Macormack Charles Farrell Easmon,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, popularly known as M. C. F. Easmon or "Charlie" (11 April 1890 – 2 May 1972), was a Sierra Leone Creole born in Accra in the Gold Coast (modern-day

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

), where his father John Farrell Easmon, a prominent Creole medical doctor, was working at the time."MCF Easmon"
SierraLeoneHeritage.org. He belonged to the notable Easmon family of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, Sierra Leone Creole, a Creole family of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

descent.

Background and early life

Macormack Charles Farrell Easmon was born on 11 April 1890 in Accra, Gold Coast, to John Farrell Easmon, a Sierra Leonean of

and Irish descent and his wife, Kathleen Annette Easmon (''née'' Smith), a Sierra Leonean of

Jamaican Maroon Jamaican Maroons descend from Africans who freed themselves from slavery on the Colony of Jamaica and established communities of free black people in the island's mountainous interior, primarily in the eastern parishes. Africans who were ens ...

, Fante, and English descent. Macormack Easmon descended from prominent Sierra Leonean families and had numerous ancestors who distinguished themselves in the civil service and medical field. Easmon was named "McCormack" or "MacCormac" after his great-grandfather

John MacCormac John MacCormac, (24 March 1791, Lurgan 20 March 1865) was a distinguished Irish timber merchant who pioneered the timber trade in the Colony of Sierra Leone. John MacCormac was also the founder of the first Free Will Baptist church in Sierra Le ...

, who was the uncle of

William MacCormac Sir William MacCormac, 1st Baronet, (17 January 18364 December 1901) was a notable British surgeon during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. MacCormac was a strong advocate of the antiseptic surgical methods proposed by Joseph List ...

. John Farrell Easmon (1856–1900) was a prominent Sierra Leonean medical doctor with a distinguished medical career, who was the first West African to serve as Chief Medical Officer of a British West African territory. The Easmon family are Sierra Leone Creoles who descend from the original settlers of the Freetown Colony, the Nova Scotian Settlers. Macormack Easmon's paternal uncle was Albert Whiggs Easmon, a prominent gynaecologist in Freetown. Through his maternal lineage, J. F. Easmon was descended from the MacCormac family and was a nephew of Sir

. William Smith Jr. was the son of Judge William Smith, a Yorkshireman who settled on the Gold Coast and was a judge in the Mixed Commissionary Court in Freetown. Anne Spilsbury was the daughter of Joseph Green Spilsbury and Hannah Carew. J. G. Spilsbury's father was George Green Spilsbury, a distant relative of Bernard Spilsbury, and Elizabeth Fowler, a

woman. Hannah Carew was the daughter of Thomas and

Betsy Carew Betsy is an English feminine given name, often a nickname for Elizabeth. People * Betsy, stage name of Welsh singer Elizabeth Humfrey *Betsy Ancker-Johnson (born 1927), American plasma physicist *Betsy Atkins (born 1953), American business exec ...

, both Liberated Africans.

Education

Easmon was educated for six months at the CMS Grammar School in

Freetown Freetown is the 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, educational an ...

and later at Colet Court School, the preparatory school for St Paul's Preparatory School in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He went on to attend Epsom College in Surrey. After graduating in 1907, Macormack Easmon was awarded a scholarship to study medicine at the Medical School of St. Mary's Hospital in London. After a distinguished academic career, Easmon qualified in medicine and surgery in 1912, and in the following year passed the examination of the London School of Tropical Medicine.

Personal life

In 1920, Easmon married Enid Winifred Shorunukeh-Sawyerr, daughter of a prominent Creole family. They had one child, Charles Syrett Farrell Easmon, who became a professor in medical studies in the United Kingdom.

Relatives

*Through his mother, Easmon was the nephew of Adelaide Casely-Hayford. *Easmon was a first cousin of Raymond Sarif Easmon. *Easmon was the uncle of Charles Odamtten Easmon, the first Ghanaian surgeon.

Retirement and legacy

As a member of the Sierra Leone Society, he spearheaded the founding of the Sierra Leone Museum in 1958 and became its first curator. Easmon was also instrumental in the Monuments and Relics Commission alongside other Sierra Leoneans such as

Ernest Jenner Wright Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor *Ernest, M ...

and Wilmot A. Dillsworth, a Freetown city town clerk. Easmon worked relentlessly to acquire worthy exhibits for the museum and to set up attractive displays. He also hosted a popular radio programme called ''Sierra Leone in Retrospect''. In 1954, Easmon was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE).

References

The Krio Descendants Yunion.

External links

"Film clip of Dr M.C.F. Easmon discussing the founding of Freetown".
{{DEFAULTSORT:Easmon, Macormack Charles Farrell 1890 births 1972 deaths Sierra Leone Creole people Macormack Charles Farrell Expatriates of Sierra Leone in Gold Coast (British colony) Sierra Leonean expatriates in the United Kingdom People educated at Epsom College MacCormac family of County Armagh, Northern Ireland