Thomas Caulker

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Thomas Canry Caulker (1846-1859) was the African-born son of the King of Bompey (a traditional state that became incorporated into Sierra Leone in 1888 and is today part of the Moyamba District). He is one of the earliest examples, prior to formal proclamation of the Sierra Leone Protectorate, of a West African arriving in England for an education, to meet the rising international demands on traditional states for government and commerce.

In the early 1850s Thomas Caulker was sent by his father, Canrah Bah Caulker, King of Bompey (syn: Bumpe), to London, for a Christian education in the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion pioneered in the eighteenth century by the evangelical Selina Hastings, and for his health. He lived with the Rev. J.K.Foster and his wife (the Rev Foster had formerly been a president of Cheshunt College, closely associated with the Methodist-leaning Connection).

Though very young, Thomas suffered from weakness of the eyes, which increased almost to blindness. He was sent to a school for the blind, but he was also afflicted by other medical problems and his health failed. He died at Canonbury in Islington while in the care of the Rev. Kirkman Foster, in 1859 aged only 13 and was buried at the non-denominational garden cemeterry, Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington. Here too, the Rev, Kirkman Foster and his wife were later interred.

Thomas' headstone read:

THOMAS CANRY CAULKER,

A native of Western Africa,

Son of

Canrah Bah Caulker,

King of Bompey

The Bompey (syn. Bumpe) Kingdom was ruled by the Caulker dynasty throughout much of the nineteenth century, a period of considerable economic and political change:

1820-1832: Thomas Caulker

1832-1842: Charles Caulker

1842-1857: Canray Ba (Canreba)

1857-1864; Thomas Theophilus Caulker

1864-1888: Richard Canreba Caulker

1888-1895: vacant

1895-1898: R.C.Caulker (2nd period)

1898-1901: vacant

1901-19??: James Canreba Caulker

Prior to this, the Caulker dynasty came from Banana Island; a nearby traditional state or kingdom, from where they removed in 1820 upon incorporation of that kingdom into Sierra Leone.

[edit] Sources

• French, James (1883). Walks in Abney Park Cemetery. London:James Clarke
• Joyce, Paul (1984). Abney Park Cemetery. London:SAPC/Hackney Council