Joanna Vassa (1795-1857) was the only surviving descendant of author and leading anti-slavery campaigner,
Olaudah EquianoOlaudah Equiano , also known as Gustavus Vassa, was one of the most prominent Africans involved in the British movement of the abolition for the slave trade. His autobiography depicted the horrors of slavery and helped influence British lawmakers to abolish the slave trade through the Slave Trade...
, who is also known as "Gustavus Vassa, the African".
Joanna's early life was tragic. In 1796, only a year after her birth, her English mother, Susannah Cullen of Fordham,
CambridgeshireCambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, died, and was buried at St Andrew's Church,
SohamSoham is a small town in the English county of Cambridgeshire. It lies just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket . Its population is 9,102 , and it is within the district of East Cambridgeshire.-Archaeology:...
. In the following year, her famous West African father Equiano died in London (31 March 1797, aged 52), and this was shortly followed by the death of her elder sister and only sibling Anna Maria (b.1793), on 21 July.
In 1816, on reaching her 21st birthday, Joanna Vassa, being Equiano's only known surviving relative, inherited a silver watch and £950 from his former estate; a figure that would perhaps be worth a hundred times that value today.
She married the
CongregationalCongregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
minister, the Rev. Henry Bromley, whose first position was at Appledore in
DevonDevon is a large county in England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, although that is an unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county itself and often indicating a traditional or historical context. The county shares borders with Cornwall to the west and Dorset and Somerset to...
, where he worked for five years.
For many years Joanna Vassa (Bromley) lived near the
CongregationalCongregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
Chapel at
ClaveringClavering is a village in north-west Essex in England. The village's name means "place where clover grows". Clavering is situated 20 miles south of Cambridge on the River Stort. It is one of over 100 villages in the district of Uttlesford...
in
EssexEssex is a county in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. The county town of Essex is Chelmsford.-History:In pre-Roman Britain the territories of Suffolk and Essex were home to the Trinovantes tribe, which had grown wealthy through intensive trade with the Roman Empire, contemporary...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where her husband, the Rev. Henry Bromley was pastor between 1827 and 1845.
Joanna and her husband moved to London in 1845, for her health, her husband taking on only occasional commitments at Clavering thereafter; the chapel relying on students from Cheshunt College until a permanent appointment could be made.
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Joanna Vassa (1795-1857) was the only surviving descendant of author and leading anti-slavery campaigner,
Olaudah EquianoOlaudah Equiano , also known as Gustavus Vassa, was one of the most prominent Africans involved in the British movement of the abolition for the slave trade. His autobiography depicted the horrors of slavery and helped influence British lawmakers to abolish the slave trade through the Slave Trade...
, who is also known as "Gustavus Vassa, the African".
Joanna's early life was tragic. In 1796, only a year after her birth, her English mother, Susannah Cullen of Fordham,
CambridgeshireCambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, died, and was buried at St Andrew's Church,
SohamSoham is a small town in the English county of Cambridgeshire. It lies just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket . Its population is 9,102 , and it is within the district of East Cambridgeshire.-Archaeology:...
. In the following year, her famous West African father Equiano died in London (31 March 1797, aged 52), and this was shortly followed by the death of her elder sister and only sibling Anna Maria (b.1793), on 21 July.
In 1816, on reaching her 21st birthday, Joanna Vassa, being Equiano's only known surviving relative, inherited a silver watch and £950 from his former estate; a figure that would perhaps be worth a hundred times that value today.
She married the
CongregationalCongregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
minister, the Rev. Henry Bromley, whose first position was at Appledore in
DevonDevon is a large county in England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, although that is an unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county itself and often indicating a traditional or historical context. The county shares borders with Cornwall to the west and Dorset and Somerset to...
, where he worked for five years.
For many years Joanna Vassa (Bromley) lived near the
CongregationalCongregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
Chapel at
ClaveringClavering is a village in north-west Essex in England. The village's name means "place where clover grows". Clavering is situated 20 miles south of Cambridge on the River Stort. It is one of over 100 villages in the district of Uttlesford...
in
EssexEssex is a county in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. The county town of Essex is Chelmsford.-History:In pre-Roman Britain the territories of Suffolk and Essex were home to the Trinovantes tribe, which had grown wealthy through intensive trade with the Roman Empire, contemporary...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where her husband, the Rev. Henry Bromley was pastor between 1827 and 1845.
Joanna and her husband moved to London in 1845, for her health, her husband taking on only occasional commitments at Clavering thereafter; the chapel relying on students from Cheshunt College until a permanent appointment could be made. In about 1870, the Clavering Congregational Chapel needed extensive repair and a new one was built on its site, opening in August 1872 with dedicating prayers by Rev. Henry Bromley and other invited ministers.
Joanna died on 10 March 1857 aged 61. She was buried on 16 March close to the memorial statue to
Isaac WattsIsaac Watts is recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", as he was the first prolific and popular English hymnwriter, credited with some 750 hymns...
in Dr. Watts' Walk, the principal axial walk of
Abney Park CemeteryAbney Park in Stoke Newington, north-east London, UK is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney and Dr. Isaac Watts, and the neighbouring Hartopp family. In 1840 it became a non-denominational garden cemetery, semi-public park arboretum, and educational...
. Her husband Henry survived her for twenty years, and was buried with her on 12 February 1878. It has not been discovered whether Joanna 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 which coincided with the bicentenary of the first legislation of the British Parliament that began to outlaw the West African and transatlantic slave trade into which her father had once been sold, and about which he wrote an account together his later life and travels; a book that had great political influence, and literary merit.