Mary Prince was born in 1788 to a family enslaved by a predominantly female household, who by the measurements of the time and society, were considered “loving” mistresses. Mary was given at a very young age to the daughter of the household as her “gift”. Hard times for the owner’s family forced them to bring Mary and her siblings to market while her mother watched. She was pawned off to gradually worse families, but crossed paths with her mother at one point, who had been driven mad over the heartbreak of losing her children along with the other tragedies of existing as a female slave. She married a free man, but paid the price for this action to her master as he beat her for it.. Mary’s master eventually brought her to England on a ship. She escaped from them, but had to leave her husband behind. She joined the Anti-Slavery League and with their help, she was able to relay her story to a transcriber and eventually become the first woman to petition parliament. Her story is one of the few existing female slave narratives and is considered instrumental in educating the English population on the horrifying realities of slavery leading up to its abolition.