Rosetta Smith
Rosetta Smith ( – ) was an Afro-Trinidadian slave trader and entrepreneur. Because of her association with Thomas Picton, the governor of Trinidad accused of abuse against a slave, she has come down in history as a seductress and sinister woman who used her wiles to manipulate the governor. A reexamination of her life indicates that she was an astute businesswoman who was successful in enlarging her fortunes over at least three decades. Early life Records of Smith's early life are limited. She was rumoured to be a mulattress of French extraction and was in her twenties when Thomas Picton became governor of Trinidad in 1797. She was also reputed to have been married and left her spouse because of his financial difficulties. By 1798, she had become Picton's mistress and the couple would have four children together. Career Smith appears with regularity in the Books of Spanish Protocols of Port of Spain, which were the business transaction records held over from the Spanish colonial rule. The books were in use until 1813, when the British replaced them with their own recordkeeping system. The Protocols and Slave Registers show that she lived in Port of Spain, in an urban environment