Dido Elizabeth Belle

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Dido Elizabeth Belle with her cousin Elizabeth, detail of a painting formerly thought to be by Johann Zoffany

Dido Elizabeth Belle (1761-1804) (or Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay) was an illegitimate daughter of John Lindsay and an African slave woman known only as Belle. Very little is known about Belle only that she was Black and a Slave. Her daughter Dido lived in the household of Earl of Mansfield who was her father's Uncle and her Great-Uncle.

1 Life
2 Mansfield family tree
3 Dramatic Recreations
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Life

Dido Elizabeth Belle was born around 1761. Her father, John Lindsay, nephew of the Earl of Mansfield, was at the time a Royal Navy captain on the HMS Trent, a warship based in the West Indies that took part in the capture of Havana from the Spanish in 1762. It has previously been suggested that her mother was an enslaved African on board one of the Spanish ships that were captured during this battle. Her baptism record, however, shows that she was born while Lindsay was in the West Indies and that her mother's name was Maria Belle.

Lindsay sent the child to his uncle, the Earl of Mansfield, who lived with his family at Kenwood House in Hampstead, England, which was then just outside London. He and his wife, who were childless, were already raising her cousin Elizabeth Murray after her mother's death; Elizabeth was about the same age as Dido. It is possible Mansfield took her in as Elizabeth's playmate and, later in life, her personal attendant (her role in the family outlined below suggests this would have been more as a lady's companion than that of a lady's maid).

Dido spent some 30 years at Kenwood House. Her position was unusual because she was formally the daughter of a slave, and would have been considered a slave outside of Britain. But she was after a fashion treated as a member of the family. Lord Mansfield himself resolved this paradox in his capacity as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. When called upon to judge the case of an escaped slave, Somersett's Case, he decreed that "The state of slavery is of such a nature, that it is incapable of being introduced on any reasons, moral or political; but only positive law, which preserves its force long after the reasons, occasion, and time itself from whence it was created, is erased from memory: it's so odious, that nothing can be suffered to support it but positive law. Whatever inconveniences, therefore, may follow from a decision, I cannot say this case is allowed or approved by the law of England." His decision was taken by abolitionists to mean that slavery was abolished in England, although his wording reserves judgment on this point, and he later said it was only to apply to the slave at issue in the case. Historians have since suggested that his personal experience influenced his decision.

Despite his revulsion for slavery, the social conventions of Mansfield's household were discriminatory. She did not dine with the rest of the family, especially if they had guests, but joined the ladies for coffee afterwards in the drawing room. As she grew older, she took responsibility for the dairy and poultry yards at Kenwood, she also helped her Great Uncle with his correspondence so this means she was fairly well educated as her Uncle was a Judge. The running of the diary and poultry yard was a typical occupation for ladies of the gentry but helping her Uncle with his correspondence was a bit more unusual as this was normally done by a secretary or a male clerk. Dido also received an annual allowance of £30 10s, several times the wages of a domestic servant; Elizabeth received around £100, but she was after all an heiress in her own right, and Dido, quite apart from her race, was illegitimate in a time and place when great social stigma usually accompanied such status.

A 1779 painting by an unknown painter (though previously attributed to Johann Zoffany) depicts her alongside Elizabeth, carrying exotic fruit and wearing a turban with a large feather. The painting, which hangs at Scone Palace in Perth, Scotland, is owned by the present Earl Mansfield and in 2007 was exhibited in Kenwood during an exhibtion to run alongside the Bicentenary of the Abolition of Slavery Act 1807.

Elizabeth married and left the estate around 1780 at the age of about 20. When Dido's father died, he left her £1000 in his will and asked his wife Mary to take care of her. Mary Lindsay's will does not mention Dido. Lord Mansfield left Dido £500 outright and a £100 annuity in his will, and officially confirmed her freedom.

After Kenwood: Although is a fair amount of documentation about Dido’s life at Kenwood, not a lot is known after she left following the death of her Great Uncle William in early 1793. However it is known that she was a woman of some substance having been left money by both her father, (£1,000) who had died in 1788 and Lord Mansfield himself (£500 and a £100 annunity).

An initial search of the Internet, gave details of records held at the British Library Oriental and East India Library in St. Pancras. These all relate to a one Charles Davinier, an officer in the Indian Army. The documents state that Charles Davinier was born in 1795 and that he was baptised at St. George, Hanover Square.

A search of the baptism register of this church revealed Charles’ baptism and that of his twin brother, John. They were the sons of John Davinier and his wife Elizabeth. This did not prove that Elizabeth was Dido but a check of the marriage registers for the same church provided a marriage; John Davinier to Dido Elizabeth Belle.

A further search of the baptism registers revealed another son, William Thomas born in 1800.

By using the General Registrar’s birth, marriage and death indexes, which commenced on 1st July 1837, Charles Davinier’s life could be traced. The returns, taken every ten years since 1801, were used. However, only those returns from 1841 onwards survive.

The General Registrar's index also revealed a marriage of a Lavinia Amelia Davinier in 1843 and this marriage provided the information that Lavinia had been born in around 1809.

A further search of the St. George Hanover Square parish registers eventually uncovered her baptism along with that of her brother Edward Henry who had been born in 1812.

The interesting thing that these baptisms showed was that their father was John Davinier but their mother’s name was Jane. However, it was clear that these could not be the children of Dido’s son John as he would only have been around 14 when Amelia was born. In addition, it was unlikely that there had been an error in that Dido’s name had been entered incorrectly as Jane as Dido would have been told old to be having children by then.

So it was back to the marriage registers to try and find a marriage for a John Davinier. A suitable marriage was found but it did not take place until 1819 and was at St. Martin’s in the Fields. John Davinier, a widower had married Jane Holland. It was clearly correct as St. Martin’s was also given as John Davinier’s place of residence when he married Dido.

Whilst the marriage was clearly some time after they had had two children, it was not uncommon at this time period for people to marry some years after having children.

So, if this was Dido’s husband John, then Dido must have died by 1819 in order for John to remarry. Of course, divorce was not really an option at that time and this second marriage quoted John as being a widower.

It was then back to the parish registers of St. George Hanover Square and bearing in mind that she had had a child in 1800, a search was made of the burial registers. An entry was found in July of 1804 for her, she was around 40 years old. Sadly, burials registers very rarely record cause of death and the civil registration system that would record it did not start until around 30 years later.

By the use of census returns, parish registers the civil registration system and wills it has been possible to trace Dido’s descendants right down to 1975. However, this is where it ends as her great-great grandson, Harold Davinier died in South Africa without having had children.

Taken from the[BBC Website]

[edit] Mansfield family tree

David Murray

Majory Scott

David Murray

Anne Stewart

2) Louisa Schaw Cathcart

David Murray

1) Henrietta Frederica Bunau

James Murray

John Murray

Catherine Murray

Marjorie Murray

Amelia Murray

Sir Alexander Lindsay of Evelick

Five children

Daniel Finch

Anne Hatton

Elizabeth Belle

John Lindsay

Other children

Edward Finch

Elizabeth Finch

William Murray

Dido Elizabeth Belle

Elizabeth Murray

George Finch-Hatton

[edit] Dramatic Recreations

Let Jutice Be Done Mixed Blessings Theatre Group. 2008 play featuring the possible influence that Dido Elizabeth Belle might have had on the Somerset Ruling of 1772.