When did Freetown Colony exist?

Freetown Colony existed 1788–1796. On this map it is drawn 1788–1796.

How large was Freetown Colony?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Freetown Colony covered about 286,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Africa · Sultanates, sharifs and the Atlantic trade

Freetown Colony

1788–1796

See it on the map → Wikipedia ↗

Existed: 1788–1796
Shown on the map: 1788–1796
Peak area: 286k km²
Region: Africa

Overview

The Freetown Colony — the abolitionist settlement that grew into the city of Freetown, capital of modern Sierra Leone — began as the most famous experiment in resettling freed slaves on the West African coast. (The table's dates 1788–1796 cover the founding years; the settlement in fact endured and became a Crown Colony in 1808.) The area, long inhabited by Bullom and later Mane and Temne peoples, was first settled in 1787 by some 400 "Black Poor" — formerly enslaved African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans and black Londoners — sent out by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor associated with Granville Sharp. They founded the "Province of Freedom" at Granville Town on land acquired from the Koya Temne subchief King Tom and regent Naimbana. The venture collapsed when King Tom's successor King Jimmy burned the settlement in 1789.

History

The permanent colony was refounded by the Sierra Leone Company. After Thomas Peters carried the grievances of black Nova Scotians — ex-slaves freed by the British for loyalty in the American Revolution — to London, Lieutenant John Clarkson recruited over 1,100 of them, who arrived in fifteen ships in early 1792. On 11 March 1792, beneath a great cotton tree, the settlement was christened "Free Town"; Clarkson became first governor, and the town was laid out on an American grid. The Nova Scotians' African-American preachers held the first recorded Baptist service in Africa. The young colony survived a French sack in 1794, a Nova Scotian revolt in 1800 (suppressed with the help of some 550 newly arrived Jamaican Maroons, who received their own district, Maroon Town), and a Temne attack in 1801. In 1808 Britain made Freetown a Crown Colony, and it became the capital of British West Africa until 1874.

Decline and legacy

The colony's defining role came with abolition: Freetown hosted the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron and the Mixed Commission Courts, and tens of thousands of "Liberated Africans" rescued from slave ships were landed there, passing the King's Yard Gate inscribed with the promise that any slave who passed through was free. Their descendants, blended with the earlier settlers, became the Krio (Creole) people, whose English-based language, Christian faith, and mercantile and professional culture made them an influential elite across West Africa. Freetown's Fourah Bay College (1827) was West Africa's first Western-style university, and its first student, Samuel Ajayi Crowther, became the first African Anglican bishop. Today Freetown is Sierra Leone's capital with some 1.35 million people; the Cotton Tree remains the national symbol of liberty.

Common questions

What was Freetown Colony?: The Freetown Colony — the abolitionist settlement that grew into the city of Freetown, capital of modern Sierra Leone — began as the most famous experiment in resettling freed slaves on the West African coast. (The table's dates 1788–1796 cover the founding years; the settlement in fact endured and became a Crown Colony in 1808.)
When did Freetown Colony exist?: Freetown Colony existed 1788–1796. On this map it is drawn 1788–1796.
How large was Freetown Colony?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Freetown Colony covered about 286,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Who ruled Freetown Colony?: The permanent colony was refounded by the Sierra Leone Company. After Thomas Peters carried the grievances of black Nova Scotians — ex-slaves freed by the British for loyalty in the American Revolution — to London, Lieutenant John Clarkson recruited over 1,100 of them, who arrived in fifteen ships in early 1792.
How did Freetown Colony end?: The colony's defining role came with abolition: Freetown hosted the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron and the Mixed Commission Courts, and tens of thousands of "Liberated Africans" rescued from slave ships were landed there, passing the King's Yard Gate inscribed with the promise that any slave who passed through was free.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia – Freetown en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 10 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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