In the 1650s a group of Cavaliers fled Cromwell’s England for the lush coast of Surinam, where they established a colony named after its founder, Sir Francis Willoughby. While leadership of the colony shifted from its democratic foundation towards autocracy, its impact on the indigenous people came to reflect that of empire more widely. As planters and traders were joined by soldiers and mercenaries, the land described by Aphra Behn as ‘delightful and wonderful’ became one of terror and slavery.