Jesse Page

Samuel Crowther Jesse Page

This book is a biography of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a Yoruba boy who was captured by Fulani slave raiders and sold to Portuguese slave traders. Ajayi was about to be boarded on a slave-ship bound for the Americas when he was liberated by the British Navy. Britain had by this time banned the slave trade and was patrolling the West African coast. Ajayi was then sent to Sierra Leone to be cared for by the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS). Here, he learned English and became a Christian. He re-named himself after Samuel Crowther, one of the founders of the CMS. Noting his keen intelligence, the missionaries sent young Samuel to England to be educated. He would go on to earn a doctorate from Oxford University and become a teacher, a linguist, and a minister. He was even given audience with Queen Victoria, where he delighted her with his recitation of the Lord's Prayer in Yoruba, upon which she commented was soft and melodious. Eventually he would return to his native Africa, where both his hardships and his accomplishments were legion. This is his story.