Kindly do not attempt to place any mementos on her grave.

This National Cultural Heritage Site is a sacred site

Very little is known about the early years of this Khoekhoe girl.  She was born around 1789 in the Eastern Cape, somewhere in the vicinity of the Gamtoos river.  By 1806 she had moved to the Western Cape and stayed in rural Maitland.  In 1810, while she was working as a maid on the farm of Peter Cezar, her life changed.  She was persuaded by Alexander Dunlop, a ship surgeon, to embark on a ship for England, not knowing that she would never see her birth place again.  Governor Caledon gave permission that she could be taken to England and the young Sarah was exhibited as the "Hottentot Venus" in Piccadilly Circus