The life of James Pinson Labulo Davies : a colossus of Victorian Lagos

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Wasson, Ellis (2009). A History of Modern Britain: 1714 to the Present. John Wiley & Sons. p.235. ISBN 9781405139359. I love to move, to leap, to float …well, just let the spirit seize me at the sound of drums or music.’ Uwechue, Raph (1991). Makers of Modern Africa. University of Michigan (Africa Books Limited). p.181. ISBN 9780903274180. Being invited to meet the Queen was the highest honour a visitor could receive in 19th-century England. Crowther was invited to Windsor Castle with Lord Russell on November 18, 1851, when he met Prince Albert and his wife, Queen Victoria. Ajayi described his enslavement, the atrocities he endured, and the state of slavery in Lagos as of 1851. More recently, Bristol Museums have announced that a series of photographs by the artist Heather Agyepong – inspired by the life of Sarah Forbes Bonetta – will go on display.

The British started the policy of relocating slaves to Freetown because, earlier on, when captives were handed over to Oba Adele, Eshinlokun, Ghezo, or any other monarchy along the coastlines of the Bight of Benin, they were resold into slavery after the British seamen returned to their ships. On her arrival in England, she was given the name 'Sarah Forbes Bonetta', after HMS Bonetta, on which Captain Forbes had sailed. In 1850, she was presented to the Queen at Windsor Castle. On 9th November, the Queen recorded in her journal: 'She is seven years old, sharp and intelligent and speaks English.' Elebute, Adeyemo (2013). The Life of James Pinson Labulo Davies: A Colossus of Victorian Lagos. Kachifo Limited/Prestige. p. 9. ISBN 9789785205763. Sara Forbes Bonetta died of tuberculosis on 15 August 1880 [2] in the city of Funchal, the capital of Madeira Island, a Portuguese island in the Atlantic Ocean. In her memory, her husband erected an over-eight-foot granite obelisk-shaped monument at Ijon in Western Lagos, where he had started a cocoa farm. [19] The inscription on the obelisk reads: [2] Originally named Aina (or Ina), [3] she was born in about 1843 in Oke-Odan, an Egbado Yoruba village in West Africa which recently had Oyo Empire, as a result of pressures largely caused by the Oyo Empire and the Kingdom of Dahomey warring.Born 'Omoboa Aina' in a region now known as Nigeria, Sarah was thought to be a princess of a Yoruba dynasty. Little is known about her parents, but Forbes claimed that they were killed during the Okeadon war of 1848 when Sarah was only five years old. Held captive by King Gezo of Dahomey, she was given to Forbes as a diplomatic 'gift' for Queen Victoria. James was born in Sierra Leone to Nigerian parents, and enlisted with the British Navy. He is credited with pioneering cocoa farming in West Africa. The couple returned to Africa soon after their wedding. Queen Victoria was godmother to their first child, Victoria who later attended Cheltenham Ladies College.

Sarah Forbes Bonetta was taken to Great Britain and met Queen Victoria on November 9th, 1850 at Windsor Castle. The Queen was impressed by her intellect and entrusted her care to the Schoen family in Palm Cottage, Gillingham when Forbes died early in 1851. The Queen declared Sarah her goddaughter and paid her tutorial expenses. Young Sarah became a regular visitor to Windsor Castle. Davies entered the Church Missionary Society (CMS) Grammar School, (now known as Sierra Leone Grammar School), in Freetown in 1848, where he studied mathematics, Greek, biblical and English history, geography, music and Latin. After completing his secondary education, he became a teacher with the CMS in Freetown. After his stint as a teacher Davies enlisted as a cadet with the British Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, and served on HMS Volcano under Commander Robert Coote where he was trained in navigation and seamanship. Davies progressed from cadet to midshipman and eventually lieutenant. Victoria seems to have decided at this point that she should be responsible for Sarah’s education and welfare, as Forbes had no doubt hoped.Merchant sailor, businessman, farmer, pioneer industrialist, patriot, statesman, churchman, missionary and philanthropist.” So begins Adeyemo Elebute in this fabulous new book, The Life of James Pinson Labulo Davies: A Colosuss of Victorian Lagos. What is missing in these opening monikers is “founding father”. When Nigerians talk about founding fathers, they refer to Ahmadu Bello (Sardauna), Nnamdi Azikiwe and Obafemi Awolowo. Whereas modern Nigeria existed before these three were born. The first time Bello arrived on the national scene was in 1947 after the new 1946 Arthur Richards Constitution amalgamated the North and South legislative assemblies. He led the northern legislators to Lagos, the seat of the national legislature. Transported to England, Sarah lived at first with Captain Forbes’s family. On 9 November, she was taken to Windsor Castle and received by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The Queen was so impressed with Sarah that she paid for her education and met with her on several occasions, even writing about her in her journal. Herskovits Kopytoff, Jean (1965). A preface to modern Nigeria: the "Sierra Leonians" in Yoruba, 1830-1890. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 286.

Elebute, Adeyemo (2013). The Life of James Pinson Labulo Davies: A Colossus of Victorian Lagos. Kachifo Limited/Prestige. p. 234. ISBN 9789785205763. So extraordinary a present would have been at least burden, had I not the conviction that, in consideration of the nature of the service I had performed, the government would consider her as the property of the crown. Picture World: Image, Aesthetics, and Victorian New Media, Rachel Teutolsky, Oxford University Press, 2020, p. 267

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a b Gwam, L. C. (1967). Great Nigerians: First Series. Vol.1. Nigeria: Times Press. p.40. ISBN 9780903274180. Davies entered the Church Missionary Society (CMS) Grammar School, (now known as Sierra Leone Grammar School), in Freetown in 1848, where he studied mathematics, Greek, biblical and English history, geography, music, and Latin. After completing his secondary education, he became a teacher with the CMS in Freetown. After his stint as a teacher Davies enlisted as a cadet with the British Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, and served on HMS Volcano under Commander Robert Coote where he was trained in navigation and seamanship. Davies progressed from cadet to midshipman and eventually lieutenant. The Schoens’ daughter Annie, who taught her French and English, later recalled that Sarah ‘was very bright and clever, fond of study, and had a great talent for music’. According to Annie: As far as I'm aware, the first person to plant cocoa on the main-land was the late Capt. J.P.L. Davies, a well known native of Lagos, who in 1882 used to tell me about the farm he had lately just made beyond the Protectorate of Lagos. [12] Philanthropy and establishment of CMS Grammar School [ ]