Alfred Saker

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Alfred Saker.

Alfred Saker (July 21, 1814 in Wrotham, Kent — March 12, 1880 in Peckham) was a British missionary.

A Baptist missionary, Alfred Saker arrived in Douala at the mouth of the Wouri River in 1845.

In 1858, Alfred Saker returned with Joseph Merrick plus a small group of slaves. Alfred Saker bought a large property (16km x 8km) from King William of Bimbia. The small group built a school, a church, and other buildings for the mission. They also faced problems of health or the hostility of the population. They opened churches, dispensaries and centers of care and trained a great number of Cameroonian pastors, tailors, shoe-makers, masons and carpenters who helped them build the Church of Béthel in 1860.

Monument to Alfred Saker in Limbé

Considered by David Livingstone to be the most influential missionary in West Africa, Saker founded the Cameroon city of Victoria, now Limbé (since 1982), in 1858. As part of his envangelizing efforts he translated the Bible into Duala between 1862 and 1872. He envisioned great possibilities and tried to convince the English government to make this area a Crown Colony. A Baptist school in Limbe, Saker Baptist College, is named after him.