Nanny of the Maroons (Queen Nanny)
Late 17th c. – 18th c. (dates uncertain)
Blue Mountains (Portland), Jamaica; origin likely Gold Coast (Ghana)
Leader of the Windward Maroons in Jamaica's Blue Mountains during the First Maroon War, remembered for guerrilla resistance to the British. She is named in a 1740 land grant and has been a National Hero of Jamaica since 1982. Most details of her life come from Maroon oral tradition.
Who she was
Nanny led the Windward Maroons of eastern Jamaica in the 18th century. The Maroons were communities of people who had escaped slavery and built settlements in the mountains, beyond the reach of the plantations. The Jamaica Information Service (JIS) notes that some facts about her are documented, but much of her story rests on Maroon oral tradition. The two are kept apart below.
What the documents show
The firmest record is a land grant. Royal Museums Greenwich notes that an agreement dated 20 April 1740 granted Nanny and her people about 500 acres in the parish of Portland. In return, the Maroons agreed to help return runaways and to fight for the British against French or Spanish attack. The settlement on that land, New Nanny Town, was later renamed Moore Town and still exists. British accounts of the war also record the officers' alarm at Maroon ambushes and traps, which JIS cites as evidence of her success as a leader.
The war, now called the First Maroon War, ended in a truce in 1739. JIS reports that she opposed the peace terms agreed by Quao.
What tradition holds
Maroon oral tradition, as summarised by JIS and BlackPast, holds that Nanny was born in West Africa and brought to Jamaica enslaved. BlackPast says it is widely accepted that she was of Asante origin, from present-day Ghana. Tradition makes her the sister of other Maroon leaders, including Cudjoe and Quao. It says that she and Quao founded the Blue Mountain settlement known as Nanny Town, and that she helped many enslaved people escape. JIS records that her influence over the Maroons seemed supernatural and was said to come from her powers of obeah. JIS also credits her with keeping alive African customs, songs and stories among the Maroons.
Uncertain dates
Her birth and death dates are not known, and the sources disagree. JIS gives her death as around the 1740s. Royal Museums Greenwich suggests she lived from about 1686 to around 1760. BlackPast reports that one William Cuffee ("Captain Sambo") is credited with killing her in 1733. That date is hard to reconcile with the 1740 agreement that names her. Some legends even say several women led the Maroons under the name Nanny.
Legacy
On 31 March 1982 Jamaica declared Nanny a National Hero, alongside Sam Sharpe. She is the only woman among the country's seven National Heroes. Her image on the $500 note is a modern portrait, since no likeness from her lifetime survives. She is remembered in Jamaica and across the Caribbean as a symbol of resistance to slavery and of women's leadership.
Achievements
- Led Windward Maroon resistance against British forces in the First Maroon War, which ended in a truce in 1739
- 20 April 1740: Named in a British agreement granting 500 acres in Portland to Nanny and her people
- 1982: Declared a National Hero of Jamaica, the only woman among the seven
- Pictured on the Jamaican $500 note (a modern imagined portrait)
Related entries
Sources
- Jamaica Information Service, "Nanny of the Maroons" (Primary source)
- Jamaica Information Service, "Famous Maroons" (Primary source)
- Stella Dadzie, "Nanny of the Maroons," Royal Museums Greenwich (National Maritime Museum) trail (Reference)
- BlackPast.org, "Queen Nanny of the Maroons (? – 1733)" (Reference)
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