Anna Maria Falconbridge
Encyclopedia
Anna Maria Norwood was born in Bristol
, England
, in 1769. She married Alexander Falconbridge
, a prominent abolitionist
, in 1788.
In 1791, she accompanied her husband to Sierra Leone
, in a failed attempt to reorganize the settlement of freed slaves in Granville Town. Disappointed, she did not share her husband's idealism and considered slavery to be a necessity.
Her husband died in 1792, after which she swiftly remarried and returned to England. She explained her experiences in a series of letters, later published as Narrative of Two Voyages to the River Sierra Leone, During the Years 1791-1792-1793.
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1769. She married Alexander Falconbridge
Alexander Falconbridge
Alexander Falconbridge was a British surgeon on four voyages in slave ships between 1780 and 1787 before meeting the anti-slavery campaigner, Thomas Clarkson and becoming a member of the Anti-Slavery Society . After meeting Thomas Clarkson, he published in 1788 An Account of the Slave Trade on...
, a prominent abolitionist
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
, in 1788.
In 1791, she accompanied her husband to Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, in a failed attempt to reorganize the settlement of freed slaves in Granville Town. Disappointed, she did not share her husband's idealism and considered slavery to be a necessity.
Her husband died in 1792, after which she swiftly remarried and returned to England. She explained her experiences in a series of letters, later published as Narrative of Two Voyages to the River Sierra Leone, During the Years 1791-1792-1793.
External sources
- Narrative of Two Voyages to the River Sierra Leone, During the Years 1791-1792-1793 (Full text, partial free access)
- Romanticism and Slave Narratives, by Helen Thomas
- "Trading in the blush": Domesticating the Colony in Anna Maria Falconbridge's Travel Narrative, by Sharon Harrow
- Biography of Alexander Falconbridge