Sierra Leone Company - Prime Movers of The Cause

Prime Movers of The Cause

Both ventures were promoted by the anti-slavery activist Granville Sharp, who published a prospectus for the proposed company in 1790 entitled Free English Territory in AFRICA. The prospectus made clear its abolitionist view and stated that several respectable gentlemen who had already subscribed had done so "not with a view of any present profit to themselves, but merely, through benevolence and public spirit, to promote a charitable measure, which may hereafter prove of great national importance to the Manufactories, and other Trading Interests of this Kingdom".

Among the early subscribers are many friends of Sharp involved in the Clapham Sect: Henry Thornton, William Wilberforce, Rev. Thomas Clarkson, Rev. Thomas Gisbourne, Samuel Whitbread

Initial attempts to gain a royal charter for the company proved fruitless following opposition from the attorney general, Archibald Macdonald. The company then proceeded to gain incorporation through act of parliament. However this too received opposition, particularly from the Committee of the Company of Merchants Trading to Africa, who called a meeting in March 1791. This led to three petitions being organised by slave trade merchants in London, Liverpool and Bristol. Slave traders in Lancaster also organised a petition as did the Africa Company. Further opposition was organised by the Standing Committee of West India Planters and Merchants, who arranged for two meetings with William Pitt, the Prime Minister. Nevertheless, Henry Thornton was able to successfully guide the Sierra Leone settlement bill through parliament, despite the efforts of the Liverpool MP Bamber Gascoyne and other anti-abolitionists. On 30 May 1791, the bill was passed 87 votes to 9.