Cultivators: Cubah Cornwallis

Cubah Cornwallis (c. 1700s) was a Jamaican nurse who lived from the mid to late 18th century until 1848. Cubah was likely born into slavery, but eventually gained her freedom and settled in Port Royal, opening a lodging house that doubled as an early hospital. She was known throughout the port city for her healing techniques that nursed many naval officers back to health. Her methods drew from Obeah tradition and practice. Cubah is considered one of the foremothers of modern nursing practice. 
For Further Reading: 

• A Week at Port Royal by Richard Hill 
• Black History Month: Who was ‘Queen of Kingston’ Cubah Cornwallis?
• Earliest nursing care: Cuba Cornwallis
• What is Obeah?

This month, we’re talking about cultivators — women who nurtured, cross-pollinated, experimented, or went to great lengths to better understand and protect the natural world.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Before we get started. This episode contains mentions of sexual violence.
Please be advised when listening. Hello, my name is Vanessa Handy.
I'm a producer at Wonder Media Network and I'm so
excited to be guest hosting this episode of Womanica. This month,
we're talking about cultivators, women who nurtured, cross pollinated, experimented,

(00:24):
or went to great lengths to better understand and protect
the natural world. When looking at the lives of women
throughout history, there are often limitations to the information we
can gather, particularly in the case of women of color,
who are often overlooked by traditional archives. In the case

(00:47):
of today's subject, despite the odds, she makes herself known
in a violent archive, the archive of slavery. Though she
has undeniably made her mark on history, her story is
told old primarily through the voices and perspectives of her oppressors,
except in the case of a few oral histories and
stories passed down in her home Jamaica. Despite the biases

(01:11):
of her known history, what remains clear is her wealth
of knowledge in her field, the realms of healing and nursing. Today,
we are looking at the life of a woman whose
story cannot be easily told through the archive Cuba Cornwallis.

(01:32):
Cuba is considered one of the pioneering figures in early
nursing in Jamaica and the Caribbean. Her work inspired and
preceded more documented figures like Mary Sekol and laid the
foundation for early modern nursing, though much of that influence
is only seen as a footnote in the stories of
those she helped heal, prominent members of the British Royal Navy.

(01:55):
Cuba's early life is mostly a mystery lost to time.
She was born or sometime in the later seventeen hundreds,
but her birth date is unknown. It's also unclear if
she was born into slavery in the Caribbean or on
the Gold Coast of Africa and subjected to the Transatlantic
slave trade. What is clear is that during her early

(02:15):
life through her twenties, she was enslaved by Captain William Cornwallis.
Her own last name, as we know it comes from
her time as an enslaved person. Further obscuring her story,
Cuba served as a housekeeper and nurse to the Cornwallis family,
and was appointed Captain Cornwallis's housekeeper in Jamaica. At some

(02:36):
point in the late seventeen hundreds, Cuba was freed. Many
sources claim that Captain Cornwallis freed her, perhaps because they
had children together. The evidence of Cuba bearing children to
Cornwallis further complicates her story. It's likely that Cornwallis was
a rapist to Cuba in addition to being an enslaver.

(02:56):
After finding freedom, Cuba settled in Port Royal, Jamaica. Port Royal,
famous as a hub for pirates and privateers in the
sixteen hundreds, had been under British rule for the better
part of two centuries. When Cuba settled there in the
late seventeen hundreds. It was based for the British Royal Navy,
with many sailors and captains passing through the port. It

(03:17):
was also a major port in the Transatlantic slave trade,
which had already steered much of the course of Cuba's lair.
The city saw huge amounts of wealth, chaos, and violence
passing through it at any given time. During this period,
there were few official hospitals. The population faced a barrage
of illnesses such as dysentery, yellow fever, malaria, and scurvy,

(03:40):
causing many of the navy and general population to die
at unprecedented rates. In this climate, Cuba was able to
purchase a home that she opened as a proto hospital
or lodging house. There, she treated naval officers as they
passed through the port. She soon achieved enough success that
her name was known throughout Port Royal and Jamaica. Cuba

(04:05):
likely practiced obia, or was influenced by Obia traditions, which
is a term used to describe African diasporic religious and
healing traditions that were widely practiced across the Caribbean. Obia
is multifaceted in that it combines both religious practices from
the Gold Coast in Africa brought to the Caribbean through
the slave trade, as well as reinterpreted religious traditions from

(04:29):
Europe and Asia. Obia also involves knowledge of medicinal plants
and animals that didn't fit in with typical colonial medical practices.
It's important to note that the term obia was seen
as derogatory or even dangerous to those who practiced these traditions,
as it was often associated with accusations of witchcraft. The

(04:52):
healing component of obia seems to have been closely woven
into Cuba's work as a nurse or as she was
referred to occasionally a doctress. Descriptions of her work include
a focus on sanitization, making sure to wash and keep
wounds and healing areas clean, as well as positivity. She
strived to help her patients maintain a good outlook on

(05:14):
their health despite circumstance. She was also described as having
provided hearty meals and sustenance, and likely relied upon traditional
local plants that could aid in recovery. One such plant
was the capoc or white cotton tree, which was indigenous
to West Africa and also found in South America and
the Caribbean. Teas made from the bark, roots or leaves

(05:37):
were often used to treat dysentery and yellow fever. Cuba's
work as a healer was documented in two explicit cases,
first in healing Captain Horatio Nelson in seventeen eighty when
he fell ill with dysentery hearing an expedition to Nicaragua.
Cuba was able to quickly nurse Nelson back to health.

(05:59):
He referred to her care in personal letters, looking back
at her aid fondly and even wishing to return to
her lodgings once he was back in England. Nelson went
on to become an admiral and is regarded as one
of the most successful strategists in naval history due to
his decisive victories in the French Revolutionary War as well
as the Napoleonic Wars. Despite his respect for Cuba and

(06:21):
her work, he remained supportive of slavery and even spoke
out against British abolition movements. The second case of Cuba's
skills being explicitly documented was when she nursed a young
Prince William Henry later King William the Fourth back to
health while he was stationed in the West Indies during
his naval service. While stationed in Jamaica in the seventeen eighties,

(06:44):
he was documented as suffering from tropical fevers and headaches,
but luckily, with Cuba's intervention, he was able to escape death,
unlike many of his fellow sailors on the island. The
future King was said to be eternally grateful to Cuba,
and eventually, in the early eighteen hundreds told his wife,
Queen Adelaide of her aid. The Queen, in a supposed

(07:06):
bout of gratitude, sent Cuba an ornate gown. Cuba was
said to have kept the gown in pristine condition, never
wearing it except on her deathbed in eighteen forty eight,
where it served as her shroud. Similarly to Admiral Nelson,
King William remained pro slavery throughout his life and reign.

(07:27):
Both of these documents of Cuba's work occurred in the
late seventeen hundreds. She lived until eighteen forty eight, sixty
years later. There is not much documentation of Cuba's work
in the years between these accounts and her death, but
her legacy and influence on the early medical workings of
Jamaica were profound, though it is not documented in the archives.

(07:50):
Like her treatment of these famous British naval figures, oral
history passed down about Cuba suggests she also aided both
enslaved people and the formerly in slaved in Port Royal
when they too were afflicted with illness. In eighteen fifty five,
a British visitor to Port Royal, Richard Hill, sought to
document some of the city's history and current day goings on.

(08:13):
Cuba was a figure he wanted to enshrine. He wrote,
I find that Cuba has not perished from public memory.
All month. We're talking about cultivators. For more information, find
us on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast. Thanks to
co creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan for letting me guest host.

(08:34):
Talk to you tomorrow