10 prominent Lagos families who are descendants of freed slaves
After the transatlantic slave trade was abolished in the 1800s, liberated slaves called ‘Saro’ moved to Lagos from Sierra Leone in large numbers.
While some returned to their original towns, many settled in Lagos Island.
Here are 10 Lagos names that were liberated slaves:
Ajasa
Kitoye Ajasa was a legal practitioner, politician and newspaper publisher.
His father, Thomas Benjamin Macaulay was taken into slavery and freed in Sierra Leone.
Ajasa was named Edmund Macaulay but changed his name after spending 12 years in England.
He founded The Nigerian Pioneer newspaper
Alakija
The Alakija families are descendants of freed slaves Marculino and Maxmilliana Assumpçao.
The couple returned to Lagos from Brazil with the Portuguese name Assumpçao.
They traced their origin to Abeokuta, Ogun state and readopted their original family name in 1913.
Sir Adeyemo Alakija named Placido Adeyemo Assumpçao is one of the most prominent figures from the family.
Adeyemo Alakija street in Victoria Island, Lagos is named after him.
Candido Da Rocha
A native of Ilesha, in Osun state, his father Joao Esan Da Rocha was captured as a slave and taken to Brazil.
He became a prosperous trader and returned to Lagos in 1870.
Candido was one of the wealthiest men in Lagos in the 20th century.
Curtis Adeniyi-Jones
Adeniyi-Jones was a medical doctor and politician.
He was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1876 to Yoruba parents who were liberated slaves.
He returned to Nigeria in 1904 after working as a physician in the U.K
The popular Adeniyi Jones street in Ikeja is named after him.
Fernandez
Unlike others who were liberated slaves, the Fernandez family are descendants of slave merchants.
The Portuguese-Brazilian settled in Lagos in the early 19th century and married Juliana Durojaiye.
The most prominent figure was Deinde Fernandez, a billionaire who died in Belgium.
Macaulay
They are descendants of Thomas Babington Macaulay, founder of Nigeria’s first secondary school – CMS Grammar School.
He was born in Sierra Leone in 1826 to Yoruba parents.
His son Herbert Macaulay was a nationalist.
His image is on the one naira coin and Herbert Macaulay way in Yaba is named after him.
Savage
The Savage are descendants of freed Egba slaves who returned to Lagos from Sierra Leone.
Richard Akinwande Savage is one of the most prominent figures in the family.
He studied medicine at Edinburgh and was a political activist.
His two children were also medical doctors.
His daughter was the first West African woman to qualify in orthodox medicine.
Shitta-Bey
The Shitta-Bey family descend from Mohammed Shitta-Bey.
Shitta-Bey was born in Sierra Leone to liberated Nigerian slaves Salu and Aishat Shitta.
Originally named Mohammed Shitta.
‘Bey’ was a title conferred on him by the Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid II, in recognition of his promotion of Islam.
He financed the building of Nigeria’s first modern mosque – the Shitta-Bey Mosque in Lagos Island built in 1891.
The mosque is named after him.
Randle
Descendants of Thomas Randle, a liberated slave from Oyo state.
He later moved to Lagos from Sierra Leone and became a businessman.
His son John Randle was a popular physician in Lagos in the 20th century.
His grandson, Joseph Kosoniola (JK) Randle was a businessman and Lisa of Lagos.
Randle avenue in Surulere is named after the family.
Vaughan
They are descendants of Scipio Vaughan.
He was an Owu man from Ogun state sold to slavery in 1805.
He was renamed Scipio Vaughan by his master Wiley Vaughan when he got to the U.S.
He had 11 daughters and two sons.
His sons James and Burrell returned to Nigeria on his advice
They went to Liberia first and came to Lagos with Thomas Jefferson Bowen to start the Baptist Mission.
Vaughan street in Ebute-Metta, Lagos, is named after the family.
The Vaughan family in Nigeria, U.S and other African countries still hold a reunion.
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