Major Henry John Ricketts (died 1838) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

soldier and administrator who served in the

Royal African Corps The Royal African Corps was an infantry unit in the British Army officially established on 25 April 1804. As Fraser’s Corps of Infantry, it had been earlier raised for the defense of the Island of Goree, Senegal in August 1800. The regiment was o ...

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 ...

Life

Ricketts was a survivor of the

Battle of Nsamankow The Battle of Nsamankow was a battle between the United Kingdom and the Ashanti Empire that took place in 1824 as part of the First Anglo-Ashanti War. The British force under Charles MacCarthy was defeated by an Ashanti force. Background In la ...

in 1824, where Sir Charles MacCarthy was defeated. Ricketts was Governor of the

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 ...

15 November 1826 – 11 October 1827, and 5 June 1828 – 25 June 1828. This was the period of the

First Anglo-Ashanti War The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. Though the Ashanti emerged victorio ...

, which took place in the years 1824 to 1831. Ricketts describes the circumstances of his first appointment in his account of that war. Charles Turner, the previous Governor, had died in March 1826. Sir Neil Campbell had been appointed

Governor of Sierra Leone This is a list of colonial administrators in Sierra Leone from the establishment of the Cline Town, Sierra Leone, Province of Freedom Colony by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor which lasted between 1787 and 1789 and the list of colo ...

, where he arrived in August. He sailed on in HMS ''Lively'', and arrived in September on the Gold Coast. A battle had been fought at

Dodowa Forest Dodowa Forest is a tourist site attraction at Dodowa in the Shai Osudoku District in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guine ...

. Campbell disembarked 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 ...

, and gave Edward Purdon, who had earlier served as Governor and was acting in the post, leave to return to the United Kingdom. He named Ricketts, then an army Captain, as the new Governor. Promoted Major, Ricketts was ordered to sail to Sierra Leone in January 1828. He was required to return to the Gold Coast in June of that year, to oversee the hand-over of forts to merchants, and to evacuate the garrison. These moves were part of

Dixon Denham Dixon Denham (1 January 17869 June 1828) was an English soldier, explorer of West Central Africa, and ultimately Governor of Sierra Leone. Early life Dixon Denham was born at Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, London on New Year's Day, 1786, the s ...

's efforts to obtain peace with the

Ashanti Empire The Asante Empire (Asante Twi: ), today commonly called the Ashanti Empire, was an Akan state that lasted between 1701 to 1901, in what is now modern-day Ghana. It expanded from the Ashanti Region to include most of Ghana as well as parts of Iv ...

. Ricketts was then Governor of Sierra Leone 1829–1830. In poor health, he returned to the United Kingdom.

Ricketts, Sierra Leone Ricketts is a coastal fishing village on Banana Islands off Yawri Bay, around the peninsula in the Western Area Rural District of Sierra Leone. Ricketts is an island and is reached only by boat or helicopter. The major industries in the village ...

, one of the

Banana Islands The Banana Islands are a group of islands that lie off the coast of Yawri Bay, south west of the Freetown Peninsula in the Western Area of Sierra Leone. Three islands make up the Banana Islands: Dublin, Banana Islands, Dublin and Ricketts ...

, is named after him. In 1831 Ricketts transferred from the Royal African Corps to the

58th Regiment of Foot The 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Northamptonshire Regiment in 1881. His ...

. He died at the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

in 1838, on a journey from

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Publications

* 1831 ''Narrative of the Ashantee War, With a View of the Present State of the Colony of Sierra Leone'', London: Simpkin and Marshall

References

External links

Banana Island (Ricketts), Sierra Leone
58th Regiment of Foot officers 1838 deaths British colonial army officers Governors of the Gold Coast (British colony) Governors of Sierra Leone Year of birth missing {{England-mil-bio-stub