The Gallinas River in
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
reaches the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
between
Grand Cape Mount
Grand Cape Mount is a county in the northwestern portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that constitute the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has five districts. Robertsport serves as the capital ...
and
Cape Saint Ann
Cape Saint Ann is the northwest extremity of Sherborough Island, Sierra Leone.
From the tip of Saint Ann, the Shoals of Saint Ann extend out some 45 miles to the northwest, according to an 1852 nautical record.
References
Southern Province, ...
.
Slave trade history
The area was infamous in the 1800s for its active participation in the
slave trade
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
under the
Gallinas people The Gallinas people is a name applied to an ethnic group in eastern Sierra Leone, which formerly existed as an independent Monarchy, kingdom.
"Gallinas" is an exonym applied by Europeans to the inhabitants of the Gallinas River in southeastern S ...
.
, a notorious Spanish slave trader, was based on the coast of Sierra Leone at Gallinas between 1822 and 1838.
In 1840
Richard Doherty
James Richard Doherty (born 19 May 1948), known as Richard Doherty, is a British military historian and author from County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Educated at St. Columb's College, he has written more than twenty books about British and I ...
, the
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of
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 ...
, discovered that Fry Norman, a
Black British
Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent.Gadsby, Meredith (2006), ''Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 76–7 ...
subject and her child were being held as slaves on the islands at the mouth of the Gallinas River, which prompted Lieutenant
Joseph Denman
Vice Admiral Joseph Denman (23 June 1810 – 26 November 1874) was a British naval officer, most noted for his actions against the slave trade as a commander of HMS ''Wanderer'' of the West Africa Squadron.
Early life
Denman was born on 23 Ju ...
commanding the ''Wanderer'' to force the king both to free Norman and abolish the slave trade in his dominions. Denman promptly sailed up the Gallinas River to destroy Spanish slave barracoons.
[Huzzey, Richard: ]
Freedom Burning: Anti-Slavery and Empire in Victorian Britain
'
References
Rivers of Liberia
{{Liberia-river-stub