Fort William is a fort in
Anomabu
Anomabu, also spelled Anomabo and formerly as Annamaboe, is a town on the coast of the Mfantsiman Municipal District of the Central Region of South Ghana. Anomabu has a settlement population of 14,389 people.
Anomabu is located 12 km ea ...
,
Central Region,
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
, originally known as Fort Anomabo and renamed Fort William in the 1830s by its then-commander, Brodie Cruickshank, who added one storey to the main building, and renamed the fort after King
William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...
.
[Albert van Dantzig, ''Forts and Castles of Ghana'', 1980]
It was built in 1753 by the British after they thwarted a French attempt to establish a fort at the same place. Two earlier forts had been established at the same site, one in 1640 by the Dutch, another in 1674 (Fort Charles) by the English. Fort Charles was abandoned in 1730 and destroyed. Along with several
other castles and forts in Ghana, Fort William was inscribed on the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage List
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...
in 1979 because of its importance during and testimony to the
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...
.
History
Earlier forts
In 1640, the Dutch built the first simple fort in the form of stone nog and brick lodge under the direction of Commander, Arent Jacobsz van der Graeff.
In 1653, the
Swedes
Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...
captured the lodge.
In 1657,
Danish forces took the lodge under Caerloff.
In 1659 or 1660, the Dutch recaptured it.
When the second Anglo-Dutch war ended in 1667 with the (
Treaty of Breda), the
English gained a foothold in Anomabo.
In 1672 or 1673, the English began building Fort Charles, naming it after
King Charles II of England
Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.
Charles II was the eldest su ...
, on the present-day location of Fort William. An early Anomabo chief, perhaps Eno or Eno Besi, inhabited the Dutch lodge at this time and declared it his palace.
The fort was abandoned by the English not long after, in order to concentrate efforts and costs on
Fort Carolusburg at
Cape Coast
Cape Coast is a city and the capital of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, Cape Coast Metropolitan District and the Central Region (Ghana), Central Region of Ghana, Ghana. It is located about from Sekondi-Takoradi and approximately from Ac ...
.
"Ten Percenters" base
In 1698, the
Royal African Company "licensed" ship captains not in its employment upon the payment of a 10% "affiliation fee" to enable them to trade in its areas of monopoly. There followed a flood of "Ten Percenters" trading at British forts, often outnumbering the company's own ships. Anomabu became a popular haunt of "ten percenters" (until their licensing was stopped in 1712), exporting vast numbers of slaves.
In 1717, the Dutch director-general at
Elmina,
Engelgraaf Roberts, quoting an English captain on Anomabu
slave trade Slave trade may refer to:
* History of slavery - overview of slavery
It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas:
* Al-Andalus slave trade
* Atlantic slave trade
** Brazilian slave trade
** Bristol slave trade
** Danish sl ...
exports, stated: "From January 1702 to August 1708 they took to
Barbados
Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...
and
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
rom Anomabua total of not less than 30,141 slaves and in this figure are not included transactions made for other ships sailing to such Islands as
Nevis
Nevis ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...
,
Montserrat
Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...
,
St. Christopher, for the
South Sea Company
The South Sea Company (officially: The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...
, the New Netherlands and others which would increase the above number considerably, and of which Annemaboe alone could provide about one third."
Anomabu Castle, Fort William

In 1753, after thwarting a French bid to establish a fort at
Anomabu
Anomabu, also spelled Anomabo and formerly as Annamaboe, is a town on the coast of the Mfantsiman Municipal District of the Central Region of South Ghana. Anomabu has a settlement population of 14,389 people.
Anomabu is located 12 km ea ...
the British
African Company of Merchants
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
*** List ...
(successor to the Royal African Company) began construction of Anomabu Castle, designed by military engineer John Apperly, who became its first governor.
After Apperly's death in 1756, Irishman Richard Brew took over the governorship of this fort and completed its construction in 1760.
The fort became the center of British slave trading along the
Gold Coast until the slave trade was outlawed in 1807.
In the nineteenth century, its commander Brodie Cruickshank added one storey to the main building, and renamed the fort after King
William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...
(1830 – 1837).
Anomabu is a popular tourist destination. The well-preserved remains of Fort William can still be seen.
Gallery
File:The National Archives UK - CO 1069-30-42.jpg, 1870s
File:Fort William, Anomabo 30.jpg, Fort William in Ghana
File:Fort William, Anomabo 15.jpg, Fort William at Anomabo, Ghana
File:Fort William, Anomabo 18.jpg, Fort William at Anomabo, Ghana
File:The National Archives UK - CO 1069-34-3 b 1.jpg, 1890s
File:Overzicht met omgeving - Anomabu - 20373068 - RCE.jpg
File:Fort William Anomabu - king george IV plaque.jpg, King George IV plaque
File:Aanzicht herinnerings plaat met koning George VI van Engeland aan gevel binnenplaats - Anomabu - 20373061 - RCE.jpg, Gold Coast King George VI Memorial Youth Centre
File:Fort William Anomabu8.jpg, Fort William – Crest reads "Freedom and Justice"
File:Fort William, Anomabo 8.jpg, Prison cell at Fort William at Anomabo, Ghana
File:Fort William, Anomabo 12.jpg, Fort William at Anomabo, Ghana
File:Fort William, Anomabo 34.jpg, Fort William at Anomabo, Ghana
File:Fort William, Anomabo 35.jpg, Fort William at Anomabo, Ghana
File:Fort William, Anomabo 33.jpg, Fort William at Anomabo, Ghana
File:Fort William, Anomabo 24.jpg, Fort William at Anomabo, Ghana
File:Fort William, Anomabo 9.jpg, Fort William at Anomabo, Ghana
Notable residents and prisoners
*
Venture Smith
*
William Ansah Sessarakoo
References
{{Authority control
Military installations established in the 1750s
Castles in Ghana
Dutch Gold Coast
Slave forts
1640 establishments in the Dutch Empire
1653 establishments in the Swedish colonial empire
1667 establishments in the British Empire
William
William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
African Company of Merchants
W