Sarah Forbes Bonetta: The Young African Girl Who Entered Queen Victoria’s Court

Sarah Forbes Bonetta: The Young African Girl Who Entered Queen Victoria’s Court

Today I want to step away briefly from life in the Victorian and Edwardian era, to tell you a little about Sarah Forbes Bonetta. Her story began in tragedy but somehow led her all the way to the heart of Queen Victoria’s court.

Image info:

Artist: Camille Silvy

Princess Sara Forbes Bonetta

Collection: National Portrait Gallery

Sarah was originally born as Aina around 1843 in Oke-Odan in Yorubaland, in what is now called Nigeria. At the time, parts of West Africa were being torn apart by war and slave raids. When she was still only a very young child, her village was attacked during a war involving the Kingdom of Dahomey. Her parents were tragically killed and many other people from the area were either captured or forced into slavery. It is difficult not to imagine the fear she must have felt as a child, losing everything and being torn away from everything familiar to her.

Aina eventually ended up in the court of King Ghezo of Dahomey. According to later accounts, she was being kept for royal purposes and may even have faced the threat of sacrifice, but that is unclear. In 1850, a British naval officer named Captain Frederick Forbes arrived in Dahomey during a diplomatic mission. The mission was to try and discourage the slave trade. During his visit he met the young girl and intervened on her behalf. The king offered her the small girl, and refusing the king’s offer may have placed her life in danger, so Forbes accepted her and brought her to England on HMS Bonetta.

He renamed her Sarah Forbes Bonetta, combining his own surname with the name of the ship. She was introduced to Queen Victoria. The Queen was said to be very impressed by Sarah’s intelligence and her character. Victoria became her godmother and took a personal interest in her education and wellbeing. Entering the British court must have felt overwhelming and surreal.

Although many people imagine Sarah living permanently with the royal family, her life was actually more complicated. Queen Victoria arranged for her to be cared for by guardians and teachers rather than raised at court full time. She spent periods living with families connected to the church and education, including Reverend James Schön and his wife in Kent.

Sarah’s life was never really easy. The British climate badly affected her health and she developed a chronic cough, she possibly had tuberculosis. Because of this, she spent some time studying in Sierra Leone. She was well educated, multilingual, and respected in Victorian society, although sadly she still lived in a world of prejudice and rigid social expectations.

In 1862, Sarah married James Pinson Labulo Davies, a wealthy Yoruba businessman, in Brighton. Queen Victoria took such an interest in the marriage that she even helped to oversee some of it. They returned to West Africa and had three children together. Their first daughter was named Victoria after the Queen, who became the child’s godmother.

Image info:

James Pinson Labulo Davies and Sarah Forbes Bonetta

Artist: Camille Silvy

Sadly, Sarah’s health declined over the years, and she died from tuberculosis in 1880 at only around thirty-seven years old while staying on the island of Madeira. Some of you may already recognise Sarah from the ITV series Victoria, where her connection to Queen Victoria was shown. The series helped introduce more people to her story and her unusual place within the Victorian court.

I think her story raises so many questions about identity, survival, and belonging. Do you think Sarah Forbes Bonetta ever truly felt at home in Britain or Africa after everything she had been forced to experience?

The Forgotten Collapse of Old St Paul’s Cathedral’s Great Spire in 1561

The Forgotten Collapse of Old St Paul’s Cathedral’s Great Spire in 1561

I have been talking about a few of the major fires during the medieval and early modern era and it got me thinking about what other disasters happened in that period. So I started to do some digging and found the collapse of the great spire of Old St Paul’s Cathedral in London. It seems to have been largely forgotten today.

Old St Paul’s Cathedral was one of the most famous buildings in medieval England. The old cathedral dominated the skyline of London long before the modern cathedral that we know today. It had an enormous Gothic spire and it was considered one of the tallest structures in Europe, it is estimated to have been around 489 feet. For centuries, it stood showing the power of both the city and the Church. People could see it for miles and it would have been a familiar sight for many merchants and travellers and the everyday Londoners going about their lives.

In 1561 during the reign of Elizabeth I, on the 4th of June 1561, lightning struck the spire during a thunderstorm. The huge wooden framework inside the spire caught fire. Witnesses described flames rushing up while there was burning debris falling into the streets below.

The fire destroyed the spire completely. Molten lead from the roof was reported to have poured down like rain into the churchyard and surrounding streets. Smoke could apparently be seen across London. It must have caused panic as people watched one of the city’s greatest landmarks collapse in front of them. Some Londoners saw it as a sign from God. England was going through enormous religious tension at the time after the English Reformation, and many people believed events like this were a warning.

