Captain John Beecroft
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 1790 - Sleights, Whitby, Yorkshire, England
Christening:
Death: 10 Jun 1854 - Fernand Po, Nigeria, Africa
Burial: 14 Jun 1854 - King Will's Point, Fernand Po, Nigeria, Africa
Cause of Death:
AFN :
Events
Biography
British West Africa: Its Rise and Progress, by Augustus Ferryman Mockler-Ferryman Event
page 155, footnote:
Beecroft was born near Whitby in 1790, and entered the merchant service when quite young. Taken prisoner by the French in 1805 escaped and was recaptured four times; retained a prisoner until 1814. Accompanied Sir E. Parry to davis Straits, reaching Discoe, 70 degrees N. In 1829 accompanied Colonel Nicolls to Fernando Po, for the suppression of the slave-trade, remaining there for twenty years. He made remarkable explorations of the Niger mouths and adjacent countries from 1835 to 1850. In 1842 he explored the Old Calabar River for 200 miles up stream; 1843, made Spanish Governor of Fernando Po; 1845, explored the Niger and the Gaboon; 1850, became H.B.M.'s Consul at Fernando Po, where he died in June, 1854.
Commanded transport vessel in expedition to Greenland led by Sir William Parry. Event, History in Fernand Po, Nigeria, Africa
Prison, 1805-1814
History.
The island was discovered towards the close of the 15th century by a Portuguese navigator called Ferno do P0, who, struck by its beauty, named it Formosa, but it soon came to be called by the name of its discoverer.
1 A Portuguese colony was established in. the island, which together with Annobon was ceded to Spain in 1778. The first attempts of Spain to develop the island ended disastrously, and in 1827, with the consent of Spain, the administration of the island was taken over by Great Britain, the British superintendent having a Spanish com-mission as governor. By the British Fernando Po was used as a naval station for the ships engaged in the suppression of the slave trade. The British headquarters were named Port Clarence and the adjacent promontory Cape Wilham, in honor of the duke of Clarence (William IV.). In 1844 the Spaniards reclaimed the island, refusing to sell their rights to Great Britain. They did no more at that time, however, than hoist the Spanish flag, appointing a British resident, John Beecroft, governor. Beecroft, who was made British consul in 1849, died in 1854. During the British occupation a considerable number of Sierra Leonians, West Indians and freed slaves settled in the island, and English became and remains the common speech of the coast peoples. In 1858 a Spanish governor was sent out, and the Baptist missionaries who had labored in the island since 1843 were compelled to withdraw. They settled in Ambas Bay on the Some authorities maintain that another Portuguese seaman, Lopes Gonsalves, was the discoverer of the island. The years 1469, 1471 and 1486 are variously given as those of the date of the discovery.
Held by French after capture serving in coasting vessel. Event, 1829 in Fernand Po, Nigeria, Africa
Superintendent of works at Fernando Po (formally Spanish since 1777, but occupied by Britain since 1827. Event, 1830-1832 in Fernand Po, Nigeria, Africa
Acting governor of Fernando Po. Event, 1832
After 1830 merchants began to think about the possibility of direct trading routes into the interior of Africa from the coast. These new ventures were not always successful. Macgregor Laird (1808-1861), the younger son of the shipbuilder William Laird based at Birkenhead, built the steamships Alburkah and Quorra in Liverpool. The Alburkah was a 55 ton (55,000 kgs) paddle steamer. In 1831 Laird joined other Liverpool merchants to create a company for the development of the Niger regions in West Africa. Laird was against the slave trade and thought that the development of an alternative trade with Africa would promote progress. With this in mind, Laird led an expedition in 1832 to the Niger. Although he managed to work out the source and progress of the River Niger, the trip ended in tragedy as only nine of the forty-eight men survived. Event, 1833 in Fernand Po, Nigeria, Africa
Following that disaster Laird did not take part in any other ventures for twenty years although he created the African Steamship Company in 1849. This new company and its steamliner service meant that the challenge of other British ports, such as Bristol and London on Liverpool's monopoly of trade in the Niger River area, was beaten off. Liverpool was soon able to re-establish its dominant role in the area and in the palm oil trade.
Robert Jamieson arrived in Liverpool in the 1830s. He had trading interests in South America, India and China. Jamieson asked Liverpool shipbuilder Thomas Wilson to build the paddle steamer Ethiope. The steamer left Liverpool in September 1839 bound for West Africa to find a route to the River Niger, via Old Calabar and Cross Rivers. The progress of this journey made it clear that it was important for steam vessels to be worked by native Africans and directed by European officers and engineers who were used to the climate.
Effective governor (although private citizen) at Fernando Po after British pull-out. Event, 1835 in Nigeria
Ascended river Niger 300 miles in steamer Quorra. Event, 1836 in Nigeria
<http://books.google.com/books?vid=LCCN07015364&id=qaklrCCQQgsC&pg=PA186&lpg=PA186&dq=Becroft>
The Gentlemans Magazine, July 1936
Page 186
June 13. Read, 1. A letter from Mr Becroft, detailing a trip up the river Quorra, for about 300 miles, as far as the junction of the river Tschadda.
Ascended Cross river 120 miles from Old Calabar. Event, 1839
Robert Jamieson sends the steamer Ethiope to explore several west African rivers. Event, 1840
Olokun is also the traditional Edoid name (from time immemorial) for the Ethiope River, which was renamed "Ethiope" by John Beecroft in 1840 in memory of his Steamer the Ethiope.
Event, Apr 1840 in Nigeria
Ascended Benin river. Event, 1841 in Nigeria
<http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/collections/paintings/walters3.asp>
The paddle steamer 'Ethiope' is shown in starboard profile off the coast of West Africa, probably in the Bight of Biafra, under full steam and with all sail set.
