BANNERMAN, JAMES

James Bannerman (1790-March 12, 1858), a prosperous Accra merchant prince and a capable administrator who as lieutenant-governor governed Britain’s Gold Coast settlements from 1850-51, was the only person of African descent to do so. He was also a foundation member of the Gold Coast Legislative Council, and the commandant of Christiansborg Castle. Students of history may have doubts about his nationality, but it was no problem to his contemporaries. Though his father, James Bannerman, was Scottish, he claimed to be an African, through his mother, by Akan customary law.

Bannerman, who was born in the Gold Coast, probably at Cape Coast, was the son of a British commandant at Cape Coast Castle in the service of the Roval African Company. His mother was an Akan, whose name is unrecorded. He first went to school in Cape Coast, but later continued his education in England.

His primary concern was the development of trade, and as early as 1810 he made statements about declining trade which were soon afterwards confirmed by a British Colonial Office report. Together with other merchants of the Coast, he believed that Asante control of trade had led to a reduction of their profits. He realised that Asante power would continue to grow at the expense of the Coast merchants as long as Asante traders had access to the Dutch and Danish trading posts, a trend that was accelerated by the high taxes imposed on trade goods at the British posts.

In 1822, Bannerman joined with the merchants of Cape Coast in proposing to the British government that the Asantehene be overthrown to enable civilisation to advance, and Christian knowledge to be further diffused.

During the governorship of Captain George Maclean (1830-43), Britain tried by peaceful negotiations to encourage the Asante traders to bring their goods to British stations rather than to Danish or Dutch ones. Bannerman supported this policy. In pursuance of it, he surrendered to Maclean, without compensation, the Asante war captives he had ransomed after the battle of Katamanso (Akantamasu) in 1826, to enable Maclean to send them back home, together with other redeemed captives, as a condition for the resumption of trade. One of the women captives however, remained in Accra, and became Bannerman’s wife. Her name was Yiadom, and she was the daughter of Osei Yaw Akoto, Asantehene from 1824-38. A visiting officer of the U.S. Navy described her, in a work published in 1845, as “jet black, of pleasing countenance, and… a princess of the royal blood.” He also described Bannerman as “the great man of Accra, wealthy, liberally educated in England, and a gentleman.”

Led by Bannerman, a group of Coast merchants, including Brodie Cruickshank, a Scot who later became lieutenant-governor and J. Clouston, wrote to the 3rd Earl Grey, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies (1846-52) through the intermediary of Mr. Forster, the Member of Parliament for West Riding in Yorkshire, England, proposing that a council of experienced members be elected to assist the British governor of the Gold Coast settlements. In 1850, when the Gold Coast became administratively separate from Sierra Leone, a legislative council was formed, with Bannerman as one of its members. In the same year he was appointed civil commandant of Christiansborg Castle, and lieutenant-governor. He had already served as a magistrate from 1820 onwards.

As early as 1822, the Gold Coast merchants had proposed to the British government that Britain might buy the Danish and Dutch forts, but it was Bannerman who notified the British, some years later, that the Danes wanted to dispose of their Gold Coast settlements. The British bought these possessions in 1850, and Bannerman, in his capacity as commandant of the formerly Danish Christiansborg Castle, did much to smooth over the troubles which arose with the local population as a consequence of the transfer.

On the death of the governor, Sir William Winniett, (term of office 1846-50) on December 4, 1850, Bannerman took over the administration of the Gold Coast settlements with the title of lieutenant-governor. During his administration, a Fante fetish which had existed for two centuries was revealed to be fraudulent, and Bannerman himself led an expedition against a recalcitrant Krobo chief, Ologu Patu, who had defied his authority. The chief was arrested, and brought to Accra in handcuffs, after which he was fined and released. Bannerman’s administration ended in October 1851, when Major S. J. Hill arrived to replace him. Bannerman then resumed his duties as commandant of Christiansborg, a position he held throughout the tax troubles which in 1854 led to an uprising of the people of Christiansborg and adjacent coastal towns against British authority.

In May 1851, Bannerman, who continued to hold the title of lieutenant-governor, again wrote to Earl Grey, proposing that an appeal court be established in the settlements, so that people might appeal against the verdict of the judicial assessor, whenever necessary. (No such court was, however, established in Bannerman’s lifetime.) When, in 1857, an uprising took place in Accra, Bannerman’s opinions as to its causes were given weight by the British because of his experience and insight into the situation of the Coast. In the same year, before his retirement, his salary as civil commandant was raised to £ 500 a year.

Bannerman had three children – Edmund, Charles, and Sam. Edmund Bannerman held several government posts of importance, and was also prominent in law and journalism. Charles was the first African journalist on the Gold Coast, founding the Accra Herald in 1857. Sam also held governmental posts, and acted as lieutenant-governor in his father’s absence.

FRANCIS AGBODEKA