Born into slavery in the West Indies in 1761 to a woman named Maria Belle, Dido Elizabeth Belle was the illegitimate daughter of Sir John Lindsay, a British naval officer. It can only be assumed this relationship between Lindsay and Maria Belle was not consensual, however the exact arrangement is lost to history. Lindsay returned to England with Dido after the war in 1765. Lindsay took Dido to be raised by his Aunt and Uncle, William & Elizabeth Murray, the count and countess of Mansfield. The Murray family raised Belle as an educated woman along with their niece and Dido's cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray. The portrait I’ve worked from here in the full version shows both Elizabeth and Dido together, as relations but not quite on equal footing. The social conventions of Mansfield's household are somewhat unclear. When the Mansfields were entertaining, Belle did not eat with the guests. A 2007 exhibit at Kenwood suggests that she was treated as "a loved but poor relation", and therefore did not always dine with guests. He said Belle joined the ladies afterwards for coffee in the drawing-room. However, other historians think she was treated as an equal based on the luxuriousness of her allowance and wardrobe. The very intelligent Dido was given responsibilities such as managing parts of the household and helping her uncle with correspondence. Belle’s life is such an interesting example of how race and illegitimacy was handled in 1700s England.
Left Portrait: Public Domain, Right Portrait base: iStock photo. Created using Photoshop.
