BRIEF HISTORY OF THE KRIOS OF SIERRA LEONE

The Krios are actually made up of three major groups. The first group was called the Nova Scotian Settlers. They were enslaved Africans who had fought with the British during the American War of Independence with the promise of freedom by the British if they fought with the British. When the British lost the war, the black soldiers were relocated to Nova Scotia Where they found the conditions so bad that they petitioned the British government, who then agreed to take them to Sierra Leone. A group that had gone before in 1787 was now joined by this group of Nova Scotian settlers – almost 1200 of them. They were taken to Freetown where they started the Colony of Freetown.

There was a second group called the Maroons from Jamaica. After the second Maroon war, the Maroons who surrendered to the British were taken also to Nova Scotia which they did not expect. They too found that the conditions were bad and also petitioned that they be taken to Sierra Leone as they had heard about the other group that had gone before. About 550 of them were taken to Sierra Leone in 1800.

The third and largest group of people are the Liberated Africans. After the British had abolished the slave trade, the British navy patrolled the west coast of Africa trying to intercept slave ships. This group amounted to about 90,000 – 95,000 captured and recaptured Africans. That whole group is what evolved to become the Krios of Sierra Leone.

THE BLACK POOR AND THE FOUNDING OF GRANVILLE TOWN

The first group of colonists to establish a colony in Sierra Leone was the Black Poor (also known as the “Old Settlers”) of Granville Town. Of the 411 African Americans, West Indians, and Black Britons who left the docks at Plymouth on April 9th 1787, only 377 of the blacks went ashore when they arrived at Frenchman’s Bay (renamed St. George’s Bay and now called Kruman’s Bay). Led by their British superintendent, Captain Thompson, they negotiated a treaty with the Temne sub-chief King Tom and began to clear the land. Their Settlement was called Granville Town, after their benefactor Granville Sharp. Granville Sharp called their colony the Province of Freedom. This colony was to last from May 9th 1787 to December 1789. Many of the colonists died from disease during the heavy rainy season which was during the first month of their arrival in Sierra Leone.

THE NOVA SCOTIAN SETTLERS AND THE FOUNDING OF FREETOWN

The second attempt to establish a Colony in Sierra Leone was successful and lasted as a political entity until 1961. It has lasted to the present day and (appropriately named) ‘Western Area’ of Sierra Leone. This second attempt to establish a Colony in Sierra Leone began in March 1792. Black Americans who came to Sierra Leone via Nova Scotia founded this second colony and settlement. Though rooted in the same community of blacks as some of the Black Poor of London, these colonists were more resilient than their predecessors. Many of the colonists were skilled artisans or had other trades, and some were pioneers in the community. The arrival of the Nova Scotians and the idea of founding another colony in Sierra Leone began with an attempt to revive the first colony in Sierra Leone. On January 15th 1792, a fleet of fifteen ships left for the shores of Africa. It was the largest fleet of blacks ever to immigrate to West Africa. Between February 26th and March 9th, the Nova Scotians arrived on the shores of Sierra Leone. By March 11th, the Nova Scotians were able to gather around a cotton tree (which is according to legend the famous cotton tree near St. George Cathedral) and sing to the Lord for their arrival in Africa. They imported a North American pioneer tradition, which came from their American heritage. The historical “bod ose” of the Krio people most likely originated from the Nova Scotians who built two storied wooden houses with stone foundations, and shingled roofs as early as 1796. By the 1820s they were black bourgeoisie; most upper class blacks looked to them or Europeans in the colony for fashionable style in clothing and housing. Proud of their transatlantic roots, the Nova Scotians called themselves the “Settlers”; and from their arrival in Africa to the late 19th century, the term “Settler” was used in reference only to the Nova Scotians and their descendants.

THE SETTLERS’ DESCENDANTS UNION

The ‘Settlers’ Descendants’ Union’ was among the first organizations to organized and unite Creoles to become politically active, despite not being in itself a political party. The Settlers Descendants Union was established in 1952 by Johann Christianus Lucan, who served as President of the Union, Ephraim Jonathan Robinson, Vice President, and Leslie Asgill. The Settlers’ Descendants Union mounted costly actions in the British Courts against the independence settlement.

THE CREOLE DESCENDANTS UNION

In 1990, the ‘Settlers’ Descendants Union’ was re-named and re-established as the Creole Descendants Union by its founding members, including George T.O. Robinson, the younger brother of Ephraim J. Robinson, Samuel Stober Taylor, Wilward Arthur Cummings, Daisy Myers, Charles B. Jones, Rosalind Claudius-Cole, George Fewry, Emanuel Fraser-Davies, and H.M. James.

The Creole Descendants Union’s name was changed to the Krio Disendants Yunion, currently led by Mrs. Cassandra Garber, a former teacher and principal at the Freetown Secondary School for Girls (FSSG).