'Ethiope' was built by Thomas Wilson of Liverpool in 1839. She was schooner rigged with three masts and was fitted with thirty horse power condensing engine. She was built for Robert Jamieson for the express purpose of finding a route via the Benin River to the main Niger River 'and at the same time to endeavour to establish a commercial intercourse with the interior.'
In April 1840 'Ethiope' began the ascent of the Benin River under the command of John Beecroft, an experienced trader and government agent. Initially frustrated in their aim, a second attempt via the Warree River, a tributary of the Benin, took them into the main Niger River and more than 400 miles up the river. However, sickness and death amongst the European crew convinced Beecroft and Jamieson that 'commerce on the Niger can only be followed by means of steam-vessels manned entirely by native Africans, under the direction of European officers and engineers well inured to the climate.'
Clearly visible on the foredeck is the 'nine-pound swivel gun' and other unspecified guns can be seen from some of the gun ports. Such armament was a necessary precaution in areas where Europeans were viewed with suspicion and hostility.
Although attributed to Heard on entering the collection, the high quality of the painting, and in particular of the figures, together with the treatment of the sea suggests that this is more likely to be the work of Samuel Walters. The painting probably dates from about 1840-45.
<http://books.google.com/books?vid=LCCN02055456&id=A3cMAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA184&lpg=PA184&dq=Becroft>
The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, by Norton Shaw, Hume Greenfield, Henry Walter Bates
Page 184-
XIV. On Benin and the Upper Course of the River Quorra, or Niger. By Captain Becroft. Communicated by Robert Jamieson, Esq., of Liverpool.
Experience appears now to have set the stamp of her authority on the position, that if an intercourse with the interior of Central Africa of any extent or practical utility is ever to be established by the navigation of the Quorra, * or Niger, by Europeans, some new channel of approach to the main body of that river must be found by which the pestiferous swamps of its Delta will be avoided. This, for a considerable time, has been the impression on many who have turned their attention to African geography; and the Benin, or Fermoso river, from its magnitude, its relative position, and proximity to the Niger, had been supposed likely to furnish such an approach.
Participating in this impression, Mr. Jamieson, in 1839 (not being aware that a Government-expedition was in contemplation), built and dispatched a steamer, of suitable dimensions and power, to ascertain this important point, and at the same time to endeavour to establish a commercial intercourse with the interior.
In April, 1840, Mr. Becroft in command of the steamer, the "Ethiope," ascended the Fermoso, his ship's company consisting of fifteen Europeans, including officers, medical men, an engineer, and seamen, with a full complement of blacks, or Kroo-men, besides interpreters - one of whom was Mina, who had accompanied Captain Clapperton and Lander.
For about 40 miles from the sea, including windings, he found the Fermoso a fine bold river, with from 6 to 3 fathoms of water. At this point, a bifurcation took place - both branches proving to be highly tortuous, and much narrower than the main trunk of the river, but having a depth of not less than 3 fathoms, so far as th steamer was able to ascend them. This Mr. Becroft computed to be from 40 to 50 miles on the one, and from 60 to 70 miles on the other, including windings. His further progress was obstructed at these respective points, not from want of water - for that continued as deep as before - but from the impenetrable forests of large aquatic plants, which choked up the streams in both branches, so as to render a further passage impracticable except by cutting a way through them, which could only have been accomplished by considerable labour and with great loss of time. This he did not feel justified in risking, more especially as the extreme limpidness of the water of both streams, when compared with that of the Niger, which Mr. Becroft had navigated some years before, gave a sufficient proof that the Fermoso is an entirely separate river - taking its rise probably in the highlands N.W. of the Niger. He therefore returned with the steamer to the anchorage at the mouth of the river, which he had left eleven days before.
His sketch of this river, as reduced by Mr. Arrowsmith, is here given. Both of its branches are described as being beautifully wooded; and at the highest point attained in the southernmost arm, extensive plains open to the view, upon which, however, neither inhabitants nor symptoms of population of any sort could then be discerned. The Sooba Country is the name given to this district by the natives lower down the river, who represent it as forming part of the kingdom of Benin.
Foiled in the accomplishment of this their main object, Mr. Becroft and his party resolved to try whether a good entrance to the Niger might be found by what is called the Warree* branch of that river. This branch they entered by passing through a creek of some magnitude (called "Young Town Creek"), which flows out of the Fermoso to the southward at some distance from its mouth; and they succeeded in reaching the Niger at the point of bifurcation with its Nϊn branch a short way below the town of Eboe. In their progress thither they passed three openings or passages to the sea, which they presumed to be the rivers Escravos, Forcados, and Ramos, as laid down in the charts of the coast. The difficulty of navigating their way through this new and intricate passage (which is laid down in their map) made it the work of a fortnight, during which time sickness unhappily appeared among the European portion of the steamer's crew, and continued more or less among them during the whole of the time she remained in the Niger, eventually terminating fatally in the cases of the first officer, Mr. harrower, two seamen and two boys.
