Sarah Hartwig (24 February, 1773
York - 30 April 1815,
Freetown) was an
English missionary teacher in
Sierra Leone,
West Africa.
[Fiona Leach, ]
Reclaiming the Women of Britain's First Mission to West Africa: Three Lives
'
She was born Sarah Windsor (or Winsor) in
York, England. She worked as a governess in Surrey.
[{{cite journal , last1=Mouser , first1=Nancy Fox , title=Peter Hartwig, 1804-1808: Sociological Perspectives in Marginality and Alienation , journal=History in Africa , date=2004 , volume=31 , pages=263–302 , doi=10.1017/S0361541300003491 , jstor=4128528 , s2cid=145116740 , url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4128528 , access-date=28 April 2022 , issn=0361-5413]
In 1804, she married
Peter Hartwig a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
missionary from
Prussia in
Clapham, London
Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
History
Early history ...
. He entered service of the
Church Missionary Society set up by the
Church of England. The same year, she followed him to Freetown in Sierra Leone with two of his colleagues. They were the first British missionaries of the Anglican Church in Africa. She was also the first wife of a British missionary to travel to Africa (female missionaries did not yet exist) and as such became the first British women missionary active in Africa.
Between 1804 and 1806, she managed a missionary school attached to her home in Freetown upon the encouragement of Governor William Day. She was the first woman to manage a school in Africa, the first woman to teach at such a school, and the first to manage an African school which accepted girls as well as boys. This was also one of the first schools in Freetown. The school was defined as a state school and she was given her salary by the governor, which made her a civil servant with status in Freetown.
She was sent back to England in 1806 because of the conflict between her spouse and vice governor
Thomas Ludlam.
Her widower abandoned his missionary work in 1807 and engaged in the
slave trade, marrying an African wife and settling on the
Rio Pongo
The Pongo River or Rio Pongo is a river that flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Boffa, Guinea. Its source is located in Fouta Djallon. The surrounding area has also been known as "Pongoland" or "Bongo Country".SeSamuel Crighton's Baptismal entry ...
.
See also
*
Julia Sass
Julia Emily Sass (d. 20 October 1891), was a British missionary, active in Sierra Leone in the middle of the nineteenth century.
In 1849 she became the first principal of Annie Walsh Memorial School
The Annie Walsh Memorial School is an all-gi ...
References
1815 deaths
18th-century Sierra Leonean people
19th-century Sierra Leonean people
English governesses
British missionaries
Anglican missionaries in Sierra Leone
19th-century English women educators