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

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Of her own history she was only a confused idea. Her parents were decapitated; her brother and sisters she knows not what their fate might have been .

Following their wedding in 1862, the couple lived briefly in Brighton’s Seven Dials at 17 Clifton Hill. They then moved to Lagos and had three children: Victoria Davies was born in 1863, followed by Arthur Davies in 1871 and Stella Davies in 1873. The first born was named after Queen Victoria, who was given an annuity by the Queen and continued to visit the royal household throughout her life. It is not clear whether Gezo offered the child freely or whether Forbes bargained for her, but she clearly impressed him. Forbes believed that the fact that Gezo had held her for two years and not sold her to slave traders meant she was likely to be of high status. He also feared (with reason, as Gezo was known to sacrifice high-status captives) that she was destined to be offered as a human sacrifice. Uwechue, Raph (1991). Makers of Modern Africa. University of Michigan (Africa Books Limited). p.181. ISBN 9780903274180. This display was part of Autograph ABP’s The Missing Chapter, an ongoing archive research programme supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Autograph ABP is a London-based arts charity that works internationally in photography and film, race, representation, cultural identity and human rights. In January 1862, 19-year-old Bonetta was a guest at the wedding of the Princess Royal Victoria, the eldest child of the Queen. In August of that year Bonetta herself was given permission by Queen Victoria to marry Captain James Pinson Labulo Davies, a 31-year-old wealthy Yoruba businessman from Sierra Leone. The couple married in an elaborate wedding at St. Nicholas Church in Brighton, England. Sarah arrived at the ceremony in an entourage that included ten carriages. The couple lived in Bristol, England briefly before returning to Sierra Leone.

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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. Captain Forbes initially intended to raise Bonetta himself. He gave her the name Forbes, as well as that of his ship, the ‘Bonetta’. On the journey to England upon the ship, she reportedly became a favourite of the crew, who called her Sally. 3. She was educated between Africa and England Her final years were dedicated to the activities of the Ladies’ Club, a group of upper-class women in Lagos.

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. Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a princess of the Egbado clan of the Yoruba people, is best known as the goddaughter of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. Bonetta was born in 1843 in what is now southwest Nigeria. Her parents’ names are unknown as are the names of her siblings who were all killed in the 1847 slave raid that made Bonetta a captive. Joan Anim-Addo, ' Bonetta [married name Davies], (Ina) Sarah Forbes [Sally]', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2015 Born, orphaned and enslaved in West Africa, then sent to England, cared for by Queen Victoria and lauded as a high-society celebrity figure, the remarkable life of Sarah Forbes Bonetta (1843-1880) is one that often slips under the historical radar.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 [ ] Davies was also a close associate and friend of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. [14] Both men collaborated on a couple of Lagos social initiatives such as the opening of The Academy (a social and cultural center for public enlightenment) on 24 October 1866 with Bishop Crowther as the first patron and Davies as its first president. [15] Gordon, Naomi (20 December 2017). "Victoria creator "challenging" perspectives of the era". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021 . Retrieved 7 October 2020. Lawrence, Andrew G.; Afe Adogame (29 September 2014). Africa in Scotland, Scotland in Africa: Historical Legacies and Contemporary Hybridities. p.123. ISBN 978-9-00-4276-9-01 . Retrieved 4 February 2015. 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:

Andrew G. Lawrence; Afe Adogame (2014-09-29). Africa in Scotland, Scotland in Africa: Historical Legacies and Contemporary Hybridities. p. 123. ISBN 978-9-00-4276-9-01 . https://books.google.com/books?id=8mLPBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA123 . Retrieved February 4, 2015. 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. In 1890 at the age of 27, Victoria marriedDr. John Randle, a Scottish-trained medical doctor who was also active in politics in Lagos, two hundred guests – including the governor of theLagos Colony– were in attendance at the wedding at St. Paul’s Church in Lagos. The service was officiated by the ReverendJames Johnson, the assistant bishop of Western Equatorial Africaand her wedding gown was given to her by the queen. It is suggested that Sarah did, however, visit Windsor regularly, upon invitation, and the Queen mentions seeing her once or twice in her journals, as well as Sarah's daughter Victoria who was the Queen's godchild." Rappaport emphasizes this point, and for good reason, as it is often misreported that Sarah was Queen Victoria's godchild, rather than Sarah's daughter, Victoria. "Sarah is said to have formed a friendship with Princess Alice, the queen's second daughter, but sadly there are no surviving letters or documents to confirm this. I personally would have so liked to prove this was the case."James Pinson Labulo Davies was born to James and Charlotte Davies in the village of Bathurst, Sierra Leone, then a British colony. His parents were Creoles of recaptive Yoruba ancestry liberated by the British West Africa Squadron from the Atlantic Slave Trade, and whose origins were in Abeokuta and Ogbomoso respectively. [1] Queen Victoria] gave constant proofs of her kindly interest in her. At the Midsummer and Christmas seasons she often went either to Windsor or Osborne to stay in the family of one of the officers of Her Majesty’s Household, and was frequently sent for by the Queen to see her privately. Adedeji, J.A. The Church and the Emergence of the Nigerian Theatre, 1866-1914. Journal of Historical Society of Nigeria.6.1. p. 228.

James Pinson Labulo Davies (14 August 1828 [1] – 29 April 1906 [2]) was a Nigerian businessman, merchant-sailor, naval officer, farmer, pioneer industrialist, statesman, and philanthropist who married Sara Forbes Bonetta in colonial Lagos. [3] [4] Early life, education, and naval career [ edit ] 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. It is usual to reserve the best born for the high behest of royalty and the immolation on the tombs of the diseased nobility. For one of these ends she had been detained at court for two years: proving, by her not having been sold to slave dealer, that she was of a good family.

James Pinson Labulo Davies (1828 – 1906)

Olukoju, Akyeampong, Bates, Nunn, & Robinson (2014). Africa's Development in Historical Perspective. Cambridge University Press. pp.218–219. ISBN 9781139992695. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link) Sarah Forbes Bonetta: Portrait of Queen Victoria's goddaughter on show". BBC News. 7 October 2020. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020 . Retrieved 7 October 2020. Sarah died on 15 August 1880 in the city of Funchal, the capital of Madeira Island, a Portuguese island in the Atlantic ocean. Her husband erected a granite obelisk-shaped monument more than eight feet high in her memory at Ijon in Western Lagos, where he had started a cocoa farm. Herskovits Kopytoff, Jean (1965). A Preface to Modern Nigeria: the "Sierra Leonians" in Yoruba, 1830-1890. University of Wisconsin Press. p.286. Born in 1843 in Oke-Odan, an Egbado Yoruba village in West Africa, Bonetta was originally named Aina (or Ina). Her village had recently become independent from the Oyo Empire (modern-day southwestern Nigeria) after its collapse.