Remarkably, the number of deaths seems to have been very low when you consider the scale of the disaster. Contemporary accounts suggest that very few people were killed. Several people were injured by falling debris and burning material though. One story is that a bookseller’s stock that was stored in the cathedral was destroyed. Nearby homes and shops also suffered damage from the sparks and falling debris. The area around St Paul’s was crowded and busy, so there was a fear that the fire could spread across London.

The aftermath lasted for decades. The spire was never rebuilt. Although repairs were carried out on other parts of the cathedral, the disaster permanently changed London’s skyline. Some people saw the ruined cathedral as symbolic of a country that was still struggling with religious division. Old St Paul’s continued to deteriorate until it was finally destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666. A new cathedral that was designed by Christopher Wren was eventually built on the site. The building began being built in 1675 and was officially completed in 1710.

Do you think you would have seen it as a natural disaster, or as a warning of something greater to come?

The Navy Nurse Who Guided America’s Nurses Through The Second World War

The Navy Nurse Who Guided America’s Nurses Through The Second World War

I have been learning a little more about some of the remarkable women who served during the World Wars. Today I wanted to look at Sue S. Dauser. At a time when women in the military were still fighting to be fully recognised, she rose to one of the highest positions any woman in the Navy had to that point achieved.

Sue Sophia Dauser was born on the 20th of September 1888 in Anaheim, California.

 She trained as a nurse at the California Hospital School of Nursing and graduated in 1914. Nursing was already a demanding profession, but within only a few years the world was at war. In September 1917, during the First World War, she joined the United States Navy Nurse Corps.

During the war, she served both in the United States and in Edinburgh, Scotland with Naval Base Hospital Number 3. Much of this time she held the position of Chief Nurse. It is difficult not to imagine the pressure and exhaustion that wartime nurses faced every day. They dealt with terrible injuries, illness, overcrowded hospitals, and the emotional strain of watching so many young men suffer far from home.

After the First World War ended, Dauser continued her naval career. She worked in naval hospitals and served aboard ships, including overseas postings in Guam and the Philippines. In 1923, she even cared for President Warren G. Harding during the illness that would eventually claim his life. Over the following years she steadily gained respect within the Navy through her experience and leadership.

In 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War, Dauser became Superintendent of the United States Navy Nurse Corps. The role placed enormous responsibility on her shoulders. As the war started to spread around the world, the need for trained nurses increased. Under her leadership, the Nurse Corps went from only a few hundred members to more than 11,000 by 1945. She helped with overseeing nurses that were working in hospitals, on board ships, and in combat zones all across the world.

Her achievements broke barriers for women in the military. In 1942, she became the first woman in United States Navy history to receive the rank of captain. It was an extraordinary moment in an era when women were still often underestimated despite their service and sacrifice. Her work earned her the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, one of the Navy’s highest honours.

Sue S. Dauser died on the 11th of March 1972, but her legacy remained important long after the war ended. She not only cared for countless people through her nursing career, but also helped open doors for future generations of women in the armed forces. I think stories like hers remind us that wars were not only shaped by soldiers on the battlefield, but also by the nurses and medical staff who fought to save lives behind the scenes.

Sue S. Dauser died on the 11th of March 1972 at the age of 83.

Before Electricity: The Dangerous Reality of Lighting Victorian Homes

Before Electricity: The Dangerous Reality of Lighting Victorian Homes

I have been finding out a little bit about life in the Victorian and Edwardian era.  I started to think about lighting. What was it like inside Victorian and Edwardian homes? It really made me realise how different everyday life was. Today, most of us simply flick a switch without even thinking about it, but for the people of the nineteenth century, lighting was expensive and dangerous. The way your home was lit could reveal a great deal about your wealth and your status.

For centuries, candles were one of the most common forms of lighting. Poorer families relied on cheaper tallow candles that were made from animal fat. They smoked, smelled bad, and burned quickly, but they were affordable. Wealthier households could afford cleaner and brighter beeswax candles, these were expensive to use in large quantities though. In small working-class homes, families often gathered in one room after it got dark to save candlelight. Darkness clearly controlled life in a way that is difficult for us to imagine now.

Candles also carried serious dangers. Candles were lit in houses that were full of flammable items. Wooden furniture, curtains, straw, or paper could easily lead to issues. Victorian and Edwardian towns regularly witnessed devastating house fires caused by candles. In cramped poorer districts, where buildings stood tightly packed together, a single accident could destroy entire streets.

