William Smith was an English surveyor employed by the

Royal African Company The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English trading company established in 1660 by the House of Stuart and City of London merchants to trade along the West African coast. It was overseen by the Duke of York, the brother of Charles II of Eng ...

(RAC) in 1726 to survey their

castles A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This i ...

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

. The RAC dispatched him in response to reports of their castles deteriorating conditions and low personnel numbers. His account of the trip, ''A new voyage to Guinea'', was published posthumously in 1744, with a second edition being published in 1745. The full title of his book was ''A new voyage to Guinea: describing the customs, manners, soil, manual arts, agriculture, trade, employments, languages, ranks of distinction climate, habits, buildings, education, habitations, diversions, marriages, and whatever else is memorable among the inhabitants''. In the book, Smith gave an account of several locations in West Africa, including Fort Tantumquery and

Fort Winneba Fort Winneba was a slave fort designed to facilitate the trade in enslaved people. The Royal African Company built the fort in 1694, on the Gold Coast, in modern-day Ghana. William Smith, who had been appointed to review the Company's castle ...

. Upon Smith's return to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in September 1727, he submitted a report to the RAC indicating they could not afford the maintenance costs of the castles, which amounted to about £13,500 by 1731. In response to this, in 1730 the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

had voted to grant an annual subsidy of £10,000 to the RAC so their castles could be properly maintained. As historian Robert W. Harms noted in his 2002 work '' The Diligent: A Voyage Through the Worlds Of The Slave Trade'', the subsidy resulted in the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

assuming financial responsibility for the RAC's establishments along the Gold Coast.

References

{{Authority control 18th-century English people English surveyors