THE SLAVE WHO BRAVED ALL FOR LOVE

The Wikipedia entry says it all: ‘Florence Barbara Maria Szász, an orphan who became a slave, explored the Nile and died a lady.’ If Hollywood had been around in the 19th century, her life would have made a blockbuster. Very few people who visited the gracious home of Sir Samuel and Lady Florence Baker in Sandford Orleigh, Devon, knew of their wild adventures and enduring love affair that began as they locked eyes at a slave auction in Vidin, Bulgaria, in 1859. Florence was born in Transylvania and travelled with her soldier-father during the Hungarian revolution. After the defeat of his army, most of her family were murdered by Vlad peasants. She was sent