Bertha Yvonne Conton, GCOR ( Thompson; 31 October 1923 – 1 May 2022) was a Sierra Leonean educator who was the principal, founder, and proprietress of Leone Preparatory School.

Biography

Conton was educated at St. Joseph's Primary School and subsequently at St. Joseph's Convent 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. She completed her post-secondary school education in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England. On her return to Freetown, Conton started her teaching career at St Joseph's Convent and the Freetown Secondary School for Girls. After a brief stay in Ghana where she taught at the International School of Accra, her family moved to Bo, Sierra Leone. There in 1961, Conton founded the Leone Preparatory School, also known as the "Bertha Conton School", when she started giving lessons to children on the veranda of her home in Bo. The school later transferred operations to Freetown, in 1963. Conton was married to

William Farquhar Conton William Farquhar Conton (5 September 1925 – 23 June 2003) was a Sierra Leone Creole educator, historian and acclaimed novelist. Background and early life William Farquhar Conton was born on 5 September 1925 in Bathurst, Gambia, to the union ...

, an educator, historian, and author. She died in Freetown on 1 May 2022, at the age of 98.

Awards and recognition

*In 2012, Conton was invested as a Grand Commander of the Order of Rokel, the highest and most prestigious decoration in Sierra Leone, for her contributions to education. *In the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, Lord

Paul Boateng Paul Yaw Boateng, Baron Boateng (born 14 June 1951) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent South from 1987 to 2005, becoming the UK's first Black Cabinet Minister in May 2002, when he was appo ...

paid tribute to Conton, who taught him how to read.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conton, Bertha 1923 births 2022 deaths Conton family (Sierra Leone) People from Freetown Sierra Leone Creole people Sierra Leonean educators Sierra Leonean expatriates in Guinea Sierra Leonean expatriates in the United Kingdom Sierra Leonean Roman Catholics