The Annie Walsh Memorial School is an all-girls secondary school in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

. It was established in 1849 originally in Charlotte, Sierra Leone, Charlotte, a newly established village for

recaptives The liberated Africans of Sierra Leone, also known as recaptives, were Africans who had been illegally enslaved onboard slave ships and rescued by anti-slavery patrols from the West Africa Squadron of the Royal Navy. After the British Parliament ...

. It is claimed to be the oldest girls school in

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

. Over the years, the school has consistently outperformed its peers in terms of academic achievement, making it the most prestigious secondary school for girls in Sierra Leone. The school's Principal is currently Mrs OPhelia Morrison (née Barber).

School history

The first school open for girls in Freetown was the school of Sarah Hartwig, but this school had been temporary. Annie Walsh Memorial School was named after an Irish or English girl whose dream was to become a missionary to Africa. Unfortunately Annie Walsh died in a tragic accident at the age of 20. Annie Walsh's last few days are described in 'Dear Annie: A Brief Memorial' published for private circulation and undated. On 19 January 1855 she returned from a week in Bath. On 23 January she went, with her father, to a meeting of the Irish Church Missions, despite having the symptoms of a cold. On 24 and 25 January she remained in bed, apparently because of the cold. On 27 January a doctor was called. The next day, Sunday, inflammation of the lungs was apparent. Leeches were applied and again on Monday. On that Monday morning she spoke with her parents - 'that conversation had all the air of a final interview between friends that parting for longish voyage'. She died at 4.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 31 January 1855. Her parents provided substantial funding for the school when it was started, by the Church Missionary Society, which ultimately became the Annie Walsh Memorial School. The present location is a new location as the school quickly outgrew its original building.

Past principals

*Miss Julia Sass (1849–1869) *Mrs. Caiger (1869–1870) *Ms. Caspari, (1875-1878) *Ms. Bisset (1894-1917) *Miss Winifred Hamblet ( 19**-1930) *Miss Pole (1930–1954) *Miss Colebeck (1954–1961) *Mrs.

Lati Hyde-Forster Lati Hyde-Forster, MBE (14 June 1911 – 12 September 2001) was the first woman to graduate Fourah Bay College. She was also the first African woman school principal in Sierra Leone. Early life and education Latilewa Christiana Hyde was born on ...

(1961–1975) *Mrs. Europa Wilson-Agwu (1975–1985) *Madame Gracie Williams (1985–1995) *Mrs A. C. Roberts (1995-2005)

House system

The school is divided into six houses, named after the first principals. * Dunkley - ed * Sass -

lue Lue or LUE may refer to: People * Andrew Lue (born 1992), Canadian retired football player * Cachet Lue (born 1997), Canadian-born Jamaican footballer * Lue Gim Gong (1860–1925), Chinese-American horticulturalist * Lee Lue (1935–1969), Laotian ...

* Pole -

reen A rhyne (Somerset), rhine/rhyne (Gloucestershire), or reen ( South Wales) (all pronounced "reen"; from Old English ''ryne'' or Welsh ''rhewyn'' or ''rhewin'' "ditch") is a term used in parts of England and Wales for a drainage ditch, or can ...

* Caspari - ellow* Hamblet -

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thi ...

* Bissett - urple

Notable alumni

Zainab Bangura Haja Zainab Hawa Bangura (; born 18 December 1959) is a Sierra Leonean politician and social activist who has been serving as the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) since 2018, appointed by United Nations Secretary-Ge ...

: Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone, and founder of

Campaign for Good Governance The Campaign for Good Governance (CGG) is democracy-supporting NGO in Sierra Leone. CGG promotes the building of democratic institutions, transparency and accountability in government, active citizen participation in the political process, voter edu ...

* Hannah Benka-Coker: educator; founder of

Freetown Secondary School for Girls The Freetown Secondary School for Girls also known as FSSG or the Osora School is a secondary school established by Maise Osora and Hannah Benka-Coker in 1926 in Freetown, Sierra Leone Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. ...

(FSSG) in 1926 *

Sara Forbes Bonetta Sara Forbes Bonetta, otherwise known as Sarah Forbes Bonetta, (born Aina or Ina; 1843 – 15 August 1880), was ward and goddaughter of Queen Victoria. She was believed to have been a titled member of the Egbado clan of the Yoruba people in West ...

: African Princess and Queen Victoria's (England) goddaughter *

Irene Ighodaro Irene Ighodaro (16 May 1916 – 29 November 1995) was a Sierra Leone Creole physician and social reformer who was the first Sierra Leonean woman to qualify as a medical doctor. She was president of the Young Women's Christian Association of Nigeri ...

: first female medical doctor in West Africa *

Sia Koroma Sia Nyama Koroma (born on 19 March 1958 in, Kono District, British Sierra Leone) is Sierra Leonean biochemist and psychiatric nurse. She served as First Lady of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007 - 4 April 2018. She is the wife of Ernest Bai ...

: First Lady of Sierra Leone * Nemata Majeks-Walker, women's rights activist *

: first female graduate of

Fourah Bay College Fourah Bay College is a public university in the neighbourhood of Mount Aureol in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Founded on 18 February 1827, it is the first western-style university built in Sub-Saharan Africa and, furthermore, the first university-le ...

, cousin of Thomas Decker * Yema Lucilda Hunter, nee Caulker: author and retired WHO Librarian *

Jeillo Edwards Jeillo Edwards (23 September 1942, Freetown, Sierra Leone – 2 July 2004, London, England) was a Sierra Leonean actress, who is notable in the history of black actors in Britain. She was the first woman of African descent to study drama at Lon ...

: actress * Stella Thomas: lawyer * Nkechi Agwu: mathematician * Chidi Blyden: foreign policy advisor

References

External links