| Sumario: | Bermuda-born Mary Prince (c. 1787–c. 1833) is the first known Black woman to relate a slave narrative. Her story, The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave, Related by Herself, was first published in 1831. Prince, who became a Bermudian National Hero in 2012, is associated with historic Cavendish, once a grand home located in Devonshire Parish, Bermuda. Cavendish presents an opportunity to explore the story of a colonial heritage structure in Bermuda that is connected to the story of Mary Prince and thus to slavery. The oldest part of Cavendish was built in the mid-1700s or earlier. It has undergone several renovations. In 1969 it was converted into a housing complex, yet historic Bermuda cedar and pine remain. Isotopic analysis of timber fragments taken from hand-hewn Bermuda cedar beams and pine planks in the oldest remaining sections of the house indicate that the pine likely originated in Georgia. This finding aligns with the narrative that Bermudians historically harvested timber from the Georgia region of the southeastern United States from the late 1600s—before Georgia was formally chartered as a colony in 1732.
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