Mary Prince (c. 1788 – after 1833) was an enslaved woman from Bermuda whose autobiographical narrative, published in 1831, is the first autobiography by an enslaved Black woman published in Britain. Her testimony played a decisive role in the British abolitionist movement.
Mary Prince(1788 — 1833)
Mary Prince
Empire britannique
9 min read
Frequently asked questions
Famous Quotes
« I have been a slave myself — I know what slaves feel — I can tell by myself what other slaves feel.»
« All slaves want to be free — to be free is very sweet.»
Key Facts
- c. 1788: born at Brackish Pond, Bermuda, into slavery
- 1828: arrives in London with her owners and flees to obtain her freedom
- 1831: publication of *The History of Mary Prince*, the first autobiography by an enslaved woman published in Britain
- Her narrative is presented to the British Parliament to support the abolitionist cause
- 1833: passage of the Slavery Abolition Act in the United Kingdom, two years after the publication of her testimony
Works & Achievements
The first autobiography by an enslaved Black woman published in Britain, dictated to Susanna Strickland and edited by Thomas Pringle. This foundational text of the British abolitionist movement went through three editions in less than a year and was read before Parliament during debates on the Slavery Abolition Act.
Before the publication of her book, Mary Prince delivered oral testimonies to members of the London Anti-Slavery Society. These depositions, recorded in writing, formed the raw material of her autobiography and circulated through activist networks.
In response to defamation proceedings brought by her former enslavers, Mary Prince upheld her testimony before the British courts. This legal document is a valuable primary source that corroborates the main accounts in her autobiography.
Anecdotes
Around the age of twelve, Mary Prince was sold separately from her mother and sisters at a public auction in Bermuda. In her narrative, she describes hearing her mother's cries grow fainter as she was led away by her new master — a scene she would never forget and one that became one of the most moving passages in her autobiography.
Sent to work in the salt ponds of the Turks and Caicos Islands, Mary Prince spent several years wading through brackish water up to her knees under a blazing sun, extracting and hauling salt. This exhausting and painful labor left her with lasting physical damage, including severe rheumatism that would trouble her for the rest of her life.
In 1828, her owners the Woods brought her to London to serve them. Knowing that slavery was not legally recognized on British soil, Mary Prince refused to return with them to Antigua. She took refuge with the Anti-Slavery Society and thus became, in practice, a free woman on English territory — though legally she remained the 'property' of the Woods the moment she set foot back in the colonies.
Her autobiography, dictated to Susanna Strickland in 1831 and published by Thomas Pringle, went through three editions in under a year, so great was the demand. This success prompted libel suits brought by her former owners against the publisher, which paradoxically gave her testimony even greater visibility and strengthened the abolitionist cause in the British Parliament.
After her book was published, Mary Prince gave testimony before members of the British Parliament, and her words contributed directly to the debates that led to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. She was never able, however, to return to the Caribbean to be reunited with her husband — the free carpenter Daniel James whom she had married in Antigua in 1826 — without risking being re-enslaved.
Primary Sources
I was born at Brackish-Pond, in Bermuda, on a farm belonging to Mr. Charles Myners. My mother was a household slave; and my father, whose name was Prince, was a sawyer belonging to Mr. Trimmingham, a ship-builder at Crow-Lane.
I have been a slave myself — I know what slaves feel — I can tell by myself what other slaves feel, and by what they have told me. The man that says slaves be quite happy in slavery — that they don't want to be free — that man is either ignorant or a lying person.
The plaintiff Thomas Pringle, as editor and publisher of The History of Mary Prince, was sued by James Wood who contested the veracity of the accusations of cruelty. The jury ruled in favor of Wood on a single passage, but the substance of Mary Prince's testimony was deemed credible.
Mary Prince came to me herself and told me her history. I wrote it down from her own lips. I have no doubt of the truth of her narrative — she told it with such simple, unaffected earnestness.
Mary Prince's narrative was explicitly cited by several members during the debates on the Slavery Abolition Bill, as evidence of the conditions endured by enslaved people in the British West Indian colonies.
Key Places
Birthplace of Mary Prince, around 1788, on the farm of Charles Myners. It was here that she spent her earliest years alongside her mother and sisters before being sold.
The port town where a public auction took place at which Mary Prince was separated from her family around the age of twelve — one of the most traumatic episodes she recounts in her autobiography.
Mary Prince was sent here to work for several years in the salt ponds under conditions of extreme brutality. She witnessed fellow enslaved people die there and contracted the rheumatism that would afflict her for the rest of her life.
The last colony where Mary Prince was held in slavery before accompanying her enslavers to England. It was here that she married Daniel James in 1826, and a place she was never able to return to after gaining her freedom in London.
It was in London that Mary Prince found refuge in 1828, with Thomas Pringle and the Anti-Slavery Society. There she dictated her autobiography and waged her fight for freedom and recognition of her dignity.
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave, Related by Herself
1831
Témoignages oraux devant la Anti-Slavery Society
1828–1831
Déposition dans le cadre du procès Pringle v. Cadell
1833
