Record

RefNoMS/257/4/5
AltRefNoSa.1134
Previous numbersES4/1/1134
LevelItem
TitleMemorandum on the British settlements on the Gold Coast
Date1824
Description'The 'original [letter] presented to Lord Bathurst June 3rd and a copy to the Duke of Wellington on June 5th.

Describes British settlements on the Gold Coast as consisting of four forts, referring to Dixcove, Cape Coast Castle, [Anomabu, formerly known as Annamaboe], and Accra, remarks on their distance to each other. Describes the Gold Coast as ‘detached from our other establishments in west Africa’, with no communication with them.

Refers to the ‘settlements formed by the African Company as stations of a trade principally in’ enslaved Africans. Describes the construction and masonry of the forts, and remarks on their profitability during the transatlantic slave trade, and its demise after the abolition. Refers to the transfer of possessions of the African Company to the Crown in 1822 as a consequence.

Describes the ‘country in the interior’, remarking on its ‘abundant population’, richness in gold, and the political divisions of independent states such as the [Ashanti]. Discussion regarding the war between the [Ashsanti Empire] and the British. Sabine discusses the ‘value of’ their ‘establishments referring to ‘stations of traffic, as checks on the [transatlantic] slave trade, and as influencing civilization’. Discussion regarding ‘military measures’.

Refers to Sir Charles MacCarthy.

Discusses ‘the amount of force which would be required in decisive offensive operations’.
Extent12p
FormatManuscript
PhysicalDescriptionInk on paper
AccessStatusOpen
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