Mary Ann statue 'something that feels very special'

A STRIKING statue has been unveiled to honour a remarkable woman who fled slavery in the United States and found freedom in the North East.

- By DANIEL HOLLAND

The memorial to Mary Ann Macham has been installed in North Shields, celebrating her “extraordinary courage” and the compassion of those who welcomed her on Tyneside.

Dozens of people braved a blizzard yesterday lunchtime to see the bronze figure unveiled, looking over the Fish Quay from the Riverside Embankment Walkway, as part of North Shields’ 800th anniversary celebrations.

A mixed-race woman who was the daughter of a farm owner’s son and a black enslaved woman, Mary Ann was born in the US state of Virginia in 1802.

She was sold at the age of 12 and subjected to regular whippings and other brutal punishments, before bravely fleeing the plantation and stowing away on a ship to make the 60-day journey across the Atlantic.