Dido Elizabeth Belle was a British heiress and a member of the Lindsay family of Evelix. She was born into slavery and illegitimate; her mother, Maria Belle, was an African slave in the British West Indies. Her father was Sir John Lindsay, a British career naval officer who was stationed there. This erstwhile young girl was made the first British African heiress after her uncle, Lord Of Mansfield, left her a sizeable sum in his will.