‘My Two Lassies:’ Enslaved Children and the Creation of Family Narratives in British East Florida and Aberdeenshire

In 1783 Margaret and Sophia Ross were transportedby their father John Ross from the short-lived colony of British East Florida to live with relatives in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Born into slavery like their mother Bella, the girls were manumitted before being sent to live with their grandfather, the Laird of Arnage. Their experiences, and their relationships with their Aberdonian relatives have until now remained conspicuously concealed in the archives in the Special Collections Library at the University of Aberdeen. Personal letters, journals, and testaments – in addition to records found in other archives in the United Kingdom, United States and the Caribbean – reveal the worlds of two among the many hundreds of marginalised ‘natural or reputed’ children lost to both memory and the historical record. Does their absence from official published history suggest an intentional and calculated deletion of their presence from the family story?