Proceeding up the Niger, they arrived off the town of Eboe on the 20th of May. From thence they proceeded upwards on the 26th of that month; but, in consequence of having entered the river, as they found, before its periodical rise had fully commenced, the rains of that season also proving unusually light, they were unable, from want of water, to reach the town of Rabbah till the 25th of August. Notwithstanding every precaution in sounding, &, as they ascended, the steamer, though not drawing more than from 5 ½ to 6 feet, was constantly taking the ground, and frequently could not be got off again without much labour and loss of time, more particularly as the European part of the crew continued incapable of any duty or exertion. As the river of Buzzanghie, then the island and village of Tykboo. At this part of the river its banks are very rocky, and its bed is contracted to about 300 yards, with soundings from 5 to 6 fathoms. Having afterwards passed New Bajibo, and the old town of that name on the opposite bank, they came to a part of the river where, from the position of the rocks, the channel is not more than 50 yards wide. The current was here found to be so strong that the steamer could only just go ahead, and was very ticklish to steer. There was no safe anchorage, the bottom being foul and rocky; and two leads, with a part of the lines, were lost in sounding. By perseverance, however, they succeeded in getting through this passage; but shortly afterwards came to another somewhat similar, where the channel is not more than 30 yards wide, with an increased velocity of current. The full power of the engine was now only able to keep the steamer in a secure position; and had the current caught her on either bow, she must inevitably have gone upon the rocks, as there was not room for her to recover herself.
It being now obvious that further progress upwards by a vessel of the Ethiope's power (thirty horses) was impracticable; and seeing that to have attempted to come to an anchor in such foul and rocky ground, with such a current, would in all probability have caused the loss of the anchor, there was no alternative but to yield to circumstances, and give up all attempt at proceeding farther. This was accordingly, though reluctantly, done; and they dropped the steamer down to Bajibo, where she was anchored in four fathoms. The people from this town came alongside in canoes, and were allowed to indulge their curiosity to see the "white man" and is "fire-ship," by coming on board in small parties at a time. They also brought yams and firewood for sale; but, with the exception of a little ivory, had no produce to barter for merchandise. The old town, on the western bank of the river, from the appearance of its ruins, must have been a place of some importance. It had been destroyed by the people of Yαrriba; for what reason could not be ascertained, but it was intimated that it was to avoid their future attacks that the new town had been placed on the opposite or eastern bank.
Mr. Becroft is of opinion that from the point above mentioned, at which his progress up the river was stopped, he could have reached Lever in two hours, but that the ascent thence to Boossa and Yaooree* could not have been accomplished under a month, and in that time only by taking advantage of the eddies, such was the increasing force of the current, from the daily rising of the river.
Returning to Rabbah, they remained at the town till the 20th of September. On the morning of that day, having fired a salute in honour of the king and his people who had come to the beach in great numbers to witness their departure: "At 9 am," says Mr. Becroft, "the king made his appearance on the bank of the river. Iwent on shore to wait on him. On my landing he dismounted. Mats having been spread, he seated himself, and desired me to sit down by him. He wished Ramadαn, the Arab, to sit down also; but he modestly declined. After the usual compliments and salutations were over, I thanked him for the ostrich he had sent to me the day before, and explained the accident by which it had been injured (it had got one of its legs broken while sent on board); he said that when I returned he would give me another. He then presented me with deer-skins and a tanned hide, blackened on one side, and neatly bound with coloured leather; likewise a metal jug full of Gooroo nuts. I asked if he would accept of my sword if I sent it on shore to him. He said he would, and would be proud to wear it. I told him that I would send it with the flag which I had promised to him, as soon as I went on board. He thanked me - desired me to remember him to the Queen of England, and hoped she would think him worthy of her notice. Here the ceremony ended. I whished him and his people health and happiness, and thanking him for his kindness and attention, stepped into the boat, the trumpets sounding. Sullikan Yiki, King of War, was present with a numerous mounted retinue."
"I accordingly sent, by the return of the boat, my sword and belt, with an union-jack; weighed anchor at 10 am, and steamed about a mile up the river. I then turned the steamer's head down the river, and fired a salute of five guns in passing, which was responded to by loud shouts and the sounding of trumpets, and we were soon out of sight of Rabbah."
They proceeded towards the coast, which they reached by the Warree and the Fermoso rivers on the 30th of October, having called at all the principal places on the river for trade, as they had done in ascending.
Throughout this six months' sojourn on the Niger, Mr. Becroft and his party experienced nothing but friendship from kings, chiefs and people. At Rabbah, which is the largest town on the river, they were particularly well received and entertained, having had frequent interviews with the king. This personage, on Mr. Becroft's taking his final leave, presented him, as mentioned above, with a metal jug, apparently of European manufacture, filled with Gooroo nuts, * in token of friendship; and signified his wish, that, besides a number of brass cannon to protect his town, Mr. Becroft would bring for him on his next visit to Rabbah two sofa-beds and a large trunk!
Mr. Becroft and his party describe the country in the interior beyond the swamps of the Delta - that is, above the town of Iddah, some 200 miles from the coast, as being beautiful, the soil fertile, the climate agreeable, * and the natives peaceable and desirous of commerce, though as yet possessing few articles of produce to give in exchange for European commodities. Cotton and indigo, however, are indigenous productions - the former is spun and manufactured at various towns in the interior, and the latter, wel prepared and of good quality, was found for sale in the market-place of Rabbah, though only in a very small quantity. There can be no doubt, however, that these and other tropical productions would be cultivated extensively by the natives, were there a steady demand for the produce when raised and prepared. This demand commercial intercourse with Europe alone can supply, and yet the pestilential swamps of the river's delta unhappily deny to Europeans the prosecution of such intercourse. It remains then that commerce on the Niger can only be followed by means of steam-vessels manned entirely by native Africans, under the direction of European officers and engineers well inured to the climate. But even in this mode of prosecuting the desired intercourse, there appears too formidable an array of difficulties to render it likely to become of any considerable practical benefit to Africa or Europe - first, in the danger of navigating to and from Africa, vessels constructed so as to be of sufficiently light draught of water for the ascent of the rivers, and consequently badly adapted to the open sea - next, in the great expense attendant on the employment of steam-vessels in so distant a quarter and in such a climate - then in the impossibility of having them repaired in case of accident to the engineers, or of any serious injury to the machinery; and finally, in the fact, now well ascertained, that the river itself is not navigable except during the few months of the year when it is flooded.
