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Ann M. Beaudhuy's Letters

Halberg, Rikke Lie LU orcid (2024) In Journal of Caribbean History 58(1). p.54-68
Abstract
Very few records written by black Caribbean women in the 1800s exist in the archives. An exception to this are three letters written by Ann M. Beaudhuy, born on St Croix around 1812. She came from humble circumstances and worked for many years as a nanny for a white Danish family, the Rothes. The head of the family, Louis Rothe, held a high position in the colonial administration. However, when he fell fatally ill in 1870 the family moved back to Denmark. As a consequence, Beaudhuy lost her job, her home, and the access to valuable networks that her employment had provided. In the following year, she wrote a series of letters to one of the Rothe children, the now adult Clara Rothe, who had married a few years earlier and moved to Europe.... (More)
Very few records written by black Caribbean women in the 1800s exist in the archives. An exception to this are three letters written by Ann M. Beaudhuy, born on St Croix around 1812. She came from humble circumstances and worked for many years as a nanny for a white Danish family, the Rothes. The head of the family, Louis Rothe, held a high position in the colonial administration. However, when he fell fatally ill in 1870 the family moved back to Denmark. As a consequence, Beaudhuy lost her job, her home, and the access to valuable networks that her employment had provided. In the following year, she wrote a series of letters to one of the Rothe children, the now adult Clara Rothe, who had married a few years earlier and moved to Europe. Beaudhuy’s three letters are a rare testimony to her as a person and the time she lived in. The letters project her own voice and words, not filtered through the colonial administration as most Caribbean records of that time. It is Beaudhuy who wields the pen herself, and the letters give a rare insight to colonial life as she experienced it in the early 1870s. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Caribbean History
volume
58
issue
1
pages
15 pages
ISSN
0047-2263
DOI
10.37234/JCH.2024.5801.A003
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ce1115e3-04be-43d1-a0b0-e6187e4ebaa8
alternative location
https://www.uwipress.com/jch-issues/v58-i1/
date added to LUP
2024-06-05 15:00:14
date last changed
2024-06-18 12:19:03
@article{ce1115e3-04be-43d1-a0b0-e6187e4ebaa8,
  abstract     = {{Very few records written by black Caribbean women in the 1800s exist in the archives. An exception to this are three letters written by Ann M. Beaudhuy, born on St Croix around 1812. She came from humble circumstances and worked for many years as a nanny for a white Danish family, the Rothes. The head of the family, Louis Rothe, held a high position in the colonial administration. However, when he fell fatally ill in 1870 the family moved back to Denmark. As a consequence, Beaudhuy lost her job, her home, and the access to valuable networks that her employment had provided. In the following year, she wrote a series of letters to one of the Rothe children, the now adult Clara Rothe, who had married a few years earlier and moved to Europe. Beaudhuy’s three letters are a rare testimony to her as a person and the time she lived in. The letters project her own voice and words, not filtered through the colonial administration as most Caribbean records of that time. It is Beaudhuy who wields the pen herself, and the letters give a rare insight to colonial life as she experienced it in the early 1870s.}},
  author       = {{Halberg, Rikke Lie}},
  issn         = {{0047-2263}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{54--68}},
  series       = {{Journal of Caribbean History}},
  title        = {{Ann M. Beaudhuy's Letters}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.37234/JCH.2024.5801.A003}},
  doi          = {{10.37234/JCH.2024.5801.A003}},
  volume       = {{58}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}