Sarah Forbes Bonetta (
c. 1843 – 1880), born Aina or Ina, was an African slave who later became a ward and goddaughter of
Queen Victoria. Believed to be a titled member of the
Yewa, a clan of the West African
Yoruba people, she was orphaned as a child during a war with the nearby kingdom of
Dahomey and was later enslaved by
Ghezo, the king of Dahomey. She was then given as a "gift" to Captain Frederick E. Forbes of the
Royal Navy and was taken to England, where she became a goddaughter of
Queen Victoria. On Victoria's orders, Bonetta married Captain
James Pinson Labulo Davies, a wealthy
Lagos philanthropist, in 1862. The couple moved back to Africa and had three children, including Lagos socialite
Victoria Davies Randle. Bonetta died aged 37 on the Portuguese island of
Madeira. This formal photograph, taken by the French photographer
Camille Silvy in 1862, shows Bonetta and Davies at around the time of their marriage.
Photograph credit: Camille Silvy; restored by Adam Cuerden
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