Richard Canreba Caulker (18??–1901), also known as Canrah Bah Caulker, was ruler of the

Bumpe Chiefdom The Bumpe Chiefdom is a Chiefdom of Sierra Leone located in Moyamba District, Southern Province, Sierra Leone. It is centred on Rotifunk. The chiefdom comprises 208 villages. Bumpe chiefs * 1820–1832 Thomas Stephen Caulker, also known as Bar T ...

, 1864–1888 and 1894–1901. This area became incorporated into the Sierra Leone Protectorate in 1888, and is now part of the

Moyamba District Moyamba District is a district in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone, with a population of 318,064 in the 2015 census. Its capital and largest city is Moyamba. The other major towns include Njala, Rotifunk and Shenge. The district is the la ...

of the independent Sierra Leone nation.

Early life and education

Canrah Bah Caulker was born into one of the most powerful family dynasties among the

Sherbro people The Sherbro people are a native people of Sierra Leone, who speak the Sherbro language; they make up 1.9% of Sierra Leone's population or 134,606. The Sherbro are found primarily in their homeland in Bonthe District, where they make up 40% of ...

, in the territory now known as

, Southern Province,

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 ...

. Canrah Bah, also known as Richard, was born into the

Caulker family of Sierra Leone The Caulker family of Sierra Leone is an influential family which was established by the English slave trader Thomas Corker Thomas Corker (1669-1670 - 10 September 1700, Falmouth, Cornwall) was known as an English agent for the Royal African Com ...

. The men had become major slave traders in the 18th century during the commercialisation of the Atlantic slave trade with the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Descended from English colonial official

Thomas Corker Thomas Corker (1669-1670 - 10 September 1700, Falmouth, Cornwall) was known as an English agent for the Royal African Company on York Island (now Sherbro, Sierra Leone). He married a Sherbro woman and had two sons with her before his early death ...

(1670-1799) and Seniora Doll, a Sherbro chief's daughter, the

mixed-race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

family became one of the wealthiest in the region because of such trading. The young Caulker likely attended

Sierra Leone Grammar School The Sierra Leone Grammar School was founded on 25 March 1845 in Freetown, Sierra Leone, by the Church Mission Society (CMS), and at first was called the CMS Grammar School. It was the first secondary educational institution for West Africans with ...

, as British colonial authorities encouraged education among the leading families. He entered his family's trading business and became a merchant.

Adult life

Caulker married and had a family. He sent his son,

Thomas Caulker Thomas Canry Caulker (1846–1859), ( Sherbro) was born into a prominent African family, and his father ruled as King of Bompey, an African polity established in 1820 in what is now Sierra Leone. Caulker is among an early generation of West Afric ...

(1846-1859), as a young boy to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to be educated at a school founded by an evangelical Englishwoman. He lived with a minister and his wife. However, Thomas had eye problems and other health issues; he died at the age of 13 and was buried in the non-denominational garden cemetery,

Abney Park Cemetery Abney Park cemetery is one of the "Magnificent Seven" cemeteries in London, England. Abney Park in Stoke Newington in the London Borough of Hackney is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney, D ...

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

. Later in the early 1850s, Caulker, as Chief of Bompey, was working with some other chiefs of the Sherbro country (including his relative,

Thomas Stephen Caulker Thomas Stephen Caulker (died 1871), also known as Bar Tham, was the chief of Kagboro in Sierra Leone Protectorate (1888–1898). Thomas Stephen Caulker was the son of Stephen Caulker and a member of the Caulker family. They descended from the tw ...

, Chief of the Plantain Islands), to suppress the slave trade in this territory. They came to agreement with the Governor of the British colony of Sierra Leone in 1853, and the abolition of the regional trade was enacted into British law two years later by an Act of Parliament dated 14 August 1855. This authorized the British navy to intercept on the high seas any suspect slave trading vessels originating from or belonging to, inhabitants of Bompey, or to territories ruled by the other Sherbro signatories. Slaves liberated from such ships were generally resettled in Sierra Leone. Bompey was incorporated by the British into the

Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate The Colony and Protectorate of Sierra Leone (informally British Sierra Leone) was the British colonial administration in Sierra Leone from 1808 to 1961, part of the British Empire from the abolitionism era until the decolonisation era. The Cr ...

in 1888. In the 21st century, the Bumpe Chiefdom is part of the

of the nation of

Early life and education

Adult life

References

Further reading