During the early nineteenth century, gas lighting was beginning to transform towns and cities. William Murdoch helped to pioneer practical gas lighting systems, and by the mid-1800s gas lamps were becoming increasingly common in wealthier homes, theatres, factories, and even city streets. Gas lighting produced a brighter and steadier light than candles did.

One major improvement to the gas light came with the invention of the incandescent mantle during the late nineteenth century. Austrian inventor Carl Auer von Welsbach created a fabric-like mantle that glowed intensely when it was heated by a gas flame. This invention made gas lamps even brighter and far more practical than older versions.

Many large upper-class homes started to embrace gas lighting much earlier on because its installation was prohibitively expensive. Prince Albert was well known for his passion for technological progress and modern improvements. Many of which he implemented in the royal residences. He helped to make many of the new innovations fashionable and respectable among the upper classes.

But gas lighting brought with it many fears. Gas leaks could cause explosions or suffocation, and many people were worried about breathing in the fumes. Rooms became hot and stuffy and some families worried about the invisible gas running through pipes inside their walls. In poorer homes, gas remained far out of reach for many years because the costs were still too high.

By the late Victorian and Edwardian period, electricity slowly began to appear. Inventors like Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan helped develop practical electric lighting. Electric light was cleaner, brighter, and safer in many ways than candles or gas. There was no smoke that blackened the ceilings and there was far less fear.

At first, electricity was mainly found in wealthy homes, grand hotels, and public buildings. Working-class districts waited years before electric lighting became common. But, people recognised the benefits.

 

Do you think people realised just how dramatically electricity  would change everyday life forever?

The Great Fire of York and the Fear of Medieval Cities

The Great Fire of York and the Fear of Medieval Cities

We have been finding out about major fires in the medieval period. Over the past few days we have talked about the great fires of London. Today I want to head north and I find out a little more about a forgotten medieval disaster, the Fire of York in 1137. When people think about devastating fires in English history, they usually imagine the Great Fire of London in 1666. But all medieval cities faced the same danger, and York suffered one of the worst urban fires of the 12th century.

In the early 1100s, York was one of the most important cities in England. It was crowded, busy, and built mainly from timber. Many homes had thatched roofs, the streets were narrow, just like most cities of the era. Fires were part of life. They burned constantly for cooking, heating, candle making, and blacksmithing. Blacksmiths were especially important to medieval life because they produced tools, horseshoes, nails, locks, and weapons, but their forges also carried huge risks. Sparks from their furnaces could easily cause fires to the nearby wooden buildings, especially if it was during dry weather or when it was particularly windy.

A fire tragically broke out in 1137 during the reign of King Stephen. Medieval chroniclers sadly did not leave behind a detailed record, which was common for the period, but they did describe a disaster that spread rapidly through the city. Many historians believe that it may have started accidentally in one of the densely packed districts where workshops and homes were side by side.

People who lived in medieval cities had very few ways to fight a large fire. There were no organised fire brigades and no modern pumps. Residents often formed bucket chains from wells or the River Ouse, but with strong fires this would have achieved very little. Panic must have spread quickly. Bells rang out across the city. People would have rushed to save children, animals and whatever possessions they could carry in their arms.

The fire is believed to have burned for many hours and possibly longer in some areas as smaller fires continued to spread through debris and timber. Chroniclers claimed that much of York was destroyed. Homes, workshops, storehouses, and churches were all lost. Some accounts suggest that York Minster itself may have suffered terrible damage. Markets and trading areas were devastated, which would have affected livelihoods for a long time after.

The death toll is unknown, which is often the case with medieval disasters. Records were not always kept.

Compared to later fires like the Great Fire of London in 1666, the Fire of York happened at a time when it was far less prepared for disaster. But both fires revealed similar weaknesses, overcrowding, timber buildings, narrow streets, and open flames. Medieval cities across Europe suffered similar catastrophes repeatedly because everyday survival depended upon fire.

Do you think medieval people would have eventually become numb to disasters like these, or would every great fire have felt like the end of the world to them?

Image info: York Minster Modern day

The Courage and Compassion of Australian Wartime Nurse Kathleen Hope Barnes

The Courage and Compassion of Australian Wartime Nurse Kathleen Hope Barnes

Today I  want to continue looking at some of the remarkable nurses who served during the Second World War. I want to tell you about Kathleen Hope Barnes.

