Sarah Bonetta: The Yoruba Slave Who Became Queen Victoria’s Goddaughter

There are a lot of stories about the slave trade that began in the late 15th century in Nigeria but one of the not so talked about ones is that of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, who was the goddaughter of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom.

Sarah was Nigerian by birth, born as Aina to Yoruba royals in Oke Odan in present-day Ogun state. When she was five, her village was attacked leaving her parents killed while she was to be used as a human sacrifice.

Luck shone on her when a naval captain, Fredrick E. Forbes who had been invited to the sacrifice ceremony convinced Ghezo, the King of Dahomey (present-day Benin) not to kill Aina. He told him that Queen Victoria would never kill a child and would not respect him if he did so.

This simple act saved Aina’s life as she was gifted to the queen leaving the adults who were with her as the sacrifice. Captain Forbes took her on his ship, the HMS Bonetta to Badagry and baptised her as Sarah Forbes Bonetta. During the course of their voyage to England, Sarah learned English from the sailors so quickly that it impressed everyone on board……..read more

 

Source: The Guardian

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