Robert Benjamin Ageh Wellesley Cole (11 March 1907 – 31 October 1995), was a

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 ...

an surgeon and writer who was the first

West African West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ma ...

to become a Fellow of the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgery, surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wa ...

Background and early life

Robert Benjamin Ageh Wellesley Cole was born at No. 15 Pownall Street,

Freetown, Sierra Leone 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 ...

(then a colony of the United Kingdom), to Wilfred Sydney Ageh Wellesley Cole and his wife, Elizabeth Cole (née Okrafo-Smart). The Wellesley-Cole family had three other children including Dr.

Irene Ighodaro Irene Elizabeth Beatrice Ighodaro née Wellesley-Cole (16 May 1916 – 29 November 1995) was a Sierra Leone Creole physician and social reformer who was the first Sierra Leonean woman to qualify as a medical doctor and the first West African-bor ...

. The Wellesley-Coles were a

Sierra Leone Creole The Sierra Leone Creole people () are an ethnic group of Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Creole people are lineal descendant, descendants of freed African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and Sierra Leone Liberated African, Liberated African slaves who ...

family of partial

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

origin who also descended from

Wolof Wolof or Wollof may refer to: * Wolof people, an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * Wolof language, a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * The Wolof or Jolof Empire, a medieval West African successor of the Mal ...

and Yoruba Liberated African ancestors. The Okrafo-Smart family was another prominent Creole family largely of

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a t ...

Liberated African descent. His Yoruba great-grandfather, a Liberated African, who had escaped from slave traders in Nigeria and settled in Freetown, adopted the surname of Wellesley out of deep admiration for the

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during t ...

. Wilfred Cole was a successful civil engineer who was the first Sierra Leonean to serve as a superintendent for the Public Water Works Department in Freetown. The Wellesley-Cole family was a middle-class family, and Robert Wellesley-Cole grew up in a household of relative comfort and privilege.

Early education

Wellesley-Cole was educated at the Government Model School in Freetown, Sierra Leone where he was taught by teachers such as William Campbell. Following the completion of his primary education, Wellesley-Cole was enrolled as the first student of the Government Model Secondary School in 1914, currently known as

Prince of Wales Secondary School Prince of Wales Secondary School is a public secondary school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. History Prince of Wales is named in honour of Edward, Prince of Wales, the heir apparent to the Canadian throne. The ostrich feath ...

. Wellesley-Cole completed his studies at Prince of Wales, proceeded to the CMS Grammar School currently known as The Sierra Leone Grammar School in 1918 where he eventually became Head Prefect (Head Boy) in his final year and passed the Cambridge Entrance Certification in 1925.

Academic career

Wellesley-Cole studied mathematics 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 ...

, whose parent institution was

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

at the time. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from Fourah Bay in 1926 before becoming an assistant lecturer of mathematics at the college in 1927. In 1928, he obtained an external BA degree upper-second class honours in philosophy at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and then proceeded to attend Newcastle-upon-Tyne Medical School, then constituent school of the

. In 1934, he received multiple academic prizes upon his graduation from medical school with an M.B.B.S. with

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

Medical career

After medical school, he was a House Officer at the

Royal Victoria Infirmary The Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) is a 673-bed tertiary referral hospital and research centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, with strong links to Newcastle University. The hospital is part of the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation T ...

in Newcastle where one of his instructors was the English surgeon, Grey Turner. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he volunteered for enlistment but was ultimately not enlisted. Wellesley-Cole was the first West African to become a Member of the

. In 1943 he obtained a Doctorate in Medicine from Durham and was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society based at 1 Wimpole Street, London, UK. It is a registered charity, with admission through membership. Its Chief Executive is Michele Acton. History The Royal Society of Medicine (R ...

. He passed the Master of Surgery examination, M.S. in 1944. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The RCSEd has five faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical and healthcare specialities. Its main campus is locate ...

in October 1944 and overcoming institutional barriers, he became the first African and the first black person to be elected a Fellow of

. He opened a private Genera Practice in Newcastle and concurrently served on Colonial Office advisory committees dedicated to medical education and social services in West Africa. He toured Anglophone West Africa (Gambia, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast and Nigeria) during March to September 1945, as a member of the Colonial Office Advisory Committee for the Welfare of Colonial Peoples. After the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

was established in 1948, he opted for a career in surgery and passed his examinations in ophthalmology in 1950 and obtained a Diploma in Ophthalmic Medicine and Surgery (DOMS). He then moved his General Practice to Nottingham. Due to discrimination in the West African Medical Service, Wellesley-Cole mainly practised in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, although he did also practice in

Ibadan, Nigeria Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and nearly 4 million within its metr ...

, and in his natal homeland of Sierra Leone. In 1961, he was appointed by the Nigerian Civil Service as a senior surgical specialist consultant in Western Nigeria. Following Sierra Leone's Independence on 27 April 1961, then Prime Minister

Milton Margai Sir Milton Augustus Strieby Margai (7 December 1895 – 28 April 1964) was a Sierra Leonean physician and politician who served as the country's head of government from 1954 until his death in 1964. He was titled chief minister from 1954 to 196 ...

offered Wellesley-Cole the position of senior medical officer and in 1964, he became a Consultant Surgeon of the Government of Sierra Leone. In 1971, he became the Director of Clinical Studies in Sierra Leone. Wellesley Cole lost his British nationality status and by extension, his British passport which was eventually restored in 1981/82. He was however able to return to England in 1974. He had earlier been invited to become a Justice of the Peace in 1961, the first time this invitation had been extended to a black African in Britain.

Activism

Wellesley-Cole co-founded the Society for the Cultural Advancement of Africa, with his sister

Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United States ...

in 1943. He was President of the

League of Coloured Peoples The League of Coloured Peoples (LCP) was a British civil-rights organisation that was founded in 1931 in London by Jamaican-born physician and campaigner Harold Moody with the goal of racial equality around the world, a primary focus being on b ...

from 1947 to 1949, following the death of the organisation's founder Dr Harold Moody. He was a Director of the

West African Students Union The West African Students' Union (WASU), founded in London, England, in 1925 and active into the 1960s,"History o ...

and a founder member of the West African Society and an editor of the society's journal ''Africana'', as well as a member of the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

. He also founded a literary club in his hometown, Freetown.

Family life

In 1932, Wellesley-Cole married Anna Brodie, his Scottish former landlady. The marriage was later dissolved. In 1950, he married Amy Manto Bondfield Hotobah-During, a

nurse who was the younger sister of Dr Raymond Sarif Easmon and Bertha Conton and the couple had four children. One of his daughters, Patrice Suzanne, read law at Oxford. He later married Anjuma Josephine Elizabeth Wyse in 1980.

Publications

*''Kossoh Town Boy'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1960) *''An Innocent in Britain, or, The Missing Link: a documented autobiography'' (United Kingdom: Campbell Matthews, 1988) *''Kossoh Town Boy: A Time Capsule of Pre Independence Sierra Leone'' (Sierra Leone: Koroma Kamanda, 2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wellesley Cole, Robert Benjamin Ageh 1907 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Sierra Leonean physicians 20th-century surgeons Alumni of Durham University College of Medicine Alumni of Durham University Alumni of Newcastle University Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Fourah Bay College alumni Members of the Fabian Society People from Freetown Sierra Leone Creole people Sierra Leonean Anglicans Sierra Leonean expatriates in Nigeria Sierra Leonean expatriates in the United Kingdom Sierra Leonean people of Caribbean descent Sierra Leonean people of Igbo descent Sierra Leonean people of Wolof descent Sierra Leonean people of Yoruba descent Sierra Leonean surgeons