Benjamin Campbell (1802? – 1859) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

merchant who served as the first

Consular Agent A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

for the

Lagos Colony Lagos Colony was a British Empire, British colonial possession centred on the port of Lagos in what is now southern Nigeria. Lagos was Lagos Treaty of Cession, annexed on 6 August 1861 under the threat of force by Commander Beddingfield of HMS ...

. Campbell originally settled in the

Colony of Sierra Leone The Colony and Protectorate of Sierra Leone (informally British Sierra Leone) was the British colonial administration in Sierra Leone from 1808 to 1961, part of the British Empire from the Abolitionism in the United Kingdom, abolitionism era un ...

and traded in the

Nunez River Nunez River or Rio Nuñez (Kakandé) is a river in Guinea with its source in the Futa Jallon highlands. It is also known as the Tinguilinta River, after a village along its upper course. Geography Lying between the to the north and the Pongo ...

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

. There he was a Member of His Majesty's Colonial Council of Sierra Leone and was thus accorded the title of 'Honorable'. In 1841 papers were found aboard the '' Segunda Rosario'', a ship engaged in the slave trade condemned at the Havana

Mixed Commission Court A Mixed Commission Court was a joint court set up by the British government with Dutch, Spanish or Portuguese representation following treaties agreed in 1817 and 1818. By 1820 there were six such courts. This occurred during a period often referred ...

. This raised concerns that Campbell was involved in the

slave trade Slave trade may refer to: * History of slavery - overview of slavery It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas: * Al-Andalus slave trade * Atlantic slave trade ** Brazilian slave trade ** Bristol slave trade ** Danish sl ...

. When Campbell was subsequently investigated, he replied that he had been engaged in trade with

Niara Bely Niara Bely (c. 1790 – 1879), also known as Elizabeth Bailey Gomez, was a Luso-African queen who became a prominent businesswoman in nineteenth century Guinea. She was active in the slave trade in Farenya, Guinea. Biography Niara Bely was the d ...

(aka Isabela Lightbourn) for sixteen years but only as regards legitimate commodities such as

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

, hides,

wax Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give lo ...

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

. Although Mrs Lightbourn also herself engaged in the slave trade, Campbell denied any personal involvement, and indeed claimed that he had suffered personal losses following the destruction of his property on the

, owing to his opposition to the slave trade. He was appointed as Consul in Lagos on 21 July 1853 and served in this capacity until his death on 17 April 1859.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Benjamin History of Lagos People from colonial Nigeria 1800s births Year of birth uncertain 1859 deaths 19th-century British businesspeople