Indigenous Cultures and Christian Conversion in Ghana and Sierra Leone, 1700-1850

Indigenous Cultures and Christian Conversion in Ghana and Sierra Leone, 1700–1850 was curated in association with the Bodleian Library.

This collection contains records compiled by the United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG), a UK-based Anglican missionary organisation that operates globally. From the eighteenth to the early twentieth century the USPG went by the name of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG).

This collection contains letters and supplementary material compiled by the organisation’s West African branches during the period 1700–1850. It includes the papers of Thomas Perronet Thompson, the first governor of the Colony of Sierra Leone, and those of Rev. Phillip Quaque, the first African to be ordained a minister of the Church of England. The collection contains a variety of sources that evidence the continuation of the slave trade. There is also material on the influential Rio Pongas mission conducted by the West Indian Church. The documents in this collection grant insights into the nature of British colonialism, the process of Christian conversion, and the functioning of the slave trade in West Africa.

Upon making Enquiry into the State of the Churches within my District, I found that the Members were much disturbed, and in a very unsettled State, insomuch that some of them had Thoughts of leaving our Communion, and turning to the Dissenters.

Thomas Thompson, An account of two missionary voyages, img 19

Insights

This collection includes correspondence from other missions in Sierra Leone, including the Rio Pongo mission. This ran for 25 years and was conducted by the native clergy of Africa and West India.

Despite the legal abolition of the slave trade, it continued to operate. The papers of Thomas Perronet Thompson reveal how slave-owners were caught and tried while he was governor.

The Rev. Phillip Quaque was a native of the Cape Coast in Ghana. Sent to England for training, he became the first African to be ordained by the Church of England.

Thompson's idea of sending three young Ghanaians, including Phillip Quaque, to England was a source of great interest to the Society. Extracts from the Society's journal cover the conception and development of this project. The journal also contains a report on the subsequent progress of the men.