Mary Perth (1740–1813+) was an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

colonist and businesswoman in

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 ...

. She was a Nova Scotian Settlers, Nova Scotia Settler. She emigrated from Nova Scotia to

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 ...

in 1792. She was widowed in 1793. She was one of the six first (and one of three women) of the colonisers who was given a trading license in 1794. She managed an inn, selling retail goods in her shop, renting out rooms and serving food in companionship with the

Sierra Leone Company The Sierra Leone Company was the corporate body involved in founding the second British colony in Africa on 11 March 1792 through the resettlement of Black Loyalists who had initially been settled in Nova Scotia (the Nova Scotian Settlers) after ...

. She became substantial and wealthy businessperson in Freetown. She had an important place in the Methodist congregation in Freetown. In 1794, the governor Zachary Macaulay appointed her housekeeper of the governor's residence and the caregiver of his 24 African foster children and their school. When Zachary Macaulay returned to England in 1799, she accompanied him to care for the children, who attended the African Academy, Clapham, London. She returned to Freetown in 1801, where she resumed her business activity.

References

* Mary Louise Clifford,
From Slavery to Freetown: Black Loyalists After the American Revolution
' 1740 births 18th-century African-American people 1813 deaths Nova Scotian Settlers 18th-century American slaves 18th-century American businesswomen 18th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American businesswomen 19th-century Sierra Leonean people 18th-century Sierra Leonean people 18th-century African businesspeople 19th-century African businesspeople Sierra Leone Creole people {{AfricanAmerican-stub