Spirit of Freedom (Hamilton, Bermuda)

Spirit of Freedom (Hamilton, Bermuda)

Subject (Topic)
Bermuda Islands--Hamilton
Public art
Public sculpture
Resistance
Slavery--Bermuda Islands
Slavery--England
Transatlantic slave trade

Subject (Name)
Bassett, Sarah (Sally), d. 1730

Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

In 1730, the colonial government of Bermuda executed Sarah Bassett, an enslaved woman, for allegedly attempting to poison her granddaughter’s enslavers. In Spirit of Freedom, she is depicted as a slender female figure bound tightly with ropes, her arms restrained behind her back. Her head is tilted slightly upward and turned to the side, her eyes closed in silent defiance. Her legs are tightly bound to a stake and secured on top of a burning pyre. The sculpture stands on a circular pedestal. Around the base, the name “Sarah (Sally) Bassett” is inscribed, along with a description of events from her life.

Dowling, Carlos, 1949-

Photograph: Wikipedia

February 9, 2009

Progressive Labor Party (PLP), Bermuda

Government of Bermuda Administration Building, 30 Parliament Street, Hamilton HM12, Bermuda

JPEG

English

Visual Arts-Sculpture

Cabinet Gardens, 105 Front Street, Hamilton, Bermuda

Six segments:
The lower step of the base of the statue is divided into six segments. The segments are inscribed with events from Sarah Bassett's life.

• 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, and Nancey, a household bondswoman.
• 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.
• 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."

Bronze plaque on the upper step of the base of the statue:
The African Diaspora Heritage Trail Bermuda
Officially Designated a UNESCO Slave Route Proejct

Officially Opened
9 February 2009
By the Honorable Premier
Dr. the Hon. Ewart F. Brown, JP, MP

84 in. (213.36 cm)

Bronze

Gibson, Stephanie. "Revealing Sally: Unveiling Bermuda's Resistance to Confront its Brutal Past." Monument Lab, May 4, 2020. Accessed February 15, 2021. https://monumentlab.com/bulletin/revealing-sally-unveiling-bermudas-resistance-to-confront-its-brutal-past.

Swan, Quito. "Smoldering Memories and Burning Questions: The Politics of Remembering Sally Bassett and Slavery in Bermuda." In Politics of Memory: Making Slavery Visible in the Public Space, ed. Ana Lucia Araujo, 71-91. Routledge, 2012.

CIPDH-UNESCO. "Spirit of Freedom." Memorias Situadas: Sites of Memory Related to Serious Human Rights Violations. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://www.cipdh.gob.ar/memorias-situadas/en/lugar-de-memoria/espiritu-de-libertad/.

Renée Ater

Sculpture

84 in. (213.36 cm)