Cline Town, Sierra Leone

Looking north to Bullom Shore from Voyages to the River Sierra Leone by John Matthews, 1788

Cline Town, Sierra Leone, which used to be known as Granville Town, was established in 1787 by the London-based Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor. They arranged for the transport of the so-called Black Poor to Freetown, where they were amongst its original settlers. Many of these Black Poor were African American Loyalists who had decided or were forced to leave the United States after the Revolutionary War; some came via several years in another British North American colony and so are known as Black Nova Scotians; others were Black British and West Indian slaves. Granville Town (named for its benefactor and patron Granville Sharp) was established as the first town of the Province of Freedom before it was destroyed in 1789. The town was rebuilt in 1791 with the assistance of Alexander Falconbridge, a former surgeon on a slave ship. Some Krio families such as the Leighs are descendants of the Black Poor settlers.