Annie Walsh Memorial School

Last updated
Annie Walsh Memorial School
Location

Information
Established1849

The Annie Walsh Memorial School is an all-girls secondary school in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It was established in 1849 originally in Charlotte, a newly established village for recaptives. It is claimed to be the oldest girls school in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over the years, the school has consistently outperformed its peers in terms of academic achievement. The school's principal is currently Ophelia Morrison (née Barber).

Contents

School history

The first school open for girls in Freetown was the school of Sarah Hartwig, but this school had been temporary.

Annie Walsh Memorial School was named after an Irish or English girl whose dream was to become a missionary to Africa. Unfortunately Annie Walsh died in a tragic accident at the age of 20. Annie Walsh's last few days are described in 'Dear Annie: A Brief Memorial' published for private circulation and undated. On 19 January 1855 she returned from a week in Bath. On 23 January she went, with her father, to a meeting of the Irish Church Missions, despite having the symptoms of a cold. On 24 and 25 January she remained in bed, apparently because of the cold. On 27 January a doctor was called. The next day, Sunday, inflammation of the lungs was apparent. Leeches were applied and again on Monday. On that Monday morning she spoke with her parents - 'that conversation had all the air of a final interview between friends that parting for longish voyage'. She died at 4.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 31 January 1855. Her parents provided substantial funding for the school when it was started, by the Church Missionary Society, which ultimately became the Annie Walsh Memorial School. The present location is a new location as the school quickly outgrew its original building.

Past principals

House system

The school is divided into six houses, named after the first principals.

Notable alumni

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fourah Bay College</span> University in Freetown, Sierra-Leone

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-level institution in Africa. It is a constituent college of the University of Sierra Leone (USL) and was formerly affiliated with Durham University (1876–1967).

Edward Jones (1807–1865) was an African American missionary to the colony of Sierra Leone. Jones was a prominent missionary and figure in the colony of Sierra Leone; he was the first naturalized citizen of Sierra Leone. Jones was the first black principal of Fourah Bay College and held the post for 15 years. He was the first Black American to graduate from Amherst College in Massachusetts. Edward Jones was the brother of Jehu Jones, a prominent African-American preacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sia Koroma</span> Former First Lady of Sierra Leone

Sia Nyama Koroma is Sierra Leonean biochemist and psychiatric nurse. She served as First Lady of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007, and up until 4 April 2018. She is the wife of Ernest Bai Koroma, the 4th President of Sierra Leone.

Thomas Alexander Leighton Decker OBE was a Sierra Leonean linguist, poet, and journalist. He is best known for his work on the Krio language and for translating Shakespeare's Julius Caesar into the Krio language. Decker argued forcefully that the Krio language was not merely a patois but a legitimate language. Because Decker argued that Krio was not a patois, his contributions and revisions to the Krio language greatly influenced and added to the revival and appreciation of the language.

Nicholas G.J. Ballanta (1893–1962) was a Sierra Leonean music scholar, composer and educator who conducted field research of the music of West Africa in the early 20th century. His education in European music influenced his musical compositions. The years he spent collecting indigenous African music prompted him to compose musical plays or operas set in African villages; his work combines elements from both African and European music.

Sylvia Olayinka Walmina Oreshola Blyden is a Sierra Leonean journalist, political commentator, newspaper publisher, and former Sierra Leone minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children Affairs under erstwhile President Ernest Bai-Koroma from 2016 to 2017. She served as Special Executive Assistant to Sierra Leone's former president Ernest Bai Koroma from 2013 to 2015.

Stella Jane Thomas was a Yoruba Nigerian lawyer of Sierra Leone Creole descent. She received a law degree from Oxford University and in 1943 became the first woman magistrate in Nigeria.

Hannah Benka-Coker,, néeLuke was an educator from Sierra Leone. She is one of the founders of the Freetown Secondary School for Girls (FSSG) which was established in 1926.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in Sierra Leone</span> Overview of the status of women in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a Constitutional Republic in West Africa. Since it was founded in 1792, the women in Sierra Leone have been a major influence in the political and economic development of the nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oku people (Sierra Leone)</span> Ethnic group of Sierra Leone

The Oku people or the Aku Marabout or Aku Mohammedans are an ethnic group in Sierra Leone and the Gambia, primarily the descendants of marabout, liberated Yoruba people who were released from slave ships and resettled in Sierra Leone as Liberated Africans or came as settlers in the mid-19th century.

Charlotte is a mountainous village in the Rural District in the Western Area of Sierra Leone. Charlotte is located about twenty miles outside Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital. Charlotte, is commonly known as Charlotte Village, and is in close proximity to the towns of Regent, and Leicester. The main economic activity in Charlotte is farming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Sass</span> British missionary

Julia Emily Sass, was a British missionary, active in Sierra Leone in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Nemata Majeks-Walker is a Sierra Leonean women's rights activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lati Hyde-Forster</span>

Lati Hyde-Forster, MBE was the first woman to graduate Fourah Bay College. She was also the first African woman school principal in Sierra Leone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nkechi Agwu</span> American mathematician (born 1962)

Nkechi Madonna Adeleine Agwu is a mathematics teacher. Agwu is a naturalized American citizen, tenured faculty at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, part of the City University of New York, and was a director of the college's Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship.

Lucilda Hunter, née Caulker was a Sierra Leonean librarian, novelist and biographer, who wrote under the name Yema Lucilda Hunter.

Enid Rosamund Ayodele Forde was a Sierra Leonean geographer. She was the first Sierra Leonean woman to gain a PhD, and after her return to Africa from the United States, she chaired the geography department at Fourah Bay College.

Sarah Hartwig was an English missionary teacher in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

Enid Jones-Boston is a Sierra Leonean model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned as the winner of the 2019 edition of the Miss Sierra Leone pageant.

References

  1. "Nemata Majeks-Walker". wordpress.com. 7 December 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2017.