In 1843, Sarah Forbes Bonetta was born “Aina” to Yoruba parents of the Egbado ethnicity.
Her father was the high chief of Oke-Odan, an Egbado village in western Nigeria until he was killed in 1848 when his village was raided by King Gezo of Dahomey, one of the notorious 19th-century slave raiders. In the raid that turned Sarah, an Egbado princess, into a slave, her unknown parents and siblings were killed.
Sarah was fortunate to be saved by the quick intervention of Captain Frederick E. Forbes, a British naval officer who was on a visit to the Dahomey kingdom to persuade King Gezo to abolish the slave trade. Many of the villagers captured during the raid were made slaves and sacrificed to the gods of Dahomey.
Captain Frederick E. Forbes claimed that he persuaded King Gezo to give Queen Victoria a gift of Sarah, then known as Aina: She would be presented to the White Queen by the King of the Blacks. Sarah was given the name Sarah, Forbes, which was the surname of the captain, and Bonetta, which was the name of his ship (HMS Bonetta). King Gezo agreed, and Sarah was spared death.
Captain Frederick Forbes took Sarah to Great Britain on November 9, 1850, to meet Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle. Sarah’s quick learning and intelligence were admired by the Queen.
Captain Frederick himself wrote: She is an outstanding genius; She is far ahead of any white child her age in aptness of learning, the strength of mind, and affection… She now speaks English well and has a great talent for music. Shortly thereafter, Captain Frederick Forbes passed away, and Sarah was sent to the Schoen family in Palm Cottage, Gillingham. Sarah was adopted by Queen Victoria as her goddaughter and her education was funded by her.
Sarah, the Queen’s goddaughter, enjoyed the same unrestricted access to Windsor Castle as other royals. Due to the damp climate of Britain, Sarah developed a health issue shortly after moving in with the Schoens.
Queen Victoria made arrangements for her to move to Sierra Leone so that she could continue her education there at the Female Institution, a CMS school in Freetown. There, she excelled academically as well as in music. Sarah went back to Great Britain in 1855.
Sarah Forbes Bonetta, then 19 years old, was a guest at the wedding of Princess Royal Victoria, the Queen’s eldest child, in January 1862.
She accepted a marriage proposal from Captain James Labulo Davies, a 31-year-old wealthy Yoruba businessman who lives in Britain, seven months later. Sarah was aware of the reasons why she was reluctant to accept the offer, but after much convincing, she eventually did so.
Queen Victoria. L
The wedding took place in Brighton, England, in August 1862, at the St. Nicholas Church. The other was so extravagant; Attending were dignitaries from various parts of the world.
The newlyweds returned to Africa and settled in Lagos, Nigeria’s Badagary town. Sarah Forbes Davies gave birth to her first child shortly after her marriage and asked Queen Victoria for permission to name her Victoria.
In addition to granting permission, the Queen also adopted Victoria as her goddaughter. After visiting the Queen in 1867 with her daughter, Sarah moved back to Lagos to have two more children, Arthur and Stella. Sarah, who was 37 years old at the time, was diagnosed with tuberculosis and passed away on August 15, 1880. In Funchal, Madiera Island, Portugal, she was buried.
Her family experienced such a dark time as a result. “Saw poor Victoria Davies, my black godchild, who learned this morning of the death of her dear mother,” Queen Victoria wrote in her diary. Sarah’s children were well-cared for and kept in close touch with Queen Victoria.
James Labulo Davies and Sarah Forbes Bonetta Davies’ descendants currently reside in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and England.
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