# Anne Hampton — Twelve Years a Slave character guide

> Anne Hampton in Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Anne, said Anne Hampton

**First appearance:** 0004-i

## Snapshot

Solomon Northup's freeborn wife, whose mixed ancestry and steady respectability anchor the household he is torn from without warning.

## Who they are

Anne Hampton keeps a free life in New York—long service in the Baird household at Sandy Hill and in Reverend Proudfit's family at Salem has given her standing, counsel, and gratitude rather than hardship. Her three-race lineage gives her a rare and pleasing look, and Solomon's love for her is sincere and unabated, yet her dependence on his labor makes the family's security fragile. That very tenderness sharpens the poignancy of his later suffering, and her presence in the opening chapters establishes exactly what is at stake when he disappears.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twelve_years_a_slave_se/chapters/i)

Solomon's wife, married in 1829; of mixed race, remembered for her kindness and counsel from Rev. Proudfit.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twelve_years_a_slave_se/characters/anne_hampton
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- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twelve_years_a_slave_se/characters