Slave Who Became Queen Victoria’s Goddaughter
Sarah Forbes Bonetta was initially conceived 'Aina' in 1843 to Egbado parents of the Yoruba ethnic community. Her dad was the high chief of Oke-Odan, an Egbado town in western Nigeria, till he was murdered in 1848 when King Gezo of Dahomey , one of the infamous slave looters in the nineteenth century , struck his town.
Sarah's folks and kin whose names are obscure were murdered in the assault which turned Sarah, an Egbado princess, into a slave. A significant number of the villagers caught amid the assault were made slaves and yielded to the lords of Dahomey however luckily for Sarah, she was spared by the fast intercession of Captain Frederick E. Forbes , a British maritime officer who was on a visit to Dahomey kingdom to convince King Gezo to abolish slave trade. Commander Frederick E. Forbes induced King Gezo to introduce Sarah (at that point Aina) as a gift to Queen Victoria, he stated:
"She would be a present from the King of the Blacks to the Queen of the Whites". King Gezo concurred and in this manner Sarah's life was saved and subsequently she was named Sarah Forbes, the commander's surname and Bonetta which was the name of his ship (HMS Bonetta).
On the ninth of November, 1850, Captain Frederick Forbes took Sarah to Great Britain to meet Queen Victoria at Windsor manor. The Queen acknowledged Sarah's brilliance and capacity to learn rapidly. Indeed, even Captain Frederick remarked: "She is a flawless genuis; she now communicates in English well, and has extraordinary talent for music… She is far ahead of her age grade in inclination of learning, and strength of mind and warmth… "Shortly after, Captain Frederick Forbes passed on thus Sarah was sent to the Schoen family in Palm Cottage, Gillingham. Queen Victoria adopted Sarah as her goddaughter and supported her training. Being the Queen's goddaughter, Sarah had boundless access to Windsor château like other individuals from the imperial family. Not long after Sarah started to live with the Schoen family, she developed a medical issue because of the sodden climate of Britain. Queen Victoria arranged for her migration to Sierra Leone to proceed with her training at the Female Institution, a CMS school in Freetown where she exceeded expectations in music and her scholastics. In 1855, Sarah came back to Great Britain.
In January 1862, Sarah Forbes Bonetta, now 19 years of age, went to the wedding of the Queen's eldest child, Princess Royal Victoria, as a visitor. After seven months, she was offered a marriage to Captain James Labulo Davies , a 31-year-old well off Yoruba businessman who lives in Britain. Sarah was hesitant to accept the offer because of reasons known to her yet she in the long run accepted after much persuasion. The wedding occurred in August 1862 at the St. Nicholas Church in Brighton, England. It was such an excessive one; dignitaries from various parts of the world were in attendance.
The new couple moved back to Africa and settled in the town of Badagary in Lagos, Nigeria. Soon after her marriage, Sarah Forbes Davies had her first little girl and asked for consent from Queen Victoria to name her Victoria. The Queen granted the request and furthermore adopted infant Victoria as her goddaughter. In 1867, Sarah and her little girl visited the Queen and later came back to Lagos where she had two more children named Arthur and Stella. Sarah was diagonised with tuberculosis and later kicked the bucket on August 15, 1880 at 37 years old. She was buried in Funchal, Madiera Island, Portugal. It was such a sad moment for her family. Queen Victoria wrote in her journal, "Saw poor Victoria Davies, my dark godchild, who learnt toward the beginning of today of the passing of her dear mother ". Queen Victoria took great care of Sarah's kids and kept up close contact with them. Till today, the decendants of James Labulo Davies and Sarah Forbes Bonetta Davies lived in England, Sierra Leone and Lagos, Nigeria.
