Sara Forbes Davies

Sara Forbes Bonetta, otherwise spelled Sarah (1843 – 15 August 1880), was a West African Egbado princess of the Yoruba people who was orphaned in intertribal warfare, sold into slavery and, in a remarkable twist of events, was liberated from enslavement and became a goddaughter to Queen Victoria. She was married to Captain James Pinson Labulo Davies, a wealthy Victorian Lagos philanthropist.

Originally styled Omoba Aina, she was born in 1843 at Oke-Odan, an Egbado village. In 1848, Oke-Odan was raided by a Dahomeyan army; Aina's parents died during the attack and she ended up in the court of King Ghezo as a slave at the age of five. Intended by her captors to become a human sacrifice, she was rescued by Captain Frederick E. Forbes of the Royal Navy, who convinced King Ghezo of Dahomey to give her to Queen Victoria; "She would be a present from the King of the Blacks to the Queen of the Whites," Forbes wrote later.

• Born 1843 Oke Odan, Ogun State
• Died 15 August 1880 (aged 36–37) Funchal, Madeira Island, Portugal
• Cause of death Tuberculosis
• Resting place Funchal, Madeira Island, Portugal

Residence

• London, United Kingdom
• Lagos, British Nigeria
• Nationality Nigerian-British
• Other names Aina
• Home town Abeokuta
• Spouse(s) James Pinson Labulo Davies (m. 1862)

Children

• Victoria Davies (daughter)
• Arthur Davies (son)
• Stella Davies (daughter)

Relatives

• John K. Randle (son-in-law)

  ---

  
  

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Forbes_Bonetta
• https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/sep/15/hidden...
• https://books.google.com/books?id=NLGhimIiFPoC&pg=PA307
• https://books.google.com/books?id=J5spbTRMfo8C&pg=PA235
• http://www.blackpast.org/aah/bonetta-sarah-forbes-1843-1880
• http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp63230
• https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a844762/victoria-christmas-special-da...
• https://web.archive.org/web/20030508111257/http://www.black-history...

Sara was portrayed by Zaris-Angel Hator in the 2017 TV series Victoria