Sarah "Sally" Bassett, also known as Sary, was an enslaved African woman from

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

. She was declared guilty and

burned at the stake Death by burning is an list of execution methods, execution, murder, or suicide method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a puni ...

in June 1730 for the poisoning of three individuals.Sources vary on the precise date, some claiming 6 June, others 21 June. Her notoriety has influenced Bermudian history and cultural heritage.

Life

Sarah Bassett was a mixed-race woman and raised many grandchildren. In 1713 she was found guilty of killing livestock and was whipped through the parish. Prior to 1727 she was owned by a Southampton blacksmith, Francis Dickinson of

Pembroke Parish Pembroke Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named after English aristocrat William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1580–1630). It occupies most of the short peninsula which juts from the central north coast of Bermuda's main ...

. Dickinson died around 1726, leaving Bassett for his children to inherit. In 1729, she was valued as useless because of her age, but she continued to practice her medicinal skills in Southampton Parish. During the late 1720s, Bermuda's elite began making claims of being victims of poison attacks by their slaves. In 1730, Thomas Foster, his spouse Sarah Foster, and a household slave, Nancey, were taken ill. On 2 June, the investigation of Sarah Bassett began, possibly Bermuda's most notorious case pertaining to an attempted murder of a slaveholder by a slave. On 18 December 1729, about six months prior to the illnesses of Thomas and Sarah Foster and Nancey, Bassett visited her granddaughter, Beck, at her slaveholders home, the Fosters. According to the trial records, Bassett had various substances on her that contained several types of poisons including ratsbane, manchineel root, and a white substance known as 'white toade'. She gave Beck specific instructions on what exactly to do with these substances to poison the Fosters and Nancey. One substance was to be hidden in the kitchen for Nancey to inhale and the other in the Fosters' food for an extended period of time. Nancey subsequently discovered the hidden poison and told the Fosters. On 1 June 1730, Bassett's trial began in St. George's Sessions or State House. Beck and ten white citizens of Bermuda, including one of the victims, Sarah Foster, testified against Bassett. Beck stated that Sarah had made her give them the poison. Bassett denied the charges but was declared guilty of attempted murder on and sentenced to be burned alive, while Beck was exonerated. The Chief Justice asked Bassett for any statement that could change her sentence and she stated that she never deserved it. He responded, "you are to be conveyed to the place of execution where a pile of wood is to be made and provided, and you are there to be fastened to a sufficient stake and there to be burnt with fire until your body be dead." The execution took place at Crow Lane, a busy intersection by

Hamilton Harbour Hamilton Harbour (formerly known as Burlington Bay) lies on the western tip of Lake Ontario, bounded on the northwest by the City of Burlington, on the south by the City of Hamilton, and on the east by Hamilton Beach (south of the Burlington ...

. On her way there, she reportedly said to the crowd: "No use you hurrying folks, there'll be no fun 'til I get there!" About two weeks after the Sarah Bassett trial, on 23 June, ''An Act for the Further and Better Regulating Negroes and other Slaves and for the more Effectual and Speedy Way of Prosecuting Them'' was created by the Bermuda Assembly to have more regulation and control over 'negroes and other slaves'.

Legacy

Sally Bassett's notorious act and the burning of her live body became a part of the islands' folklore and local history. Legend says that when the remains of the stake was cleared, a purple flower (the "Bermudiana", a

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

iris of the genus ''

Sisyrinchium ''Sisyrinchium'' is a large genus of annual to perennial flowering plants in the family Iridaceae. Native to the New World, the species are known as blue-eyed grasses. Although they are not true grasses (Poaceae), they are monocots. Several sp ...

'') was found growing from her ashes; before her death Sarah had declared that there would be a sign that she was guiltless and today the flower blooms across Bermuda. Her burning execution led to very hot days in Bermuda being referred to as 'a Sally Basset day'. A historian at the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...

has suggested that news of the poisoning inspired

slave rebellions A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by slaves, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of slaves have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedom and the dream o ...

throughout the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. The government of Bermuda commissioned Carlos Dowling to create a statue of Basset, as the nation's first memorial to an enslaved person. Despite some controversy about its placement, a ten-foot statue of Bassett was unveiled on the Cabinet office grounds in 2008.

References

*Jarvis, M. 1999. ''Seafaring Slaves & Maritime Culture in Bermuda, 1680-1783''. University of VA/Omohundro Institute.

External links

"Witchcraft in Bermuda, 1650-1696".
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassett, Sarah Bermudian slaves 17th-century births 1730 deaths Bermudian people of English descent Executed Bermudian people People executed by the Kingdom of Great Britain People executed by the United Kingdom by burning People executed by Bermuda People from Pembroke Parish Year of birth unknown Executed British women 18th-century slaves

Life

Legacy

See also

References

External links