Fact1: Lindsay entrusts her to uncle William Murray 1st Earl of Mansfield Lord Chief Justice and Elizabeth, Fact2: Lord and Lady Mansfield raise Dido as free gentlewoman along with niece Lady Elizabeth Murray, Fact3: Lady Elizabeth by have no income from father contrast, Fact4: Arrangements are made for Elizabeth to have her coming-out to society, Fact5: Dido ’s aunts Lady Mansfield and Lady Mary Murray seek to steer Dido into engagement with Oliver Ashford
Output: Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay was born in 1761, the natural daughter of Maria Belle, an enslaved African woman in the West Indies, and Captain Sir John Lindsay, a British Royal Navy officer. After Didos mothers death in 1765, Captain Lindsay takes her from the West Indies slums and entrusts her to his uncle William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, and his wife Elizabeth, who live at Kenwood House, an estate in Hampstead outside London. Lord and Lady Mansfield raise Dido as a free gentlewoman, along with their niece Lady Elizabeth Murray, who came to live with them after her mother died and her father remarried. When the two cousins reach adulthood, the Mansfields commission an oil portrait of their two greatnieces, but Dido is unhappy about sitting for it as she is worried that it will portray her as a subordinate, similar to other portraits she has seen depicting aristocrats with black servants. Didos father dies and leaves her the generous sum of £2,000 a year, enough to make her an heiress. Lady Elizabeth, by contrast, will have no income from her father, whose son from his new wife has been named his sole heir. Arrangements are made for Elizabeth to have her comingout to society, but Lord and Lady Mansfield believe no gentleman will agree to marry Dido because of her mixedrace status, so while she will travel to London with her cousin, she will not be out to society. Lord Mansfield agrees to take a vicars son, John Davinier, into an apprenticeship for law. In 1783, Mansfield hears the case of Gregson v. Gilbert, regarding the payment of an insurance claim, for slaves killed when thrown overboard by the captain of a slaveship — an event now known as the Zong massacre. Dido helps her uncle with his correspondence and after John tells her about the Zong case, she begins sneaking correspondence to him which he believes will advance the cause of the abolitionists. Lord Mansfield and John have a disagreement on the main issue of the case. John is told not to see Dido again, and his apprenticeship is at an end. Dido’s aunts, Lady Mansfield and Lady Mary Murray, Lord Mansfields sister, seek to steer Dido into an engagement with Oliver Ashford, son of a scheming grand dame and younger brother to the bigoted James Ashford. At first James is interested in Elizabeth but stops courting her once he discovers she will have no inheritance. Oliver, who is without fortune, proposes to Dido and she accepts, although she continues to see John. James takes Dido aside, tells her she will disgrace his familys name, then insults and manhandles her. Dido later tells Elizabeth of his true character and says she will give part of her inheritance to her for a dowry so she can find a different match. Lord Mansfield finds out about Didos visits to John and confronts both of them. During the confrontation, John professes his love for Dido. Sometime later, Dido meets with Oliver and breaks off their engagement. Dido is relieved when the painting is unveiled, showing her as Elizabeths equal. She tells Lord Mansfield that the portrait commission proves that he can defy convention. Dido sneaks into the balcony of the Inn of Court, so that she can hear Lord Mansfield narrowly rule that the Gregson slavetrading syndicate, based in Liverpool, is not due insurance payments for the slaves the crew threw overboard during the voyage. The ships officers claimed they ordered this action because they were out of potable water. Lord Mansfield discovers, however, that the Zong passed by many ports without stopping for more water, before killing the slaves. It appeared to Lord Mansfield that the slaves were overcrowded, making them sick and not likely to fetch a high price at auction, so the officers decided they would be worth more in insurance payments after their loss. Lord Mansfield sees John and Dido outside the Court after his ruling and says that Dido can only marry a gentleman. Therefore, he agrees to resume Johns apprenticeship in law, so that he can become a lawyer. Dido and John share a kiss, both in full acknowledgement of their romantic feelings. Onscreen text informs the viewer that Dido and John married and had two sons they actually had three, that Elizabeth also married and had children, and that the painting hung at Kenwood House until 1922, when it was moved to Scone Palace in Scotland, the birthplace of Lord Mansfield.