George Maclean (24 February 1801 – 22 May 1847) was Governor of

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

, now in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, from 1830 until 1844.

Life

Born in

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

Banffshire Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...

, Scotland, he was the son of the minister, Rev, James Maclean, and his wife Elizabeth Tod, daughter of George Tod of Elgin. In the period 1815–7 he was an ensign in the

27th Foot The 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot was an Irish infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1689. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 108th (Madras Infantry) Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in 18 ...

, and then in the 91st Foot. In poor health, he retired from the Army in 1821. Maclean was a member of the

Royal African Colonial Corps Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

, stationed in

British West Africa British West Africa was the collective name for British colonies in West Africa during the colonial period, either in the general geographical sense or the formal colonial administrative entity. British West Africa as a colonial entity was orig ...

from 1826 until 1828. In 1830 he became the Governor of Cape Coast, a position he retained until 1844. In 1842 he was investigated by

Richard Robert Madden Richard Robert Madden (22 August 1798 – 5 February 1886) was an Irish doctor, writer, abolitionist and historian of the United Irishmen. Madden took an active role in trying to impose anti-slavery rules in Jamaica on behalf of the British gov ...

, following the 1839 discovery by activists that British merchants operated from the Gold Coast were supplying slaving vessels. Madden found that Maclean had unfairly imprisoned 91 local people, some for as long as four years, on dubious grounds and without even the formality of a trial; and he also reported that Maclean illegally claimed that he had the authority to inflict capital punishment. Madden's enquiries, and subsequent parliamentary select committee, also concluded that Maclean lacked formal powers to act effectively against the trade, and the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...

stepped in. Under the influence of James Stephen, the Gold Coast forts were detached from

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 ...

and governed as a separate crown colony. Maclean came out of the investigation with credit. Maclean was buried at

Cape Coast Castle Cape Coast Castle ( sv, Carolusborg) is one of about forty "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) by European traders. It was originally a Portuguese "feitoria" or trading post, established ...

Family

Maclean married poet

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...

. They had no children. His half-brother, James (died 1877), a captain in the Gold Coast Corps, served under him.

References

External links

Ghana@50 Official website
People from Keith, Moray 1801 births 1847 deaths History of Ghana Ghanaian police officers Scottish colonial officials Scottish soldiers {{Scotland-bio-stub

Life

Family

References

Further reading

External links