Mr. Becroft was instructed to remain in Africa with his steamer after the end of 1841, with a view to ascending and trading on the Old Calabar and Cross rivers at the time of their periodical rise. He did so, but unforeseen and untoward circumstances, occurring on the coast, delayed his prosecution of this purpose till late in the season, and just when he was on the point of commencing it, his aid was required by H.M. steamer "Albert," in distress up the Niger. He however succeeded, after bringing that vessel to Fernando Po, in ascending the Old Calabar river above Duke's Town and the villages called Guinea Company, but found that it is a river quite unimportant, beyond the influence of the tide. As the water of Cross river was now falling, and as it would have been imprudent to have attempted to ascend it in the steamer, Mr. Becroft engaged from one of the kings at Duke's Town "a pretty comfortable traveling canoe," with fifty pull-away-boys or paddlers. In this vessel, accompanied by his surgeon and two leadsmen from the steamer, he ascended that river to a town of considerable population called Ommann, passing on his way the village of Acrock, and another farther up called Etone. His sketch and soundings so far have not yet come to hand. "The course made," he states, "was about N.W. by N., the distance being about 70 miles," having "fine long reaches all the way to Ommann, with several beautiful islands. The river is shallow a little above the entrance, but this is within the influence of the tide; it is shallow at some other places, but," he adds, "we might not have been in the channel" - "the water had sunk several feet." From what information Mr. Becroft could obtain, he thinks this river must be of consequence higher up.
The town of Ommann is situated on an island, and supplies the people of Old Calabar largely with palm-oil and live stock. Mr. Becroft and his surgeon were received at this town with great friendship, as the first white men who had visited them for trade, and on taking leave they were requested to come back soon. The people of the village of Etone objected to their landing, from a belief (as was represented) that the surgeon carried with him the small-pox!
Ascended Cross river. Event, 1841 in Nigeria
Assisted withdrawal of Niger expedition in steamer Ethiope. Event, 1842 in Nigeria
<http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC02231190&id=El6Ivzrly70C&pg=PA533&dq=Becroft>
Memoirs of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, Baronet: With Selections from his Correspondence
page 533
The Niger Expedition entered the Nun branch of the river on the 13th of August, 1841, that being the season recommended by Captain Becroft, and other gentlemen well acquainted with the subject. *Captain Trotter to the Secretery of the Admiralty. Parl. Papers relative to the Niger Expedition, p. 47.
Page 548-549
While the Albert was still a hundred miles from the sea, its disabled crew were surprised and delighted by seeing a steamer coming up the stream towards them. It proved to be the Ethiope, commanded by Captain Becroft, who had been directed by Mr. Jamieson to afford every assistance to the Expedition. This timely assistance was of the greatest importance. Captain Becroft and his engineer took charge of the Albert, and brought her in safety to Fernando Po. It was hoped that Captain Bird Allen and his gallant fellow sufferers would rapidly revive under the influence of its purer air; but many were already too much sunk to receive benefit, and the mortality was most painful. Of the 301 persons who composed the Expedition when it commenced the ascent of the Niger, forty-one perished from the African fever. It may be worth while to observe, that of the 108 Africans on board, not one died from the effects of the disease. Captain Bird Allen fell a victim to it at Fernando Po, on the 21st of October.
Ascended Cross river. Event, 22 Jan 1842
The Times, 22 January 1842 Event, 27 Jan 1842
LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 1842.
We transcribe, in another column, from a morning contemporary, what it justly calls "the afflicting intelligence" respecting the Niger expedition, and which is considered to be the official anti-slavery account of the matter. The result of that enterprise has been sadly correspondent with what all reasonable men must have augured, and what we ourselves hare always predicted. Three vessels have gone about 320 miles up the Niger and Chadda, and have come down again. A model farm some 300 miles from the coast has been bought, stocked, and abandoned; treaties have been made with the two negro Princes of Eboe and Iddah for the abolition of the slave trade and of human sacrifices, and then they have been left to their own practices; and this at an expense of health and life which is not indeed distinctly stated, but may well be divined from the account given by our contemporary, to whose statement we will add an extract from a letter written on board the Ethiope on the 21st of October :-
"We entered the Nun on the 10th inst., and proceeded up the river the next morning, and fell in with the Albert on the evening of the 13th inst. at Stirling Island, about 24 miles below Eboe. We found her in a worse state than the Wilberforce; all hands down with fever but Drs M'William, Stanger, a scientific gentleman, a marine, the boatswain's mate, and a servant. Captain Trotter very weak, Captain Bird Allen (who is since dead) very low; no engineers; Dr. Stanger was endevouring to work the engine the best way he could. We sent our head engineer on board, and the Albert followed the Ethiope to the coast. Captain Becroft then went on board the Albert, and took her to Fernando Po. The people at the model farm, including its manager, Mr. Carr, were all sick, and have been brought down by the Albert."
The Times, 27 January 1842 Event, 1843 in Fernand Po, Nigeria, Africa
THE NIGER EXPEDITION.
REPORT OF CAPTAIN TROTTER.
On the 5th of October Mr. Willie weighed and dropped down the river, but was soon prevented by sickness from carrying on duty; and Dr. M'William, assisted by only one white seaman, lately recovered from fever,took charge of the vessel, not thinking it right, in my state of fever, to report Mr. Willie's illness.
