Bermuda: Sarah (Sally) Bassett - Hamilton, Bermuda

(The Legend of) Sarah (Sally) Bassett

Hamilton, Bermuda

N 32° 17.571 W 064° 46.907

Short Description: 

A statue Sarah (Sally) Bassett, the first slave to be memoralized in Bermuda, is located on the grounds of the Cabinet Building near Parliament Street in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Long Description:

An 7' tall statue depicts the execution of Sally Bassett. Her death as made her into a folk hero in Bermuda. A barefoot Sarah Bassett is wearing a loose blouse and paints as she is tied to a stake with her hands behind her back. A pile of kindling lies at her feet and she is looking up towards the sky.

The statue stands in the center of a 7' diameter two-step concrete base. The statue was created by Bermuda sculptor Carlos Dowling and, after considerable controversy, was finally dedicated on the west grounds of the Cabinet Building in Hamilton, Bermuda, on February 9, 2009.

Bermudiana

The lower step of the base of the statue is divided into six segments. Taken together they tell the story of Sarah Bassett and the legend she leaves behind. The segments are inscribed:

SARAH (SALLY) BASSETT

SARAH (SALLY) BASSETT WAS AN ENSLAVED WOMAN

OWNED BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS DICKINSON OF SOUTHAMPTON

ON JUNE 1, 1730, SHE WAS TRIED ON THE "SUSPICION OF

POISONING SEVERAL PERSONS" INCLUDING THE MARINER

THOMAS FORESTER (WHO OWNED SALLY'S GRANDDAUGHTER BECK).

HIS WIFE SARAH FOR, AND NANCEY, A HOUSEHOLD BONDSWOMAN.

SALLY WAS CHARGED WITH SUPPLYING BECK WITH THE

POISON THAT NANCEY DISCOVERED IN THE WALL OF THE 

KITCHEN OUTLET. ALTHOUGH SALLY MAINTAINED HER

INNOCENCE, STATING THAT SHE "NEVER DESERVED" THE

SENTENCE GIVEN, SHE WAS BURNED AT THE STAKE FOR THE OFFENCE.

LOCAL LORE HOLDS THAT IT WAS EXTREMELY HOT WHEN

SALLY WAS EXECUTED; AND EVEN NOW, BERMUDIANS MAY

REFER TO A SCORCHINGLY HOT DAY AS "A REAL SALLY BASSETT DAY".

AT THE TIME OF HER SENTENCING, SALLY WAS VALUED AT

ONE POUND, FOUR SHILLINGS AND SIXPENCE. ANOTHER LOCAL

LEGEND SAYS THAT BERMUDA'S NATIONAL FLOWER, THE

BERMUDIANA, GREW FROM SALLY'S ASHES.

The pair of bronze plaques on upper step of the base of the statue are inscribed:

THE AFRICAN DIASPORA HERITAGE TRAIL - BERMUDA

officially Designated a UNESCO Slave Route Project

OFFICIALLY OPENED

9 FEBRUARY 2009

BY THE HONOURABLE PREMIER

DR. THE HON. EWART F. BROWN, JP, MP