Settler Town (Settler Tong in Krio) is the oldest part of the city 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 ...

, now the capital of

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 ...

, and was the first home of the

Nova Scotian Settlers The Nova Scotian Settlers, or Sierra Leone Settlers (also known as the Nova Scotians or more commonly as the Settlers) were African-Americans who founded the settlement of Freetown, Sierra Leone and the Colony of Sierra Leone, on March 11, 1792 ...

History

The Nova Scotian Settlers were

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 ...

s, many of them ex-

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, who had escaped to British lines during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. After the British defeat, they had first emigrated to Halifax, but did not find a warm reception or climate. As a result, on January 15, 1792, Lieutenant

John Clarkson John Gibson Clarkson (July 1, 1861 – February 4, 1909) was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played from 1882 to 1894. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Clarkson played for the Worcester Ruby Legs (1882), Chicago White Stocking ...

led 1,196 of them from Halifax Harbor in fifteen ships across the Atlantic to what is now

on behalf of the Sierra Leone Company. They arrived on March 11 and founded the settlement of Freetown. These newcomers came to be known as the "Nova Scotians" and the "Settlers". During the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

, on the night of 27 September or on 28 September, 1794, a French squadron arrived and plundered and destroyed Freetown. The Company's ship ''Harpy'', which had just arrived from England with a cargo valued at £10,000, and two smaller vessels were captured, and the slave factories were put out of commission for a while. The Sierra Leone Company suffered losses estimated at £55,000, £15,000 of that from the destruction of buildings. Following the arrival of the

Jamaican Maroons Jamaican Maroons descend from Africans who freed themselves from slavery on the Colony of Jamaica and established communities of free black people in the island's mountainous interior, primarily in the eastern parishes. Africans who were ensla ...

in 1800, this second set of colonists established Maroon Town to the west of Settler Town. Settler Town was located between Little East Street (now Malamah-Thomas Street) and George Street, the latter being the traditional boundary with Maroon Town. During the nineteenth century, Settler Town was a prestigious residential area.

Notable residents

Notable residents include three American ex-slaves and

Black Loyalist Black Loyalists were people of African descent who sided with the Loyalist (American Revolution), Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War. In particular, the term refers to men who escaped enslavement by Patriot (American Revolution), Pat ...

s: * Thomas Peters (1738-1792), considered one of the founding fathers of Sierra Leone * David George (c. 1743–1810), a preacher and founder of the first Baptist church *

Moses Wilkinson Moses "Daddy Moses" Wilkinson or "Old Moses" (c. 1746/47 Wilkinson's entry in the Book of Negroes gives his age as 36. – ?) was an American Wesleyan Methodist preacher and Black Loyalist. His ministry combined Old Testament divination with ...

(c. 1756/47-?), a blind and lame preacher who established the first

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

church in Settler Town

References

{{Black Loyalists Neighbourhoods in Freetown Nova Scotian Settler (Sierra Leone) Populated places established in 1792 Populated places established by Sierra Leone Creoles 1792 establishments in the British Empire

History

Notable residents

See also

References