From want of engineers we should have had to drop down the whole length of the river without steam, had not Dr. Stanger, the geologist, in the most spirited manner, after consulting Tredgold's work on steam, and getting some little instruction from the convalescent engineer, undertaken to work the engine himself. The heat of the engine-room affected the engineer so much as to throw him back in his convalescence, and prevent him rendering any further assistance, but Dr. Stanger took the vessel safely below Eboe, without anything going wrong with the machinery, while Dr. M'Willam, in addition to his enormous press of duty, as a medical officer, conducted the ship down the river in the most able and judicious manner. I may here remark that the Doctor steered the ship entirely by Commander William Allen's excellent chart of the Niger, of the correctness of which we had a good opportunity of judging on ascending the river, and which proved eminently useful on the passage down; and Mr. Brown, clerk, a native of Africa, who had been up the river before, also rendered, him considerable assistance in the pilotage.
When about 100 miles from the sea Captain Becroft happily made his appearance in the Ζthiope, steamer, having been requested to ascend the river and communicate with us by Commander William Allen of the Wilberforce; and it was really a providential mercy that he arrived when he did, for had any accident, however trivial, happened, to the engines, they could not have been worked any longer, as Dr. Stanger had no knowledge of the manner of rectifying it. Fever still prevented my going on deck, and there was no executive officer to take the vessel over the bar, and only one convalescent sailor doing duty, and no black sailor who could properly take the helm. Captain Becroft, however, came onboard with an engineer, and not only took the vessel over the bar but brought her all the way across to this anchorage (a distance of 160 miles), where we arrived in safety on the 17th inst.
I have already alluded to Dr. Stanger's praiseworthy conduct in his acquiring a knowledge of the steam-engine, by which we were enabled to get down the river so much more speedily than we otherwise could have done; but this gentleman was, if possible, still more useful in the medical assistance which he rendered to Dr. M'William, who latterly had no assistant-surgeon to relieve him in his duties. I am sorry to say that Dr. Stanger is beginning to feel the effect of his exertions, having had fever (although slightly) within the last two days.
Appointed unpaid Governor of Fernando Po by Spain, upon that country's reassertion of authority. Event, 1844-1849
Employed by the Royal Navy on political missions. Event, 1847
Event, 27 Feb 1848
<http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Gazette/Misc/African_Expedition.html>
Index page indicates year as 1847
ntblThe African Expedition from Liverpool have been received announcing that the expedition got up and sent out last year by Mr. Jamieson, and others, for the purpose of exploring the Niger, with a view to developing the commercial resources of Africa, has again failed. This is the second failure. The following is a copy of a letter read to the Commercial Association:-
Liverpool,
November 9
Sir, It is with extreme sorrow I have to communicate to you unfavourable intelligence of the Ethiope, steamer, and the consequent relinquishment of her re-ascent of the Niger.
Captain Becroft and Dr. King write, that, when upon the Gaboon river, the vessel's boilers suddenly gave way ; and that, although the engineer succeeded in repairing them so as to complete exploration of that river, they afterwards burst so frequently as to render it altogether unsafe to hazard another ascent of the Niger with them. Accordingly, the vessel has been laid up at Fernando Po, under care of Captain Becroft ; and Dr. King is on his way to England.
Upon his arrival a statement of particulars and accounts shall be prepared, and after having been submitted to the committee of subscribers in Liverpool, for examination, they shall be laid before you, with a view to a call on subscriptions, so far, and also to obtain your opinion as to the further prosecution of the enterprise. I may here add, that the Gaboon river was found to be of no importance as a highway to the interior, not being navigable further than the tide ascended ; say some fifty to sixty miles.
Sincerely regretting these untoward circumstances,
I remain, Sir,
your most obedient servant.
Robert Jamieson
SG & SGTL ; Vol 4 ; Page 112.
<http://docsouth.unc.edu/armistead/armistead.html> Event, 30 Jun 1849
NOTICE OF AN INTELLIGENT NEGRO.
COMMUNICATED BY CAPTAIN WAUCHOPE, R.N., IN A LETTER TO THE AUTHOR, DATED FEB. 27, 1848.
DEAR SIR,
I think the following statement may be worthy of a place in the volume you are now publishing.
In 1837, I commanded her Majesty's frigate "Thalia," on the west coast of Africa; and when in Clarence Cove, in the island of Fernando Po, I spent the day on shore with that very worthy and excellent man, Mr. Becroft, who at that time was in charge of the establishment there. My purser had occasion that forenoon to draw a bill on government for £250., which was cashed by Mr. Scott, a Negro. I dined with Mr. Becroft the same day, and Mr. Scott, who was chief clerk of the establishment, was one of the guests. I was struck with his intelligence and
Page 324
gentlemanly behaviour, and when alone with Mr. Becroft afterwards, I mentioned how much surprised I had been with the whole of Mr. Scott's conduct and conversation: his reply was--"You will be more surprised when I tell you that ten years ago Mr, Scott was in the hold of a Slaver."
He had been educated at Sierra Leone, and found his way afterwards to Fernando Po. I believe that few European intellects would have made such a stride in so short a space of time.
I have the honour to remain, sir,
Your obedient servant,
R. WAUCHOPE,
CAPTAIN R.N.
British Consul to the Bights of Benin and Biafra, a jurisdiction stretching from Dahomey to Cameroon. Event, May 1850
<http://www.martynmission.cam.ac.uk/CAjay2a.htm>
Yet, the lords of the Admiralty remained very hesitant about the Prime Minister's decision to intervene in the succession dispute in Lagos. There was no legal justification for invading Lagos since there were no British citizens or property endangered there. There was not even the excuse of a treaty contravened since none had been signed. It was to persuade the lords of the Admiralty to act that Venn invoked Crowther as his trump card. He heard that Crowther was on leave in Freetown and summoned him to London. He got Lord Wriothesley Russell to take him to the palace to meet the Queen and Prince Albert, after he had discussed with Lord Palmerston. He visited this University, among other places, giving talks about his life, his work and the potential for the Gospel in the Yoruba country.
