Sierre Leone Established

The colony on the West African coast had its origins in the late eighteenth century, when British abolitionists and philanthropists sought a home for freed and destitute black people from Britain, as well as for formerly enslaved Africans liberated from the Atlantic trade. A settlement was founded at Freetown in 1787, and from 1791 the Sierra Leone Company managed the venture, bringing in groups such as the Nova Scotian settlers and later Jamaican Maroons.

Financial difficulties, conflict with neighbouring peoples, and the company's inability to sustain the colony led the British government to take direct control. In 1808 the Crown assumed authority and Sierra Leone became a Crown Colony, with Freetown serving as its administrative centre and chief port.

Following Britain's abolition of the slave trade in 1807, Freetown became the base for the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, which intercepted slave ships. Tens of thousands of Africans freed from captured vessels were resettled there, forming the Krio community. The colony grew into an important centre of education and Christianity in West Africa and a foundation for later British expansion in the region.