One of the first black writers to publish a book in England
c.1831 Mary Prince, the daughter of slaves, was born at Brackish
Pond, Bermuda, in about 1788. Her father was a sawyer and her
mother a house-servant. Mary and her parents were the property
of Charles Myners. When Myners died Mary and her mother were
sold to Captain Williams. Mary now became the personal slave of
his daughter, Betsey Williams. When she was twelve years old
Mary was hired out to another plantation five miles away. Soon
afterwards Williams sold her to another family. Mary Prince
worked as a domestic slave and in the fields and during this
period she was constantly flogged by her mistress. She later
wrote: "To strip me naked - to hang me up by the wrists and lay
my flesh open with the cow-skin, was an ordinary punishment for
even a slight offence." Her master later sold her to another man
and in 1806 Mary Prince was sent to work on the salt pans of
Turk Island. "I was immediately sent to work in the salt water
with the rest of the slave