THURSSSSSSSSS-DAY

Today is Emancipation Day in Bermuda – the first day of a two-day holiday. This holiday marks the end of slavery in the British Empire. Slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which came into effect on August 1st 1834. The territories controlled at that time by the East India Company, Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka) and St. Helen’s were excluded. Slavery was not abolished in these regions until 1843.

Tomorrow is Mary Prince Day in Bermuda. This holiday takes place on the day after Emancipation Day and coincides with the second day of Cup Match, an annual cricket match between Somerset and St. George’s.

Mary Prince was a Bermudian slave who published her autobiography, “The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave“. Published in 1831, the book was a first-hand account of the brutality of slavery in Bermuda and the first account of the life of a black woman to be published in England.