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

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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.

Davies was first married to Matilda Bonifacio Serrano, a Spanish lady from Havana, who died in 1860, nine months after their marriage. [7] [8] In August 1862, Davies married Sara Forbes Bonetta, a protégée of Queen Victoria. [9] Originally named Aina (also Ina), [10] she was enslaved following the raiding of her village in Okeadan and the death of her parents at the hands of Dahomean warriors, subsequently kept in King Ghezo of Dahomey's court. She was liberated by Captain Forbes of the Bonetta after a meeting with Ghezo. Sara died of tuberculosis in 1880, and Davies married Catherine Kofoworola Reffle in 1889. [8] [7] [11] Cocoa farming pioneer in West Africa [ edit ] 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. Anim-Addo, Joan (2015). "Bonetta [married name Davies], (Ina) Sarah Forbes [Sally] (C. 1843–1880), Queen Victoria's ward". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (onlineed.). Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/ref:odnb/75453. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)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. Meanwhile, as Crowther spoke about the horrors of slavery, a lady minimally dressed and too unassuming to deserve interruption of the narration came in and she listened to him with breathless attention. There was no voice speaking for the slaves in West Africa until the British rescued Crowther, gave him dignity, gave him culture and education and he became a voice; the voice. And when the Prince spread the map on the table wider to see Lagos, it blew out the candle light. As Crowther wrote in his autobiography, the Prince then said, “Will your Majesty kindly bring us a candle from the mantelpiece?” Then it dawned on Crowther the unassuming woman who had joined them earlier on was Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India. Wrote Crowther: “On hearing this, I became aware of the person before whom I was all of the time. I trembled from head to foot, and could not open my mouth to answer the questions that followed. Lord Russell and the Prince told me not to be frightened, and the smiles on the face of the good Queen assured me that she was not angry at the liberty I took in speaking so freely before her, and so my fears subsided.” After bringing the candles, the Queen then asked about what she could do about the slave situation in Lagos, Ajayi Crowther said seize Lagos by fire by force. Captain Labulo Davies, the second of the founding fathers, was a lieutenant on HMS Bloodhound, the flagship of the fleet that bombed Lagos. 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. 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 Davies would later attend theCheltenham Ladies’ College, an independent boarding and day school for girls in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. 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 EnglandSarah 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. At the meeting, some slaves were about to be executed for religious rituals. One of them was Aina, a seven-year-old girl whose parents had been killed, a year before in 1848, by Ghezo’s army when they invaded their village, Oke-Odan in Egbado and took her as a slave. Forbes did everything in his power to persuade Ghezo to release the little girl to him. But the adamant king refused. While Sarah was in Freetown the queen continued to send her presents and books. Apparently unhappy there, Sarah returned to England after four years. Victoria then placed her with the Schoen family, former missionaries in Africa, who lived in Gillingham, Kent. Sarah lived with them for six years before moving to Brighton, much against her wishes, where Victoria had arranged for a Miss Welsh to oversee her introduction into British society. Forbes Bonetta's life and story formed the basis for the novel Breaking the Maafa Chain by Anni Domingo, published by Jacaranda Books in 2021.

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. Some months after their arrival in England, Forbes presented Sarah to Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle. The queen described Sarah in her journal entry for 9 November 1850, the date of their first meeting: Her daughter Victoria was given an annuity by the Queen and she continued to visit the royal household throughout her life. In his journal Captain Forbes gave an account of his mission with relation to Miss Bonetta.

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