Samuel Ajayi Crowther

Samuel Ajayi Crowther (c. 1809–31 December 1891), was a Yoruba linguist and the first African Anglican bishop in Nigeria. Born in Osoogun (in what is in Lanlate, Oyo State, Nigeria), he and his family were captured by Fulani slave raiders when he was about twelve years old.

The Most Reverend

Samuel Ajayi Crowther

D.D.
Primate of all Nigeria
Crowther as bishop in 1867
ChurchChurch of Nigeria
SeeNiger[1]
In office1864–1891
Personal details
Bornc. 1809
Osogun
Died(1891-12-31)31 December 1891
Lagos
EducationSt Mary's Church;
Fourah Bay College;
Oxford University

Crowther was freed from slavery at a coastal port by the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, which was enforcing the ban against the Atlantic slave trade. The liberated peoples were resettled in Sierra Leone. In Sierra Leone, Ajayi adopted an English name of Samuel Crowther, and began his education in English. He adopted Christianity and also identified with Sierra Leone's then ascendant Krio ethnic group. He studied languages and was ordained as a minister in England, where he later received a doctoral degree from Oxford University. He prepared a Yoruba grammar and translation of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer into Yoruba, also working on a Yoruba version of the Bible, as well as other language projects.

Biography

A grandson of King Abiodun,[2] through his mother, Afala, Ajayi was around 12 years old when he and his family were captured, along with his entire village, by Fulani slave raiders in March of 1821 and sold to Portuguese slave traders. His mother, Afala (who was later baptized with the name Hannah), toddler brother, and other family members were among the captives. His father, Ayemi, was most likely killed in the raid of his village or shortly afterwards. The British had outlawed the Atlantic slave trade in the early 19th century and used their navy to patrol the coast of Africa. Before the slave ship left port for the Americas (where Spain and Portugal still permitted the International slave in their colonies, the British empire and the United States still allowed slavery but had banned the trans-Atlantic importantion of slaves), it was boarded by crew from a British Royal Navy ship under the command of Captain Henry Leeke.

They freed the captives, and took Ajayi and his family to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where they were resettled by local authorities.[3]

While in Sierra Leone, Crowther was cared for by the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) and was taught English. He converted to Christianity. On 11 December 1825 he was baptized. He named himself after Samuel Crowther, vicar of Christ Church, Newgate, London, and one of the pioneers of the CMS.[1] Ajayi was baptized by John Raban.

In Niger Territory, 1888

While in Freetown, Crowther became interested in languages. In 1826 he was taken to England to attend the school of St Mary's Church in Islington, which had established a connection with free Africans in the 18th century. He returned to Freetown in 1827. He was the first student admitted to the newly opened Fourah Bay College,[4] an Anglican missionary school. Because of his interest in language, he studied Latin and Greek of the classical curriculum, but also Temne of West Africa. After completing his studies, Crowther began teaching at the school.

Marriage and family

Crowther married a schoolmistress, Asano (i.e. Hassana; she was formerly Muslim), baptised Susan. She had been liberated from the same Portuguese slave ship as Ajayi, and was among the captives resettled in Sierra Leone. She had also converted to Christianity. Their several children included Dandeson Coates Crowther,[5] who later entered the ministry and in 1891 became archdeacon of the Niger Delta.[6]

Susan and Crowther's second daughter, Abigail, married Thomas Babington Macaulay, a junior associate.[7] Their son and Crowther's grandson, Herbert Macaulay, became one of the first Nigerian nationalists. He played an important role in ending British colonial rule in Nigeria.

Mission

Crowther was selected to accompany the missionary James Schön on the Niger expedition of 1841.[8] Together with Schön, he was expected to learn Hausa for use on the expedition. Its goal was to stimulate commerce, teach agricultural techniques, encourage Christianity, and help end the slave trade. Following the expedition, Crowther was recalled to England, where he was trained as a minister and ordained by the Bishop of London. Schön wrote to the Church Missionary Society noting Crowther's usefulness and ability on the expedition, recommending that he be prepared for ordination.[9]

Crowther returned to Africa in 1843 and, with Henry Townsend, opened a mission in Abeokuta, in today's Ogun State, Nigeria.[5]

Crowther began translating the Bible into Yoruba and compiling a Yoruba dictionary. In 1843, his grammar book was published, which he had begun working on during the Niger expedition. A Yoruba version of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer followed later. Crowther also compiled A Vocabulary of the Yoruba Language,[10] including a large number of local proverbs, published in London in 1852.

