Joanna Vassa was the only surviving child of the former slave and anti-slavery campaigner Olaudah Equiano.
Background
She was born to Susannah Cullen of Fordham, Cambridgeshire, and Olaudah Equiano (also known as "Gustavus Vassa, the African") on 11 April 1795, and baptised on 29 April. Her father was well known for his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789). Her mother was a subscriber to Equiano"s Narrative and they were married on 7 April 1792 in Soham.
Career
Her grave has recently been rediscovered in Abney Park Cemetery, London, but little is known of her life. The year after Joanna"s birth, Susannah died of an illness, on 21 February 1796, and was buried at Street Andrew"s Church, Soham. Joanna"s father died just over a year later.
Mixed race children were not common in eighteenth century England, but nor, as the British Empire grew, were they unknown, especially in the capital and port cities.
In 1816, on reaching her 21st birthday, Joanna Vassa, being Equiano"s only known surviving relative, inherited a silver watch and £950 from his estate. The National Archives inflation calculator gives an approximate equivalence of £32,000 in 2005.
He had been ordained a minister at the Independent Chapel in Appledore in Devon, two months prior to the wedding. He was 24 years old and Joanna was 26.
On 26 October 1845, Review
Henry Bromley resigned from his congregation, citing his wife"s health as the reason. She was 50 years old and he was 48. He became a minister at the Providence Chapel in Harwich during 1851, while Joanna lived with his family in Stowmarket, Suffolk.
Eventually, she moved back to London and resided at 21 Benyan Terrace, Buckingham Road, in Hackney.
But there is no record of Henry living with her. She died of uterine disease, possibly brought on by fibroids, on 10 March 1857, aged 61.
Her husband Henry survived her for twenty years, and was buried with her on 12 February 1878. lieutenant has not been discovered whether they had any children.
Her memorial at Abney Park was re-pinned and re-erected in 2006, in time for the 150th anniversary of her death in 2007.
This coincided with the bicentenary of the Acting which abolished the slave trade in the British Empire, a goal towards which her father had worked.
Membership
He was a member of Clavering Reading Society throughout his time there.