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

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Picture World: Image, Aesthetics, and Victorian New Media, Rachel Teutolsky, Oxford University Press, 2020, p. 267 In 1823, after the new King of Dahomey (the historical enemy of the Yoruba people) refused to pay annual tributes to Oyo, a war broke out that ultimately weakened and destabilised the Oyo Empire. Over the coming decades, Dahomey’s army expanded into the territory of Bonetta’s village, and in 1848, Bonetta’s parents were killed during a ‘slave-hunt’ war. Bonetta herself was then enslaved for about two years. 2. She was liberated from slavery by a British Captain Davies was also a close associate and friend of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. 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 October 24, 1866 with Bishop Crowther as the first patron and Davies as its first president. 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. a b c Elebute, Adeyemo (2013). The Life of James Pinson Labulo Davies: A Colossus of Victorian Lagos. Kachifo Limited/Prestige. p.138. ISBN 9789785205763.

Sarah Forbes Bonetta (Sarah Davies) (1843-1880), Goddaughter of Queen Victoria:Image archive". London: National Portrait Gallery. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007 . Retrieved 30 September 2006. 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. But while Sarah clearly held a special place in Victoria's heart, she wasn't the surrogate daughter many dramatized accounts have made her out to be. "Victoria did not consider Sarah as 'family' — this a myth perpetuated by people who want to invest more significance in the relationship than there really was," Rappaport says. "The queen certainly was fond of and indulged Sarah but she did not take her into the bosom of the royal family and she did not live with the royal family at Windsor as some sources suggest (notably the ITV "Victoria" series). A lot of the official correspondence relating to Sarah's care was carried out by Mrs. Harriet Phipps, the wife of the Queen's Keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Charles Phipps, who would have dealt with any monies paid to support Sarah's upkeep, etc. There is virtually nothing relating to firsthand exchanges between the Queen and Sarah directly, though it is known that Sarah did write to her."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. 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. Joan Anim-Addo, ' Bonetta [married name Davies], (Ina) Sarah Forbes [Sally]', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2015 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. 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.

James Pinson Labulo Davies (1828 – 1906). Davies was a businessman, farmer, merchant-sailor, naval officer, industrialist, statesman, philanthropist, and the husband of Sara Forbes Bonetta ( Princess Aina). Davies was a lieutenant on HMS Bloodhound , the vessel which capture Lagos in 1841 ousting the Oba Kosoko, with the objective of ending the slave trade. Davies is credited with the introduction of cocoa farming and spreading the knowledge of cocoa farming to West Africa, using seeds from he obtained from a Brazilian ship and the island of Fernando Po. He was also a sponsor of the CMS Grammar School. According to Chief Justice W.B. Griffiths, the son Governor of the Gold Coast from 1885 to 1895 Sir Brandford Griffiths, whose father introduced cocoa planting to the Gold Coast: 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. Davies was also a close associate and friend of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. [13] 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. [14] Uwechue, Raph (1991). Makers of Modern Africa. University of Michigan (Africa Books Limited). p.181. ISBN 9780903274180.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.

Shortly after her marriage, Sarah gave birth to a daughter and was granted permission by the Queen to name the child Victoria – the Queen also became her Godmother. Adeloye, Adelola (1974). "Some early Nigerian doctors and their contribution to modern medicine in West Africa". Medical History. 18 (3): 275–93. doi: 10.1017/s0025727300019621. PMC 1081580. PMID 4618303. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019 . Retrieved 23 May 2015.

a b Gwam, L. C. (1967). Great Nigerians: First Series. Vol.1. Nigeria: Times Press. p.40. ISBN 9780903274180. Her marriage eventually fell apart in 1909; she lived in exile with the children thereafter, first in the United Kingdom and then in Sierra Leone, only returning to Lagos in 1917.