Storytime
Queen Akua or also known as Cubah Cornwallis was an enslaved woman of Ghanian descent. Queen Akua was originally from The Ashanti Empire and was bought by Captain William Cornwallis and taken to Jamaica.
He changed her role to house help and when Captain William left Jamaica; Akua moved to Port Royal. There she opened a hostel of sorts; which soon became a hospital and a short stay house.
It was a haven as it was inclusive; everybody was welcome and nobody was turned away.
Akua was bestowed with the title – The Queen of Jamaica by the other enslaved people, as she treated them with dignity and respect. Something that they hadn’t felt in a long time.
It was believed that Queen Akua had influence in the Tacky Rebellions, which lasted from May 1760 to July 1760. The British officials were suspicious of Queen Akua and was slightly fearful of her too, as she was allegedly supposed to have practised Obeah magic.
The British banished her from Port Royal, thinking that this would end her power and influence. The plan was to sell her into slavery; however Queen Akua managed to persuade the captain of the ship to leave her on another island where the Fante people lived.
(The Fantes are a group of people that make up modern day Southern Ghana)
This was sadly short lived, as she was captured by the British and was executed.
Queen Akua’s legacy lives on as a testament to the resistance of slavery.
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[…] was rumoured that Queen Akua influenced and helped Takyi’s war, although it was never proven – Akua, was an enslaved […]