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Sarah ‘Sally’ Bassett

Sarah ‘Sally’ Bassett is famous in Bermudian folklore for the alleged poisoning of her
owners and was burned at the stake. Not much else is known about her; however it is
known that she was an elderly mixed-race slave who had several children and grandchildren.

According to court records, Bassett, with her granddaughter Beck, allegedly poisoned
a Sandys couple, Thomas and Sarah Foster, and their slave girl Nancy. She was said to
have given Beck rags containing two poisons and the week before Christmas, 1729, she
instructed Beck to put some of it over the kitchen door and the rest in their food. The
household fell seriously ill, except for Sarah and Beck, casting suspicion on them both.
The Fosters survived, though the fate of Nancy is unknown.

At her trial in June, Sarah Bassett was convicted of the poisoning and sentenced to
death – the court decided to burn her alive. She is said to have been executed at the
foot of Crow Lane, where crowds gathered to watch.
Two pieces of folklore surround her death: firstly a hot day became colloquially known
as a “Sally Bassett day”; and secondly legends say that after Sarah’s death a small
purple flower was found in her ashes – now the national flower of Bermuda, the Ber-
mudiana. Some claim that the flower was a symbol of her innocence. A statue of Sarah
Bassett was officially commemorated by premier Dr. Ewart Brown on the grounds of
the Cabinet Office on February 9, 2009.

Sarah ’Sally’ Bassett, 2009
By Carlos Dowling
Cabinet Building, Front Street
Collection of the City of Hamilton

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