As a result of all this, Capt. John Beecroft, the English governor of the Spanish Island of Fernando Po, was appointed a Consul to oversee British interests in the Bights of Benin and Biafra. He went to visit the king of Dahomey who still refused to sign an anti-slave trade treaty. He then went to Badagri to see Akintoye, the king of Lagos who was deposed by Kosoko, his nephew. Kosoko who reigned in Lagos was an ally of Dahomey, and he too refused to sign a treaty. Akintoye in exile in Badagri was an ally of the Egba, and a friend of the missionaries. Beecroft found Akintoye more than willing to sign a treaty with the British. The Consul went on to visit the missionaries in Abeokuta, where he stayed as a guest of the Mission for twelve days. On his return to Badagri, he took Akintoye with him to Fernando Po, in a kind of protective custody. The stage was set for war. The attack of Dahomey on Abeokuta in March 1851 helped to mobilize the Evangelicals, and Lord Palmerston accepted it as the casus belli the Admiralty were looking for. Lord Palmerston issued instructions for the naval squadron to blockade Lagos and Dahomey, and take measures for the defence of Abeokuta. Commander Forbes obtained ammunition worth 300 pounds from the depot in Freetown:
- two light field pieces (3-pounders), with three hundred rounds of powder and shot; 159 muskets flint-lock, with bayonets; twenty-eight thousand musket-ball cartridges and two barrels of flints.
Gollmer received these and had them transported to Abeokuta. Forbes went to Badagri, harangued the recaptives there to rise to the defence of Christianity and Civilisation: to show "the advantage of the knowledge the white men have, through God's assistance, ingrafted in you". He recruited 30 of them to be trained to use the arms sent to Abeokuta, and improve on the defences of the town.
Yet, Commodore Bruce, commanding the squadron in West Africa, himself an Evangelical Christian, remained cautious. He knew that Kosoko's Lagos was not going to be a push over. He later confirmed that, even if Kosoko had a Woolwich trained engineer, he could not have done better. But that was not why he was hesitant. He went to Fernando Po and interviewed Akintoye. He informed the Admiralty that he did not think that Akintoye could hold Lagos, if reinstated. His advice was that Lagos had a potential that went beyond being just an outlet for Abeokuta. If the Government must intervene, they should think of outright annexation, and not of Lagos Island alone, but with enough land around it to make it easier to hold and to govern. Meanwhile, Beecroft had colluded with Commander Forbes to force action, since he already had Akintoye under his control. He took four warships to Lagos and called Kosoko to parley, saying that he thought a little show of force would frighten him into compliance. Kosoko was defiant and fired on the British party. Beecroft had no authority to start a war and he had to accept his humiliation. He was censured, but he had succeeded in getting the Commodore compelled to hasten action. Commodore Bruce came to Lagos the following month, and captured Lagos on Boxing Day, 1851, for the loss of 16 men dead, and 75 injured. The action covered only Lagos Island. Akintoye was reinstated. A trader was appointed acting Consul, pending the arrival of Benjamin Campbell, to oversee British interests in the Bight of Benin. The advice of Commodore Bruce that a candidate for the post be found from among the recaptives in Freetown or the West Indies was ignored. When Crowther returned to Lagos in June 1852, it was as an honoured guest at the palace of Akintoye, in the same Lagos from which he had been shipped as a slave bound for Brazil, 30 years before.
<http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC13355557&id=mYV8FxG4JFgC&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq=Beacroft> Event, 4 Apr 1851
Cotton Cultivation in Africa, by Benjamin Coates
Page 41, Cotton from Liberia
In May, 1850, John Pender, of London, with S. Gurney, the London banker, and some gentlemen of this neighborhood, entered into an undertaking for the purpose of endeavoring to ascertain the possibility or otherwise of procuring a supply of cotton from the African coast. Having obtained letters of introduction from Lord Palmerston for Mr. J. K. Straw, to whom the charge of the expedition was entrusted, to the admiral of the station, Mr. Beacroft, and to President Robert, of Liberia, they purchased two small ships, and freighted them with general merchandise, sending out, at the same time, a quantity of New Orleans cotton seed. Eight small bags of cotton, the fruit of this experiment, have recently arrived in Manchester, consigned to Mr. Fleming, of the Manchester Commercial Association, by Mr. Pender, who is a member of this body. The cotton is white and good, and is valued at 5d. per pound. In every way it is suitable to the wants of the manufacturers. The experiment has shown to a demonstration that good cotton can be grown in Liberia without any difficulty, and it is the intention of the conductors of the enterprise to persevere in it. London Times.
37. On the 4th of April, 1851, Consul John Beecroft with certain others representing Her Britannic Majesty's Government signed a commercial treaty with Chiefs Jerry and Jibuffa of Jackpa. On the 18th of February, 1858, Mr. Benjamin Campbell, Her Britannic Majesty's Consul, entered into another treaty with Abrimoney, Chief of Batere, wherein, among other things, the chief on his part voluntarily on payment of an agreed comey, undertook: Event, The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 25 Nov 1951
"to protect, with all his power and influence, the British property deposited in this river onshore or afloat, and all the British Agents and other Subjects of Her Britannic Majesty."
(published 15 May 1852) Event, Letter, 19 Feb 1852
FATAL AFFAIR WITH THE NEGROES
AT LAGOS.
(From the South African Adventiser, February 28.)
