Thomas Alexander Leighton Decker

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(25 July 1916 – 7 September 1978) was a

Sierra Leonean The demographics of Sierra Leone are made up of an indigenous population from 18 ethnic groups. The Temne in the north and the Mende in the south are the largest. About 60,000 are Krio, the descendants of freed slaves who returned to Sierra L ...

linguist, poet, and journalist. He is best known for his work on the

Krio language The Sierra Leonean Creole or Krio is an English-based creole language that is the lingua franca and de facto national language spoken throughout the West African nation of Sierra Leone. Krio is spoken by 96 percent of the country's population, ...

and for translating Shakespeare's ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

'' into the Krio language. Decker argued forcefully that the Krio language was not merely a patois but a legitimate language. Because Decker argued that Krio was not a patois, his contributions and revisions to the Krio language greatly influenced and added to the revival and appreciation of the language.

Background and early life

Thomas Decker was born to

parents, Joseph Leighton Decker and Jane Decker (''née'' Fraser), in

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. His father was a colonial surveyor and architect, while his mother was a trader. Decker was the fourth child and had six siblings, one of whom later studied to become a doctor in England. His mother, Jane, was from a large family from Murray Town, descended from David Pakudi Fraser, a

Liberated African The liberated Africans of Sierra Leone, also known as recaptives, were Africans who had been illegally enslaved onboard slave ships and rescued by anti-slavery patrols from the West Africa Squadron of the Royal Navy. After the British Parliament ...

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

(of Nigerian origin) who after being freed from the holds of a slave ship was settled in Murray Town. Jane was the eldest daughter of Thomas Crowley Fraser, the son of Pakudi Fraser. T. C. Fraser was a successful merchant and one-time Justice of Peace of the

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

District in Sierra Leone. The Fraser family was quite prominent and alongside the Hyde family (some branches of Hydes were of Fraser stock) owned large plots of land in Murray Town. Thomas Decker attended the CMS Grammar School in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

until the death of his father in 1920, when his mother decided to move the family back to Sierra Leone and where he attended the CMS Grammar School in

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

. After graduating from the grammar school, Decker entered the Teacher Training Department at

Fourah Bay College Fourah Bay College is a public university in the neighbourhood of Mount Aureol in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Founded on 18 February 1827, it is the first western-style university built in Sub-Saharan Africa and, furthermore, the first university-le ...

. After completing his training, Decker taught for eighteen months before deciding to become a journalist and writer.

Journalism and Civil Service

Decker had tried to join the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

but was unable to because he had eye problems. He continued to write and worked for ITA Wallace-Johnson's ''African Standard''. Decker's "radical" views of the day were reflected during his work for the Standard. Later on he was editor of the ''Daily Guardian'' a premier newspaper in the colony. During his editorship of the ''Guardian'', Decker was known for his skilled writing, and contributions to national affairs in Sierra Leone.

Political activities

Decker was a disciple of

Isaac Wallace-Johnson Isaac Theophilus Akunna Wallace-Johnson (1894 – 10 May 1965) was a Sierra Leonean, British West African workers' leader, journalist, activist and politician, recognised as one of West Africa’s most influential anti-colonial figures. A vocal ...

West African Youth League The West African Youth League (WAYL) was a political organisation founded by Bankole Awoonor-Renner, Ellis Brown, I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson and Robert Ben Wuta-Ofei in the Gold Coast in 1934.. The group was a major political force against the co ...

, which had a strong anti-colonial message and who fought for equality and independence of Sierra Leone and its citizens. Decker believed in the unification of the Protectorate and the Crown Colony, and he believed that the Krio language would have a large part to play in realizing the dream of a united Sierra Leone.

Revision on the Krio language

Thomas Decker was one of the first people to term Sierra Leone's lingua franca "Krio". He argued for the widespread use of Krio throughout the country, and to him it was a unifying force for the nation after independence. Decker's work on the Krio language sparked a revival in the appreciation for the language. During the 1960s, Decker was considered to be the leader of young Krio linguists, and it was during this time period that some of his most famous works were published.

Later years and legacy

Decker became sick in June 1978, and on 7 September 1978 he died at the

Royal Masonic Hospital The Royal Masonic Hospital was a hospital in the Ravenscourt Park area of Hammersmith, west London, built and opened in 1933. The Grade II* listed building became the Ravenscourt Park Hospital in 2002, but this closed in 2006. As of May 2015 th ...

in London. The decade before his death, Decker had been at the forefront of the national movement of that time, and he was remembered for his work on the Krio language in the bicentenary celebration of the founding of the Province of Freedom. Shortly before his death, Decker was awarded an

for his literary efforts.

Miscellaneous

*Lati Hyde, the first female graduate of

and first African principal of

Annie Walsh Memorial School The Annie Walsh Memorial School is an all-girls secondary school in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It was established in 1849 in Charlotte, a newly established village for recaptives. Notable alumni * Zainab Bangura: Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone, ...

, was a member of the Fraser family and she was Thomas Decker's first cousin. *Talabi Lucan, a Sierra Leonean author, is the first cousin of Thomas Decker, through her descent from the Fraser family. *

Christiana Thorpe Dr. Christiana Ayoka Mary Thorpe (born 16 August 1949 in Freetown, Sierra Leone) is a former two-term Chief Electoral Commissioner and Chairperson of the National Electoral Commission, an independent agency created by the Sierra Leone government ...

, the current chief of the

Sierra Leone National Electoral Commission Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" or "mountain chain" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves ...

, is the third cousin of Thomas Decker due to her descent from the Fraser family of Murray Town. *Thomas Decker was named for his maternal grandfather, Thomas C. Fraser, and he delved into research on the Decker and Fraser families. *Decker also had an interest in drawing, which may have been due to his father's work as an architect

Published works

*''Death of Boss Coker'' (24–25 October 1939) *''Julius Caesar'' (1964) *''Udat de kiap fit: a Krio adaptation of As You Like It'' (1966) *''Tales of the Forest'' (London: Evans Bros, 1968)

Sources

*Neville Shrimpton, ''Thomas Decker and The Death of Boss Coker'' (1987) {{DEFAULTSORT:Decker, Thomas Leighton Sierra Leonean male poets Sierra Leone Creole people Sierra Leonean journalists 1916 births 1978 deaths Linguists from Sierra Leone 20th-century Sierra Leonean poets People from Calabar CMS Grammar School, Lagos alumni Fourah Bay College alumni 20th-century male writers 20th-century linguists 20th-century journalists Sierra Leonean expatriates in Nigeria Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire