The History of Mary Prince

The History of Mary Prince caused a stir as the first account published in Great Britain of a black woman's life at a time when anti-slavery agitation was growing. Her first person account touched many people and had an immediate effect on public opinion regarding the anti-slavery movement. When the book was published, slavery was no longer recognised as legal in Britain, but Parliament had not yet abolished it in its colonies like Bermuda and the British Caribbean. The book also generated a lot of controversy in its days and was seen as a misleading propaganda by the West Indian supporters of slavery. Excerpt: "I was born at Brackish-Pond, in Bermuda, on a farm belonging to Mr. Charles Myners. My mother was a household slave; and my father, whose name was Prince, was a sawyer belonging to Mr. Trimmingham, a ship-builder at Crow-Lane. When I was an infant, old Mr. Myners died, and there was a division of the slaves and other property among the family. I was bought along with my mother by old Captain Darrel, and given to his grandchild, little Miss Betsey Williams." Mary Prince (1788–1833) was born in Devonshire Parish, Bermuda, to an enslaved family of African descent who travelled to London with her master from Antigua where she narrated her life story to Thomas Pringle, the founder of Anti-Slavery society in Britain.