William Clevland (1720 – 6 December 1758) was an

Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to peopl ...

Scot The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...

who became the self-appointed King of the

Banana Islands The Banana Islands are a group of islands that lie off the coast of Yawri Bay, south west of the Freetown Peninsula in the Western Area of Sierra Leone. Three islands make up the Banana Islands: Dublin, Banana Islands, Dublin and Ricketts ...

off the coast of present-day

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 , Sierr ...

Early life and family

William Clevland was the son of Commodore William Clevland (seaman), William Clevland, a Scotsman who settled at Tapeley Park, near

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. His brother was John Clevland, who was appointed as

Secretary of the Admiralty The Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty also known as the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty was a position on the Board of Admiralty and a civil officer of the British Royal Navy. It was usually ...

Career

In the 1730s Clevland was working for the Royal African Company, which had a monopoly on trade at Sierra Leone. He was on board a

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...

that was wrecked off the Banana Islands. He and surviving African slaves made their way to the islands, which they settled. Clevland took power and named himself king. His children included: *By Kate Corker, daughter of King

Skinner Corker Skinner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Skinner (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with that surname * Skinner (profession), a person who makes a living by working with animal skins or driving mules *Skinner, a rin ...

: ** John Clevland (1740–1764) ** Elizabeth Clevland Hardcastle (1741–1808) who settled in

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. *By Ndamba, a Kissi woman. Their children included: ** James Cleveland Both Elizabeth and James were sent to England for their education. John succeeded his father as sovereign of the Banana Islands, but died in 1764. He was succeeded by James Cleveland. In this period, the British had a trading post at the mouth of the Sierra Leone River and by 1792 had established a colony of freedmen at

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 po ...

References

Sources

* 1758 deaths Year of birth unknown

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Shipwreck survivors Sierra Leonean people of Scottish descent 1720 births {{SierraLeone-bio-stub