CHARLOTTETOWN
(For a queen of possibly African ancestry)
The capital of Prince Edward Island was named for King George III’s queen, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. While previous queens acted as leaders of society and fashion, Charlotte preferred a quiet life at the modest Kew Palace outside London with her large family.
George and Charlotte had fifteen children, thirteen of whom survived to adulthood. Just before the arrival of her fourteenth child, an exhausted Charlotte wrote, “I don’t think a prisoner could wish more ardently for liberty than I wish to be rid of my burden and see the end of my campaign. I would be happy if I knew this was the last time.” In addition to her large family, Charlotte had a strong interest in horticulture and contributed to the development of London’s Kew Botantical Gardens.
At a time of rising support for abolitionism in Britain, Charlotte’s ancestry was carefully scrutinized. One of her forbears, a Portuguese noblewoman named Margarida de Castro e Sousa, may have had African ancestry. Charlotte’s portrait painter, Allan Ramsay, supported the abolition of slavery and may have deliberately painted the queen with African features to emphasize this ancestry.
Charlottetown is not the only Canadian place named for George III’s queen. Queen
Charlotte also gave her name to the
Queen Charlotte Islands off the coast of British Columbia, which were officially renamed Haida Gwaii in 2010. Queen Charlotte City, a small village in Haida Gwaii, still carries her name.