Eliza Junor

Eliza Junor (1804–20 April 1861) was a Scotswoman of mixed race, who was the daughter of a former slave owner, Hugh Junor, and a slave or former slave ("free coloured woman") whose name is not recorded.[1][2]

Life

Eliza and her brother William were born in Demerara in the British colony of Guyana, where their father owned a timber estate with sixty enslaved people.[3] In 1816, Hugh Junor returned with his children, though apparently not with their mother, to his native Scotland and settled in Fortrose, on the Black Isle,[2] and had both children baptised at Rosemarkie.[3] In Fortrose, Eliza went to school and won prizes for penmanship. She later lived in Edinburgh and Brixton, London, where she worked as a governess. She never married, but had one daughter, Emma McGregor,[2] who was baptised at St George Middlesex in 1838.[3] She returned to Fortrose in the 1850s. Her brother William married a woman from Glasgow and emigrated to Argentina as a missionary for the Methodist Church.[1] Junor died on 20 April 1861 and is buried in Rosemarkie churchyard.[2][4]

Legacy

Eliza Junor has attracted interest as an example of a black woman living in Scotland and England in the 19th century. Her life was researched by historian David Alston,[1][2] and has been made into a short film in Gaelic by Fèisean nan Gàidheal, Eliza, with the title role played by Edinburgh-based actor Tawana Maramba.[1][5] A song "Òran Eliza" was composed by Eilidh Mackenzie.[5]

In October 2020, Fortrose Academy held the first Eliza Junor Penmanship Competition, to mark Black History Month.[4]

References
  1. Steven McKenzie (20 November 2020). "How a slave-owner's daughter made a life in Scotland". BBC. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  2. David Alston. "Eliza Junor". Slaves and Highlanders. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  3. "Hugh Junor". Legacies of British Slave-ownership. University College London. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  4. Fraser, Alasdair (14 November 2020). "Legacy of Black Isle slave owner's daughter remembered at her former school, Fortrose Academy". Ross-shire Journal. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  5. Folk Radio (18 November 2020). "New 19th Century Gaelic Drama Tells the Remarkable Story of Eliza Junor from Guyana". Retrieved 23 November 2020.
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