Hanging in Scone Palace in Perth, Scotland is an unusual portrait. The 1779 painting by David Martin depicts two young aristocratic women clothed in finery. Their pearls, flowers, and dresses gleam against a dark background of vegetation, with a peaceful lake and manor house visible in the distant haze.
The painting’s unusual because one of the ladies is of mixed race and positioned in an odd pose, as though she’s hurrying past the other woman—her white cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray—while pointing to her own cheek and gazing toward the onlooker with a kind of knowing smile.
Paintings of black or mixed-raced individuals from this era almost always depict them in subservient postures, visually elevating the white figures above them and placing emphasis on the lighter-skinned subjects. But in this painting—through their relative positions, the clothes they’re wearing, and their expressions and attitudes—the young women are presented as equals.
Moreover, the darker-skinned lady’s gesture of pointing to her cheek adds another layer of intrigue. She might be pointing to her darker complexion, or to her playful smile. Some have even suggested—based on the fact her father served as plenipotentiary in India—that Dido may be alluding to a mythical story about the Hindu god Krishna, who makes a similar gesture. Whatever the case, the painting enchants and beguiles and has inspired much curiosity and speculation.
Who was this enigmatic young woman who wears a turban, carries exotic flowers, and seems about to pass dreamlike out of the frame of the painting. Her name was Dido Elizabeth Belle, and her life story was as unconventional for the time as the painting that depicts her.
A Charmed Life
Dido Elizabeth Belle was born in the West Indies in about the year 1761 to a British captain and an African woman he had allegedly captured from a Spanish ship. Her father’s name was Sir John Lindsay, and he was involved from 1757 to 1767 in an expedition to protect British trade routes and colonies during the Seven Years War.
At some point during his travels, he encountered Maria Bell, about whom we know little other than that she was a slave. Lindsay and Bell were not married, though it appears he tried to provide for her later. He sailed her to England, eventually freed her, and gifted her some land in Florida.
Dido—a common name for enslaved women, alluding to the African queen in Virgil’s “Aeneid”—was thus born into slavery and technically remained a slave until 1793, although her life was nothing like that of a typical slave. In addition to providing for Dido’s mother, Lindsay provided for his illegitimate daughter. He sent her to be raised by his childless uncle, William Murray, Earl of Mansfield, at his estate at Kenwood. Murray and his wife were already raising another great-niece, Lady Elizabeth Murray, who appears in the portrait. Dido was to be raised alongside her cousin as a lady.
The move was unheard-of—not because of the child’s illegitimacy but because of her mixed race. The fact that she lived in the Kenwood household not as a servant but as a member of the family makes her story unique.
Dido Elizabeth Belle grew up at Kenwood House and was educated extensively. Mikegr/CC BY-SA 3.0
Lord Mansfield provided Dido with an education fit for an aristocrat: She learned to read, write, play music, memorize poetry, and behave with the manners and decorum expected of an educated Georgian-era lady. Under the stately columns of Kenwood and in its grand atriums, she lived much like her cousin—whom she was very close to—participating in family celebrations and holidays and receiving gifts and an allowance.
Lord Mansfield was fond and proud of his great-niece, even showing off her fine manners and education to guests. The “London Chronicle,” remarked, Dido’s “amiable disposition and accomplishments have gained her the highest respect from all his Lordship’s relations and visitants.” However, on at least one occasion, she wasn’t allowed to dine with the family when an American guest was over. Whether this was due to skin color or her illegitimate birth remains unclear.
The American guest in question, Thomas Hutchinson, recalled in his diary, “A Black came in after dinner and sat with the ladies, and after coffee, walked with the company in the gardens, one of the young ladies having her arm within the other. ... I knew her history before, but my Lord mentioned it again. Sir Lindsay, having taken her mother prisoner in a Spanish vessel, brought her to England, where she delivered of this girl, of which she was then with child, and which was taken care of by Lord M., and has been educated by his family. He calls her Dido, which I suppose is all the name she has. He knows he has been reproached for showing a fondness for her – I dare say not criminal.”
Dido was eventually placed in charge of the estate’s dairy and poultry yards, a common enough position for a lady of her rank. Less common, however, was her role as Lord Mansfield’s secretary—an appointment that attested both to her good education and her great uncle’s regard for her.
Whether his relationship with Dido affected Lord Mansfield’s policies as a powerful judge ruling on matters of slavery is a contested point. We know for certain that in 1772, Lord Mansfield issued a judgment that it was illegal to take an African person from English soil and enslave him or her in the Americas. His ruling included the statement, “The state of slavery is of such a nature, that it is incapable of being introduced on any reasons … but only by positive law. … It is so odious, that nothing can be suffered to support it, but positive law.” Many consider this ruling an important landmark on the road to the abolition of slavery in England.
We also know that Lord Mansfield continued to care for Dido even after his death; he left her her a substantial inheritance and granted her freedom when he passed away in 1793, aged 88. Following the death of Mansfield, Dido married a Frenchman, John Davinier, a head steward. Together, the couple had three sons. However, the marriage was not to be a long one, for Dido herself passed away in 1804 at the age of just 43.
Nevertheless, her legacy endures, and her story continues to intrigue. It has inspired a film, plays, and novels. If Dido did, in fact, influence her great uncle in his historic rulings against slavery, then her impact was far greater than merely generating a few works of art.
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Walker Larson
Author
Prior to becoming a freelance journalist and culture writer, Walker Larson taught literature and history at a private academy in Wisconsin, where he resides with his wife and daughter. He holds a master's in English literature and language, and his writing has appeared in The Hemingway Review, Intellectual Takeout, and his Substack, The Hazelnut. He is also the author of two novels, "Hologram" and "Song of Spheres."