An attack on the slave traders of Lagos was made on the 25th of November last, by the combined crews of a squandron of cruisers,
which included the officers, seamen, and marines.
of the Philomel, S, Commander Forbes ; Harle- quin, 12, Commander Wilmot; the Volcano, steam-vessel, Commander Coote ; the Niger, 14, screw-sloop, Commander Heath ; and the Waterwitch, 1, Commander Gardner; the force consisted of 23 boats, with 260 officers and men, under the command of the senior officer, Com- mander F. G. Forbes, of the Philomel.
The King of Lagos, Corcioco by name, had forbidden the men-of-war boats coming from up the river to Lagos ; but previously Mr. Beecroft, the consul at Fernando Po, with the comman- ders of the Harlequin and Waterwitch, and Lieutenant Patey, the commander of the Blood hound steam-tender, had been received by the King with every demonstration of respect. They, however, failed in their object to engage the King to promise, on the part of himself and subjects, not to favour the slave trade. Mr. Beecroft determined on seeking another inter- view with the King, and in order to show his sable Majesty the hopelessness of any successful persistence in carrying on the inhuman traffic, arranged that the armed boats of the squadron
should accompany him up the river under a flag
of truce.
Accordingly, a course over the bar having been surveyed, the Bloodhound steamer, with a white flag, and the following boats of the squad- ron, Mr. Beecroft in Commander Wilmot's gig starting 100 yards a-head, proceeded at day- light of the 25th of November towards the
river :
Philomel.- Commander Forbes in the whale- boat; Lieutenant Williams in the pinnace, with 12-ponnder caronade, and with cutter and whale-
boat.
Harlequin.-Commander Wilmot in the gig; Lieut. Bonghoy in the pinnace, with cutter and
two whaleboats.
Volcano.-Commander Coote in whaleboat ; Lieutenant Reeves in paddlebox-boat ; Lieu- tenant Robinson in paddlebox-boat, with cutter.
Niger.-Commander Heath in the gig ; Lieut. Dunn in the pinnace, with three cutters and
whaleboat.
Waterwitch.- Commander Gardner in whale-
boat, Lieut. Graham in pinnace, with cutter and
whaleboat.
As the force crossed the bar, and about four miles distant from the point, a heavy fire of musketry was directed towards it. No notice, however, was taken of this ineffectual show of opposition to the progress of the boats, and the flags of truce were kept flying. When within
about a mile and-a-half of the town the Blood- hound grounded ; and, as she could not be got off, the boats formed line and proceeded up the river, and kept on, with the flag of truce flying, until they received a heavy fire from some guns and musketry on shore. The fire was harmless on account of the distance ; but now the boats opened their fire with sharpnell shells and round shot, the Niger, at the same time, throwing a shell or two on the point near the mouth of the river. After exchanging a continuous fire for nearly an hour with a beach lined for more than a mile with bodies of men, the boats dashed at the shore and effected a landing simultaneously at one spot, and then, leaving a sufficient guard at the boats, about 160 officers and men fought their way into the town. They were met, how- ever, with most determined resistance on the part of the natives, who disputed every inch of the narrow streets intersecting each other, and when beaten out of one street ran round by the back ways and showed front again at the end of the other streets. After some gallant fighting in this way against an increasing enemy, who amounted to at least 5000, and having two officers killed and six men wounded, Captain Forbes fired the houses in the neighbourhood, and retreated in good order, and having re-em- barked proceeded to the Bloodhound, got her afloat the same night, and the next morning re- crossed the bar ; the force having sustained the following loss-comparatively small whem the number of the enemy is taken into account, and when it is considered that, in addition to their force of half-a-dozen large guns, and as many swivels, which were constantly served, almost every house was a fortification :
Killed.-Mr. Dyer, mate of Niger ; Mr. Hall,
mate of ditto.
Wounded.-Charles Hancock, sergeant, Tν. M. A., of the Niger, seriously; John Goulding, gunner, R. M. A , of the Niger dangerously ; Urbane Collet, bombadier, 11. M. A., of the Niger, severely ; William Hail, seaman, of the Niger, severely; John McCarty, seaman, of the Niger, severely ; Richard Gomett, seaman, of the Niger, severely; J. Todhunter, A. B., of the Niger, severely ; a quartermaster of the Phi- lomel; two men of the Volcano, severely. In addition to the above, others received hurts from spent balls.
The Niger took the wounded to Sierra Leone, and proceeded in search of the Commodore, and it was understood that Commodore Bruce had proceeded to Lagos to organise such a force as would compel the King of Lagos to submis- sion ; the Harlequin, in the meantime, by her presence off the coast, preventing the King of Lagos from forming any new expedition against the missionary establishment at Badagry.
Page 310 Event, Letter, 2 Mar 1852
No. 4 - Consul Beecroft to Viscount Palmerston. (Rec. June 17).
Clarence, Fernando Po, February 19, 1852.
My Lord,
I transmit herewith the journal of Mr. Vice-Consul Fraser, detailing his mission to Abomey, together with its inclosures. I have, &c. John Beecroft.
Viscount palmerston, G.C.B.
---
Inclosure 1. - Copy of rough Notes from the Daily Journal of Mr. Louis Fraser, Her Britannic Majesty's Vice-Consul for the Kingdom of Dahomey, including his Departure from Fernando Po, Arrival and Reception at Whydah, and Visit to Abomey, 1851.
---
Inclosure 2. - Notification by the King of Dahomey.
Whydah, May 14, 1851.
The best compliments of Gezo, King of Dahomey, to all whom it may concern, geeting, and says that the Queen of England was the first to send a white Governor to Whydah to make friends with him, before either the French or Portuguese settled here. He is anxious to have it understood that he is the friend of the English, and that, if they lose anything, he will find it and protect them, and that he expects them to do the same for him.
For GEZO, King of Dahomey, Yervogar Dagwahy his X mark.
