11. Belle’s Mother Was a Slave, and Her Father Was a Naval Officer
Belle’s father, Sir John Lindsay, was a member of the Lindsay family of Evelix. His father was the 3rd Baronet, Sir Alexander Lindsay and his mother’s name was Amelia. Lindsay and Belle’s mother, Maria, met when Lindsay and his crew captured the slave ship she was aboard in the Caribbean. While it is likely that Maria and Lindsay had a relationship on the captured Spanish slave ship, historians cannot be sure. Furthermore, they also cannot be sure that the relationship was consensual from both parties. But, they do know that Belle was born shortly after Maria’s capture.
While more is known about Belle’s father than her mother, it is her mother who is the only name on Belle’s Baptism record. Why Sir John Lindsay was not listed on the document is unknown; some believe it is because Maria and Lindsay’s relationship had to be secret. Maria was a slave and Lindsay was a naval officer, who was later knighted and promoted to admiral. The two in a public relationship was not socially acceptable. Furthermore, records show that Lindsay had children with other women, one a few months after Belle was born. Many believe Maria was Lindsay’s concubine until they stopped traveling together in 1774.