Freetown John

I was not aware of the existence of John O’Neill Walsh, of Freetown Sierra Leone and Magherafelt Ireland, until my husband returned from the Public Records Office and said he had found his will. John, the brother of one of my ancestors, died in Freetown in 1822. Among his possessions were a table, ten wine glasses and books.

Freetown John can’t have been an old man when he died: he bequeathed property to aunts. What was he doing in Sierra Leone? Husband John suggested he was in the British navy or army, but we soon discounted that. Perhaps he was a trader?

By coincidence I happened to read ‘Ox Travels’ a recently published collection of stories by thirty-six travel writers who have donated all their royalties to Oxfam. I was surprised to find two pieces were set in Sierra Leone. Aminatta Forna recalled being entertained by a street performer while she waited at Hastings Airport; but it was Tim Butcher’s story, ‘Letting Greene go’ that provided a sketch of the city and beamed a light on its past.

Thirty years before John O’Neill Walsh died some of the first slaves to be freed gathered to have a service of thanksgiving under the massive cotton tree which still stands in Siaka Stevens Street. While he lived conscience-stricken Britain had its navy scour the ocean for ships of less enlightened nations which still transported slaves. The navy’s aim was to rescue them and resettle them in Sierra Leone. By 1827, five years after his death, Fourah Bay College, the oldest university in colonial Africa, had been founded as an Anglican Missionary School and Freetown was on its way to becoming ‘The Athens of Africa.’ Perhaps John, with his books, emphasising his Irishness with his middle name, taught in a school which provided more elementary education.

Even if you don’t have family connections with Sierra Leone, I heartily recommend you read ‘Ox Travels’. Nicholas Shakespeare’s account of his journey to Benin with his sister and Brazilian brother-in-law in search of the former street boy’s ancestors is an appetite-whetting starter for a varied feast. Peter Godwin finds himself in grave danger in his native Zimbabwe when he is brought to a secret diamond mine; Ruth Padel’s Burma has people who turn into tigers at night; a veteran matador allows Jason Webster discover the symbolism in bullfighting; Rory Stewart describes the creation of the Turquoise Mountain project in a threatened section of medieval Kabul. These are only a few of the stories which come to mind as I write this.

If ‘Ox Travels’ was published before John O’Neill Walsh embarked on his journey to Sierra Leone, I’m sure he would have put it in his trunk.