Sir Samuel Lewis (13 November 1843 – 9 July 1903) was a

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 ...

an Sierra Leone Creole, Krio mayor of

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 ...

and lawyer. Lewis was the first

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

n ever knighted and was the third Sierra Leonean to qualify as a barrister. Lewis was the first mayor of Freetown after the Freetown Municipal Council was established. In 1896, he was made a knight, the first West African to achieve such an honour,

Peter Fryer Peter Fryer (18 February 1927 – 31 October 2006)
''Spartacus Educational''. was an English ...

, '' Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain'', London:

Pluto Press Pluto Press is a British independent book publisher based in London, founded in 1969. Originally, it was the publishing arm of the International Socialists (today known as the Socialist Workers Party), until it changed hands and was replaced ...

, 1984, p. 437. a year after he had been appointed mayor.

Background

Lewis was one of nine children (eight sons and a daughter) of a

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

Recaptive merchant (in real estate and agricultural products) Elderman William Lewis of Oxford Street in the Freetown Municipal Council, and his wife Fanny. His siblings - Ebenezer Albert, Christopher Bright Lewis, William Jr, John, Josiah William, Emmanuel, Jacob and Caroline Matilda Lumpkin - were all political leaders and heads of the colonial government of Freetown. His parents were both liberated Africans from

Egba Egba may refer to: *Egba people, a clan of the Yoruba people living in western Nigeria * EGBA, the European Gaming and Betting Association *Egba United Government, a late 19th century political entity of the Egba people that was located in what is ...

in south western Nigeria. Lewis travelled to England by way of the relationship between his father William and the captain of a merchant ship that was shipping goods from Freetown to England. He is buried in

Acton Cemetery Acton Cemetery is an historic late–Victorian burial ground in the London Borough of Ealing. Managed by Ealing London Borough Council, the site is located in North Ealing, near to North Acton Underground Station. History The land for the C ...

in West London, England.

Political career and legal luminary

Lewis went to England in 1866. He entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

, and then the chambers of

Samuel Danks Waddy Samuel Danks Waddy (27 June 1830 – 30 December 1902) was an English politician. He was born in Gateshead, the son of Samuel Dousland Waddy, a Methodist minister. The family soon moved to Sheffield and his father was instrumental in the foundi ...

. He moved on to a chancery chambers, and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1871. He returned to Freetown in 1872. Lewis and other Eldermen who formed the Freetown Municipal Council were able to convince the Colonial Government with civil protest to relinquish power and the day-to-day running of the Municipal Council by Black Africans. In 1882, he was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

Sources

Short biographies of Sierra Leonean 'heroes'

Notes

1843 births 1903 deaths People from Freetown Sierra Leone Creole people Mayors of Freetown Fourah Bay College alumni Sierra Leonean knights Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George People educated at the Sierra Leone Grammar School Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate judges {{africa-law-bio-stub