Sierra Leone Liberated Africans

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An 1835 illustration of liberated slaves arriving in Sierra Leone.

The Sierra Leone Liberated Africans were freed by the Royal Navy from slave ships rescued on the high seas and brought to Freetown, now Sierra Leone's capital city. The Liberated Africans were known as 'Willyfoss niggers' to West Indians who immigrated to Sierra Leone and also to the Sierra Leone Creole Settlers [1]. They alongside the Sierra Leone Creole Settlers are the ancestors of the Sierra Leone Creole people. After the British abolished the slave trade in 1808 the Royal Navy started patrolling along the African coast and high seas, seizing all slave vessels. Most liberated Africans were sent to Freetown, others were sent to Liberia, Saint Helena, Guyana and the British West Indies. Over 40.000 Liberated Africans arrived in Freetown between 1808 and about 1855. There they were given land, baptised and given Christian names, first as well as last names. It took decades for them and other groups of settlers to mix with each other and form a distinctive ethnic group (the Krio).

The Liberated Africans came from all over West Africa and some Central African countries; of the tribes that settled in Freetown, Sierra Leone all belonged to Nigerian tribes and none were native to Sierra Leone. Most however, were Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and Akan.