William Clevland (1720 – 6 December 1758) was an Anglo-Scot who became the self-appointed King of the Banana Islands off the coast of present-day Sierra Leone.[1]
Early life and family
editWilliam Clevland was the son of Commodore William Clevland, a Scotsman who settled at Tapeley Park, near Bideford, Devon. His brother was John Clevland, who was appointed as Secretary of the Admiralty.[2]
Career
editIn the 1730s Clevland was working for the Royal African Company, which had a monopoly on trade at Sierra Leone. He was on board a slave ship that was wrecked off the Banana Islands. He and surviving African slaves made their way to the islands, which they settled. Clevland took power and named himself king.[3]
His children included:
- By Kate Corker, daughter of King Skinner Corker:
- John Clevland (1740–1764)
- Elizabeth Clevland Hardcastle (1741–1808) who settled in South Carolina.[4]
- By Ndamba, a Kissi woman. Their children included:
Both Elizabeth and James were sent to England for their education.
John succeeded his father as sovereign of the Banana Islands, but died in 1764.[5] He was succeeded by James Cleveland.[6]
In this period, the British had a trading post at the mouth of the Sierra Leone River and by 1792 had established a colony of freedmen at Freetown.
References
edit- ^ Lang (1999)
- ^ Lang (1999)
- ^ Caulker-Burnett I.
- ^ "Elizabeth Clevland Hardcastle, 1741-1808 : a lady of color in the South Carolina low country". Family Search. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
- ^ Garber, Melbourne (2016). "Banana, Bonthe, Bunce Islands and Sierra Leone's Other Islands – Their History and Inter-Relatedness during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade" (PDF). Journal of Sierra Leone Studies (March 2016). Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ Louise, E. (2001). Elizabeth Clevland Hardcastle, 1741-1808: A Lady of Colour in the South Carolina Low Country. Columbia, South Carolina: Phoenix Publishers.
Sources
edit- Lang, George (1999). Entwisted tongues: comparative creole literatures. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi Bv Editions. ISBN 978-90-420-0737-6.
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