Through Jeroslyn JoVonn
November 27, 2025
A town in northern England is honoring the black woman who escaped slavery in the US and settled there in the 1830s.
A statue honoring the “remarkable and courageous” woman who escaped slavery in the US has been unveiled in the northern England town where she found her freedom.
On November 20, a statue of Mary Ann Macham stood there revealed on the top of the Riverside Embankment Walkway, overlooking the sea, near where she once lived in North Shields, England, the BBC reports. The bronze figure, designed by Keith Barrett, is a testament to Macham’s resilience and Britain’s often overlooked black history.
“The story was so amazing that I thought we should share it more widely,” says Steph Towns, a teacher who came across Macham’s story with her grandmother while they were researching Britain’s role in slavery. “She was such a remarkable and courageous woman.”
“I saw a picture of Mary Ann and, well, that really led us quite a ways,” Towns said.
Born in Middlesex County, Virginia, in May 1802, Mary Ann Macham escaped slavery and torture after hiding in the woods and stowing away on a ship for weeks, eventually arriving in North Shields in the early 1830s. A Quaker family took her in, she married a local man and lived in the town until her death at the age of 91.
Her account of the escape was recorded by the Spence family, who assisted her upon arrival. Years later, Towns discovered her story and shared it on Facebook, which caught the attention of Nina Brown, a trustee of North Shields’ Old Low Light Heritage Centre. This led to an exhibition focusing on Macham’s story and the placement of a headstone on her previously unmarked grave in Preston Cemetery.
A statue inspired by her life was commissioned by North Tyneside Council, with sculptor Keith Barrett great take proud of the project as a North Shields resident.
“I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to create this sculpture honoring the life of Mary Ann Macham,” said Barrett. “It has been especially important to me because North Shields is my home town, and I feel honored to mark the courage and insistence on freedom shown by Mary Ann, and the compassion and support for human rights and justice shown by the Quaker community in North Shields, and all those townspeople who enabled her to settle down and marry, and live out the rest of her life in safety and freedom.”
RELATED CONTENT: Reggae music icon Jimmy Cliff dead at 81
#Statue #remarkable #courageous #black #woman #escaped #slavery #unveiled #England