----
http://books.google.com/books?id=-5AAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA311&dq=beecroft&lr=&num=50&as_brr=1&ei=KzNUSOqbGZOkiwH8-8mKDA#PPA310,M1
page 311 Event, Letter, 14 Sep 1852
No. 5. -- Consul Beecroft to Viscount palmerston. - (Rec. June 17.)
Clarence, Fernando Po, March 2, 1852.
My Lord,
I beg to inclose herewith the letter forwarded and read to the King of Benin, relative to the re-establishment of Akitoye on the throne of Lagos before that place was attacked.
I am, &c.
John Beecroft
Viscount Palerston, G.C.B.
----
(Inclosure.) - Consul Beecroft to the King of Benin.
To the King of Benin, Greeting,
As Her Majesty's representative, it is my wish to recall to your recollection the desire of the Queen of England to be friend with all the Kings and Chiefs of Africa.
In compliance with my Sovereign's wish, friendship was offered to the present Chief of Lagos, which he refused, and fired on a flag of truce. This has placed him at war with England; and I have to inform you that no other King of Lagos will be acknowledged by England than Akitoye, and knowing your interest in that King, and desire to serve him, I tell you this, that if, before the end of this month, Kosoko, the usurper of Lagos, does not surrender, and acknowledge his rightful and proper King, Akitoye, and resign the crown in his favour, Lagos will be totally destroyed by fire, and not one hosue will be left between that and Jaboo. It remains for you to prevent this disaster by assisting Akitoye, whose acknowledgment as King of Lagos will create peace and good-will amongst all parties.
Akitoye is not at Badagry, an has friends at Lagos ready to assist him with yourself.
On your speed in this matter, will be shown your desire, or not, of obtaining the friendship of England.
Given under my hand, this 4th day of December 1851.
John Beecroft.
----
http://books.google.com/books?id=-5AAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA311&dq=beecroft&lr=&num=50&as_brr=1&ei=KzNUSOqbGZOkiwH8-8mKDA#PPA310,M1
page 311. Obituary, Gentleman's Magazine, Vol XLII., 1854
No. 11. - The Earl of Malmesbury to Consul Beecroft.
Foreign Office, September 14, 1852.
Sir,
I transmit to you herewith a copy of a letter which has been addressed to the Admiralty by my directions, in answer to a letter which I have received from that Board, asking whether the Commander-in-chief of Her Majesty's naval forces on the west coast of Africa, would be justified in using force to defend Akitoye, the Chief of Lagos, against any attack directed against him by the ex-Chief Kosoko, or by the native Chiefs near Lagos.
I am, &c.
Malmesbury
J. Beecroft, Esq.
----
(Inclosure.) - Lord Stanley to the Secretary of the Admiralty.
Foreign Office, August 30, 1852.
Sir,
I have laid before the Earl of Malmesbury your 2 letters of the 26th of August, inclosing copies of Commodore Bruce's despatches of the 12th and the 13th of July, and requesting to be informed as to the instructions to be sent to the Commodore in answer to his question, whether he will be jstified in using force for the protection of Lagos against an attempt which he apprehends that Kosoko, the late Chief of that place, may make to recover his position there.
And I am directed by Lord Malmesbury to refer you, in reply, to my letter of the 14th of July, and to request that you will state to the Lords Commissionsers of the Admiralty that his Lordship is still of opinion that the commander-in-chief of Her Majesty's ships on the west coast of Africa should be authorized, if necessary, to use force in order to prevent Kosoko from regaining his usurped authority at Lagos.
I am, &c.
Stanley
The Secretary of the Admiralty
Page 313. Obituary, The Courier (Hobat, Tasmania), 27 Nov 1854
June 10, At Clarence, after 25 years' residence in Africa, John Beecroft, esq. Her Britannic Majesty's Consul, and Governor of Fernando Po. He was buried on Sunday the 14th, amidst the tears of friends and colonists, with all naval honours paid by H.M. vessels Britomart and Polyphemus.
John Beecroft, Esq. - On June 10th, at Clarence after twenty-five years residence in Africa, died, John Beecroft, Esq, her Britannic Majesty's Consul and Governor of Fernando Po.
Parents
Father: John Beecroft
Mother: Jane Carpenter
Spouses and Children
1. *Ellen/Eleanor
Children:
1. Jane Elizabeth Beecroft 1
2. Mary Ann Beecroft 1
3. Eleanor Beecroft 1
4. John MacGregor Beecroft 1
Notes
Burial Notes:
He is buried in front of and overshadowed by a great silk-cotton-tree, beneath which he daily passed many hours looking across the waters at his beloved Africa. The inscription on his stone reads:
Beneath this Monument
Are deposited the remains of
John Beecroft,
Spanish Governor
Of the Island of Ferando Po,
And Her Britannic Majesty's Consul
]For the Bight of Biafra,
Who died June 10th, 1854,
Aged 64 years.
This Memorial was erected by the inhabitants of the Colony of Clarence as a testimonial of their gratitude for his many years' fatherly attention to their comforts and interests, and for his unwearying exertion to promote the happiness and welfare of the whole African race.
Further along King Will's point is a monument erected to the memory of those who died on the Niger Expedition of 1841. Beecroft's memorial was sent out in pieces, but for ten years they remained lying beneath the big cotton-tree until Captain Graham, of H.M.S. "Danae," in 1869, had what was left of it erected. This shows the neglect of the townspeople to the memory of their best benefactor, a man who, with his whole energy, entered into nearly all the treaties still existing between the British Government and the native chiefs for the suppression of the export slave trade and the encouragement of lawful commerce.
[From "Trading Life in Western and Central Africa, by John Whitford]
Sources
1. LDS - IGI Index (familysearch.org).