Ann Gill Memorial Church, Barbados

The Ann Gill Memorial Church is named for the national heroine of Barbados, Sarah Ann Gill. A free woman of color, she was born in 1795 and joined the Methodist Church in 1820. The church was considered very controversial as it advocated for the end to slavery, and in 1823, rioters burned down the Methodist chapel. Sarah Ann Gill, then a young widow, was one of the leaders of the church who opened her homes to allow members of the church to meet and worship. For this action, she was regularly threatened and persecuted. The original Ann Gill Memorial Church was built in 1893 in Eagle Hall in St. Michael. It was replaced by a newer church in the 1980s in Black Rock, also in St. Michael. -Marsilyn Browne

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