He also began codifying other languages. Following the British Niger Expeditions of 1854 and 1857, Crowther, assisted by a young Igbo interpreter named Simon Jonas, produced a primer for the Igbo language in 1857. He published one for the Nupe language in 1860, and a full grammar and vocabulary of Nupe in 1864.[11]

Crowther had become a close associate and friend of Captain James Pinson Labulo Davies, an influential politician, mariner, philanthropist and industrialist in colonial Lagos.[12] The two men collaborated on social initiatives in Lagos, such as the founding of The Academy (a social and cultural center for public enlightenment) on 24 October 1866. Crowther was the first patron and Captain J.P.L Davies was the first president.[13]

Merits

In 1864, Crowther was ordained as the first African bishop of the Anglican Church; he was consecrated a bishop on St Peter's day 1864, by Charles Longley, Archbishop of Canterbury at Canterbury Cathedral.[14] He had continued his studies and later received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Oxford.[15]

He later met Queen Victoria and read the Lord's prayer to her in the Nigerian language of Yoruba, which she described as soft and melodious.[16]

In March 1881, he and his son Dandeson attended a conference on the island of Madeira, in the Atlantic Ocean west of Morocco. Crowther had begun to work in languages other than Yoruba, but he continued to supervise the translation of the Yoruba Bible (Bibeli Mimọ), which was completed in the mid-1880s, a few years before his death.[17]

Crowther is celebrated with a feast on the liturgical calendar of some Anglican churches, including the Episcopal Church (United States) and the Church of Nigeria,[18][19] on 31 December.

Death, burial, exhumation, and reburial

Crowther died of a stroke in Lagos on 31 December 1891.[5][20] He was buried at Ajele Cemetery in Lagos.

In 1971 the Lagos State Government under Mobolaji Johnson wanted to redevelop the site of the cemetery for new government offices and issued notices to families of the deceased. Seth Kale, Anglican Bishop of Lagos, representing the Anglican community[21] and Crowther's family, delayed exhumation and reburial until 1976. An elaborate ceremony was held at a new burial site and a cenotaph was installed at Cathedral Church of Christ, Lagos.[22]

Notes
  1. DACB.
  2. Posted by Otedo News Update on February 23, 2011 at 9:58pm in Useful info; Discussions, View. "Yoruba Enslavement of African Ancestors, Major Blocks on W.African Transatlantic Slave Trade :". ihuanedo.ning.com. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  3. Falola & Usman 2009, p. 67.
  4. Herskovits 1965, p. 35.
  5. Buckland 1901.
  6. "Ecclesiastical Intelligence". The Times (33232). London. 27 January 1891.
  7. "Macaulay, Thomas Babington (1826 to 1878)". Dictionary for African Christian Biography. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  8. Church Missionary Society 1896, pp. 23-64.
  9. Page 1888, p. 64.
  10. Crowther & Vidal 1852.
  11. Oluniyi 2017, p. 132.
  12. Elebute 2013, p. 169.
  13. Adedeji 1971, pp. 25-45.
  14. "Church news: consecration of three bishops in Canterbury Cathedral". Church Times (#74). 2 July 1864. p. 213. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 15 December 2014 – via UK Press Online archives.
  15. "Bishop Crowther". Watford Observer. 30 July 1864. p. 4 col F. Retrieved 9 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. "The Story of Africa". BBC World Service.
  17. Crowther 1900.
  18. "Calendar of the Church Year". Episcopal Church. 16 February 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  19. James, DrRaphael. "THE MOST REVEREND SAMUEL AJAYI CROWTHER CRIES OUT FROM HIS GRAVE". Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  20. "Death Of Bishop Crowther". Nottinghamshire Guardian. 2 January 1892. p. 4 col G. Retrieved 9 February 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. "Crowther awaits reburial". The Nigeria Nostalgia Project 1960-1980 on Facebook. Daily Times of Nigeria 1971. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  22. Ukeh & Anokwuru. "83 year old Orewande Januario". NBF News. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
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References

Further reading
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