Kathleen Hope Barnes was born on the 19th of May 1909 in Cottesloe in Western Australia. Her parents had emigrated from Scotland and Ireland, and her father ran a local shop. She went to  Methodist Ladies’ College in Claremont. Nursing was starting to be seen as  a profession and a public service.

When the Second World War started in 1939, Kathleen joined the Australian Army Nursing Service. In April 1940, she became part of the first group of Western Australian nurses who were sent overseas. She left from Fremantle on board Nevassa. For many of these brave women, it would have been the first time they had travelled so far from home.  

By October 1942, Kathleen was serving in Port Moresby in Papua during the New Guinea campaign. She worked with the 105th Casualty Clearing Station that cared for wounded soldiers in the harsh tropical conditions.  Disease and exhaustion were a huge part of everyday life. In March 1943 she was promoted to lieutenant, and just a few months later she became a captain.

In late 1944 and early 1945, Australian forces moved into Jacquinot Bay on the island of New Britain. Kathleen led some of the first Australian nurses to arrive there. Their arrival meant that injured troops could finally receive medical care closer to the front lines.

Her dedication did not go unnoticed. Kathleen was mentioned in dispatches for her wartime service and became an Associate of the Royal Red Cross. She was also appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).

After the war, she continued nursing in Australia and helped to expand community healthcare services before her death in 1981 at the age of 72.

 

 

The Hidden Loneliness Behind Wealth for Victorian and Edwardian Women

The Hidden Loneliness Behind Wealth for Victorian and Edwardian Women

I have been finding out a little bit about what life was like in Victorian and Edwardian Britain. And I started to wonder about what life was like for ordinary upper-class women during this era. I think people sometimes imagine that their lives were comfortable and easy because they lived in large, lavish houses and they wore beautiful clothes. But the more I looked into it, the more complicated it is. Wealth could undeniably provide you with a level of comfort, but it could also bring you enormous restrictions and even loneliness.

Upper-class women were expected to behave in very particular ways. From a young age, many girls were raised to become the “perfect lady.” They were taught music, art, French, embroidery, and social etiquette rather than a practical education for opportunities. Education was designed to make them attractive for marriage rather than prepare them for careers or for public life. Marriage was usually seen as one of the most important goals in a woman’s life. A good marriage could strengthen the families connections, wealth, and even their social status.

Respectability mattered a lot. Women were expected to be calm, refined, and most importantly, they needed to be obedient. Society admired women who were graceful and who were modest, but society criticised those women who were outspoken, ambitious, or unconventional.

 Many upper-class women lived under constant social surveillance. Even small scandals or behaviour that was seen as improper could seriously damage a whole family’s reputation.

Compared to working-class women, upper-class women often escaped the need to do any physical or hard work, but they also had far fewer freedoms than we sometimes realise. Poor women worked in factories, laundries, markets, or as servants because they had very little choice. Their lives were physically exhausting, but work sometimes allowed them a degree of freedom and experience outside of the home. In contrast Upper-class women lived surrounded by luxury, but often felt trapped in the rigid social expectations.

Many women were bored and frustrated. Their lives seemed to revolve around social visits, dinners, hosting guests, and managing the servants. Some women described feeling suffocated by the endless routines and expectations. They had intelligence, curiosity, and ambition, but very few acceptable ways to use them. Careers in politics, medicine, law, or universities were largely closed off to them for much of the nineteenth century. Even after tgey got married, a husband often controlled family finances and all major decisions.

Some women though refused to accept these limits. One woman who famously went against these restrictions was Florence Nightingale. She shocked quite a few people when she pursued nursing career, a profession that upper-class society initially viewed as unsuitable for a respectable women. Emmeline Pankhurst was another strong woman who openly challenged political inequality and became one of the most famous leaders of the suffrage movement. Millicent Fawcett fought peaceful campaigns for women’s voting rights and greater opportunities. Women like Marie Curie, who although not Brirish, demonstrated that women could succeed intellectually in spite of the social barriers.

The suffrage movement became hugely important because it gave many women a voice they had never been able express before. Campaigns for voting rights were not just about politics. They were also about education, independence, legal rights, and recognition as equal human beings. Some women marched peacefully, while others took more militant action mainly because they felt society simply was not listening.

I think one of the saddest things is that many upper-class women may have appeared privileged from the outside while in private they felt isolated and powerless.

Do you think the expectations placed on upper-class women were more restrictive because they were hidden behind wealth and respectability?