—I know what slaves feel—I can tell by myself what other slaves feel, and by what they have told me. The man that says slaves be quite happy in slavery—that they don't want to be free—that man is either ignorant or a lying person. I never heard a slave say so. I never heard a Buckra ''(white)'' man say so, till I heard tell of it in England.

Her book had an immediate effect on public opinion and was published in three impressions the first year. It generated controversy, and James MacQueen, the editor of ''The Glasgow Courier'', challenged its accuracy by a lengthy letter in ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 ...

''. MacQueen was a defender of white West Indian interests and vigorous critic of the anti-slavery movement. He depicted Prince as a woman of low morals who had been the "despicable tool" of the anti-slavery clique, who had incited her to malign her "generous and indulgent owners." He attacked the character of the Pringle family, suggesting they were at fault for accepting the slave in their household. In 1833 Pringle sued MacQueen for

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...

, receiving damages of £5. Not long afterwards, John Wood, Prince's master, sued Pringle for libel, holding him responsible as the editor of Prince's ''The History'', and saying the book generally misrepresented his character.''The Times'', 1 March 1833, p. 6: ''Wood v. Pringle,'' Court of King's Bench, 27 February 1833. Wood won his case and was awarded £25 in damages. Prince was called to testify in both these trials, but little is known of her life after this.

Legacy

*On 26 October 2007, a commemorative plaque organised by the Nubian Jak Community Trust was unveiled in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest ...

in London, where Mary Prince once lived. *Also in 2007, the

Museum in Docklands The Museum of London Docklands (formerly known as Museum in Docklands), based in West India Quay, explains the history of the River Thames, the growth of Port of London and the docks historical link to the Atlantic slave trade. The museum is pa ...

opened a new gallery and permanent exhibition entitled ''London, Sugar & Slavery'', which credits Prince as an author who "played a crucial role in the abolition campaign". Sara Wajid
"'They bought me as a butcher would a calf or a lamb'"
''The Guardian'', 19 October 2007.

Representations in other media

*Prince is featured as the fictional love interest in the jazz opera ''Bridgetower – A Fable of 1807'' (2007), by

Julian Joseph Julian Raphael Nathaniel Joseph (born 11 May 1966) is a British jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and broadcaster. Biography Joseph was born in London and attended Allfarthing Primary School and Spencer Park Secondary School in Wan ...

with libretto by Mike Phillips, about the 18th-century black violinist

George Bridgetower George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (11 October 1778 – 29 February 1860) was a British musician, of African descent. He was a virtuoso violinist who lived in England for much of his life. His playing impressed Beethoven, who made Bridg ...

. *In the UK and Republic of Ireland, and in parts of Europe and South America, Prince was the subject of a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

on Monday 1 October 2018 to mark her 230th birthday. * A dramatised podcast version o
The History of Mary Prince
written and directed b
Jason Young
was screened as part o
Staffordshire Libraries Black History Month
in October 2021.

References

Bibliography

*
''The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave''
, F. Westley and A. H. Davis (eds). 1831. Online HTML edition,

. *''The History of Mary Prince''; many printed editions are available, both in and out of print.

External links

* * *
Maryprince.org, by Margôt Maddison-MacFadyen
London: Published by F. Westley and A. H. Davis, 1831, at University of North Carolina.

,

100 Great Black Britons ''100 Great Black Britons'' is a poll that was first undertaken in 2003 to vote for and celebrate the greatest Black Britons of all time. It was created in a campaign initiated by Patrick Vernon in response to a BBC search for ''100 Greatest Brit ...

''The History of Mary Prince''
University of California, Santa Barbara

Coker College, Hartsville, South Carolina
A Slave Account by Mary Prince
Turks & Caicos Museum *''Major Problems in American Women's History''. Fifth Edition Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Edited by Sharon Block at University of California, Irvine and Ruth M. Alexander at Colorado State University and Mary Beth Norton at Cornell University, p. 62. {{DEFAULTSORT:Prince, Mary 1788 births 1833 deaths 19th-century British women writers Antigua and Barbuda slaves Bermudian non-fiction writers Bermudian slaves Bermudian women writers Black British former slaves Black British women writers British abolitionists British people of the Moravian Church Christian abolitionists National Heroes of Bermuda People from Devonshire Parish People who wrote slave narratives Turks and Caicos Islands slaves Writers of the Moravian Church