Elizabeth Swain Bannister

Elizabeth Swain Bannister (also known as E. S. Bannister[1] and Elizabeth Swayne Bannister,[2] ch. 22 February 1785–1828) was a free woman of colour from Barbados. She gained her freedom when her aunt Susannah Ostrehan manumitted her in 1806. She later moved to Berbice where she lived with her partner William Fraser, conducting business in her own right. She acquired property and over 75 slaves, leaving a legacy to her children, who had been legitimized by their father, of £5,400, (equivalent to £600,000 in 2024, according to calculations based on retail price index measure of inflation.[3])

  1. ^ University College London 2020.
  2. ^ Welch 1999.
  3. ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.