Naimbanna II (c. 1720 – 11 November 1793) was Obai (King) of the

Temne people The Temne, also called Atemne, Témené, Temné, Téminè, Temeni, Thaimne, Themne, Thimni, Timené, Timné, Timmani, or Timni, are a West African ethnic group. They are predominantly found in the Northern Province, Sierra Leone, Northern Provin ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

. He was known to be a kind ruler. In 1786, the British government agreed to help the

Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor The Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor was a charitable organisation founded in London in 1786 to provide sustenance for distressed people of African and Asian origin. It played a crucial role in the proposal to form Sierra Leone Colo ...

in relocating freed Africans to West Africa, and intended to purchase land from the Temne people. An agreement was made without Naimbanna's knowledge with one of his local chiefs, Tombo, called King Tom by the British, to permanently cede an area land, which was then called the

Province of Freedom Cline Town is an area in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The area is named for Emmanuel Kline, a Hausa Liberated African who bought substantial property in the area. The neighborhood is in the vicinity of Granville Town, a settlement established in 178 ...

. Tombo could not read or write, so was likely unaware of the implications. After Tombo's death, Naimbanna realised the details of the treaty, and requested a new treaty, which was signed in 1788. In 1791 he sent his eldest son, John Frederick Naimbanna, to England where he came under the tutelage of Henry Thornton. While in London he became a Christian adopting the forenames Henry and Granville after Henry Thornton and

Granville Sharp Granville Sharp (10 November 1735 – 6 July 1813) was an English scholar, philanthropist and one of the first campaigners for the Abolitionism in the United Kingdom, abolition of the slave trade in Britain. Born in Durham, England, Durham, he ...

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=August 2024 1720s births 1793 deaths Temne people

Further reading

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