Person    | Female  Born 1788  Died 1833

Mary Prince

Categories: Literature, Race Issues

Countries: Antigua, Bermuda

First African woman to publish her memoirs of slavery. Born Bermuda. The daughter of slaves, she was first sold aged 10 for £20. Eventually bought for $300 in 1818 by John Wood who moved his whole household to London in 1828, including Mary. She ran away to the Moravian Mission in Hatton Garden. She found sanctuary with Thomas Pringle, who worked with the Anti-Slavery Society, and she told her story to him. He employed her and helped her to publish her memoirs 'The History of Mary Prince' in 1831. The rest of her life is unrecorded. There is no picture of Mary Prince but the Guardian uses this picture to illustrate their piece.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Mary Prince

Commemorated ati

Mary Prince

Mary Prince, 1788 - 1833, abolitionist and author, lived in a house near this...

Read More

Other Subjects

Sir Edmund Gosse

Sir Edmund Gosse

Born 13 Trafalgar Terrace (now 56 Mortimer Road), Hackney, son of Philip Gosse. Writer, best known for his book ‘Father and Son’ which is partly autobiographical and depicts the new generation free...

Person, Literature

2 memorials
Frances (Fanny) Burney

Frances (Fanny) Burney

Born King's Lynn, Norfolk, father was Dr Charles Burney. Diarist, novelist: Evelina (1778), Cecelia (1782), Camilla (1796) and playwright. Her first novel, Evelina, was a big success and she ent...

Person, Literature, Theatre, Belgium, France

2 memorials
Gyles Brandreth

Gyles Brandreth

Writer, broadcaster and former M.P. Born Gyles Daubeney Brandreth in Germany where his father was serving as a legal officer with the Allied Control Commission. Famous for his over the top knitwear...

Person, Literature, Politics & Administration, TV & Radio, Germany

1 memorial
Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith

Translated Pepys's diary (written in one of the versions of shorthand used at the time) in 1819 - 22.

Person, Literature

1 memorial
Captain Frederick Marryat

Captain Frederick Marryat

Novelist and officer in Royal Navy where he was a bit of a hero, rescuing men from drowning, etc. Born Catherine Court, Tower Hill or Great George Street, Westminster, depending on source.  Entere...

Person, Armed Forces, Literature

3 memorials