William Rice Mulliner (11 June 1834 – 25 July 1863) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

officer who was the acting governor of the

Lagos Colony Lagos Colony was a British colonial possession centred on the port of Lagos in what is now southern Nigeria. Lagos was annexed on 6 August 1861 under the threat of force by Commander Beddingfield of HMS Prometheus who was accompanied by the Ac ...

in 1863. On 1 September 1854 Mulliner obtained a commission by purchase as Ensign with the 3rd West India regiment. Captain Mulliner was appointed Acting Governor of Lagos colony in 1863 while the Governor

Henry Stanhope Freeman Henry Stanhope Freeman (died April 1865) was the first Governor of the Lagos Colony, serving from 22 January 1862 to April 1865. Background Freeman was British Vice-Consul at Ghadames in Libya, and while there put together notes on one of the Tua ...

was absent due to illness. He visited

Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State in southwest Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokuta and the surrounding a ...

in May 1863, travelling by gunboat to the mouth of the Aghoe creek, and then by canoe, accompanied by Commodore Wilmot of the British navy. He met the Bashorun of

, who told him that the recent robberies of traders' property were due to the war with

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

. It was the custom to suppress trading so as to force the men to war, and the plunder would cease when the war was over. In the meantime, traders should not travel to Abeokuta since their safety could not be guaranteed. Mulliner died on 25 July 1863 while on board the African mail steamer ''Ethiope'' near Bathurst, aged 29. He was replaced as Acting Governor by

John Hawley Glover Sir John Hawley Glover (24 February 1829 – 30 September 1885) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Governor of Lagos Colony, Governor of Newfoundland, and Governor of British Leeward Islands. Naval career He entered the service in 1841 ...

. William was the fourth and youngest son of Northampton Coach Maker and Coach Master, Francis Mulliner (1789–1841) and his wife née Jane Manton (1796–1875). His three elder brothers spread their father's coach building businesses across the Midlands to Liverpool and down to London.

References

1834 births 1863 deaths Governors of the Lagos Colony People who died at sea {{Lagos-stub