The year was 1848. A Dahomeyan army of fearless Amazon warriors besieged Oke-Odan, a Nigerian village inhabited by the Egbado. Lives were lost; many were stolen to become slaves. Taken captive during the raid was 5-year-old Sarah Forbes Bonetta (1843–1880), born Aina. Her parents had been decapitated; her siblings slaughtered. Tribal marks on her face marked her status of princess, thus she was taken to the court of the Dahomeyan king, Ghezo, to become a human sacrifice.
Awaiting certain death, Aina was rescued by Captain Frederick Forbes of the Royal Navy. He convinced King Ghezo to give Aina to Queen Victoria, telling him that Queen Victoria would never kill a child and would certainly not respect him if he did so. About Aina, Forbes later wrote in his journal: “She would be a present from the king of the blacks to the queen of the whites.”
Forbes took Aina home to Gravesend, in northwest Kent, England. His wife then baptized Aina with the name Sarah Forbes Bonetta, for his ship, HMS Bonetta. Shortly thereafter, young Bonetta would meet Queen Victoria.
In 1850, Bonetta received an invitation to Windsor Castle, where she impressed the Queen Victoria and other royals. Despite her continuing to live with the Forbes, Bonetta had also become a part of the royal household and was a playmate to the royal prince and princess.
Young Bonetta quickly mastered music, art, and writing. Forbes later described her as a, “perfect genius with an amazing strength of mind and affection.” Queen Victoria, noting Bonetta’s penchant for learning and natural regal manner, raised as her goddaughter in the British middle class. She gave Bonetta an allowance for her welfare and allowed her to become a regular visitor to Windsor Castle.
No stranger to loneliness, Queen Victoria told Bonetta’s story: “Bonetta had been confined in a small space for weeks without human contact, and sometimes witnessed other people being dragged out of confinement to be sacrificed, knowing that it would be her turn one day too.”
She also wrote of her first meeting with Bonetta: “When we came home, found Albert still there, waiting for Captain Forbes and a poor little Negro girl, whom he brought back from the King of Dahomé, her Parents and all her relatives having been sacrificed. Captain Forbes saved her life by asking for her as a present . . . She is seven years old, sharp and intelligent, and speaks English. She was dressed as any other girl. When her bonnet was taken off, her little black woolly head and big earrings gave her the true negro type.”
In 1851, Bonetta developed a chronic cough from Great Britain’s climate and tuberculosis. She was then sent to school in Africa, returning to England in 1855. She later married Captain James Pinson Labulo Davies, a Victorian Lagos businessman.
Bonetta died of tuberculosis in 1880. Davies erected a monument in her memory at Ijon, in Western Lagos, where he had started a cocoa farm.
Tamara Shiloh
Tamara Shiloh has published the first two books in her historical fiction chapter book series,
Just Imagine…What If There Were No Black People in the World is about African American inventors, scientists and other notable Black people in history. The two books are
Jaxon’s Magical Adventure with Black Inventors and Scientists and
Jaxon and Kevin’s Black History Trip Downtown. Tamara Shiloh has also written a book a picture book for Scholastic,
Cameron Teaches Black History, that will be available in June, 2022.
Tamara Shiloh’s other writing experiences include: writing the Black History column for the Post Newspaper in the Bay area, Creator and Instruction of the black History Class for Educators a professional development class for teachers and her non-profit offers a free Black History literacy/STEM/Podcast class for kids 3d – 8th grade which also includes the Let’s Go Learn Reading and Essence and tutorial program. She is also the owner of the Multicultural Bookstore and Gifts, in Richmond, California,
Previously in her early life she was the /Editor-in-Chief of
Desert Diamonds Magazine, highlighting the accomplishments of minority women in Nevada; assisting with the creation, design and writing of a Los Angeles-based, herbal magazine entitled
Herbal Essence; editorial contribution to
Homes of Color; Editor-in-Chief of
Black Insight Magazine, the first digital, interactive magazine for African Americans; profile creations for sports figures on the now defunct PublicFigure.com; newsletters for various businesses and organizations; and her own Las Vegas community newsletter,
Tween Time News, a monthly publication highlighting music entertainment in the various venues of Las Vegas.
She is a member of:
- Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
- Richmond Chamber of Commerce
- Point Richmond Business Association
- National Association of Professional Women (NAPW)
- Independent Book Publishers Association (IPBA)
- California Writers Club-Berkeley & Marin
- Richmond CA Kiwanis
- Richmond CA Rotary
- Bay Area Girls Club
Tamara Shiloh, a native of Northern California, has two adult children, one grandson and four great-grand sons. She resides in Point Richmond, CA with her husband, Ernest.
www.multiculturalbookstore.com
