Alexander Grant

Sir Alexander Grant (1775–1827) was a British Army officer who served as the first Commandant of St Mary's Island from 1816 to 1826. He is noted for having founded Bathurst (now Banjul) and Georgetown (now Janjanbureh), as well as negotiating the purchase of St Mary’s Island (now Banjul Island), MacCarthy Island, and the Ceded Mile.

Establishment of Bathurst

Following the Treaty of Paris in 1814, which ended the war with France and the War of 1812 with the United States, the British evacuated Gorée. This meant the Gambia once again assumed an importance as the nearest harbour and colony to Britain that was situated on the West African coast. It, therefore, became necessary that the British rebuilt their forts and make other arrangements to accommodate the influx of troops and officials from Gorée.

Sir Charles MacCarthy, the Governor of Sierra Leone, despatched Captain Alexander Grant, who at the time was an officer with the 2nd West India Regiment and was attached to the Royal African Corps. Grant took a 75-strong detachment of Royal African Corps soldiers to examine the possibility of establishing a military stronghold at the Gambia River. At first, it was intended that Grant would rebuild Fort James, but the lack of room on the island led to Grant being asked to explore other options. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Brereton, the Governor of Senegal, approved the sandy pit at the extreme point of Banjulo, “probably more from a strategic view than a sanitary one” as it was battered by the Atlantic waves, had a mangrove swamp behind it, but also commanded the main entrance to the Gambia River.

On 23 April 1816, Grant negotiated a treaty with Tomani Bojang, the King of Kombo, for the leasing of the island for a yearly payment of 103 iron bars, the equivalent of £25 at the time. He was aided in his negotiation by Brereton. Following its lease, the island was renamed from Banjulo to St Mary’s Island. The houses, barracks, stores, factories, forts and other buildings were built around the crescent-shaped sandbank and gradually the land behind was partly reclaimed. The barracks on the island could hold 80 soldiers and house six cannons. The town was drained with tidal sluice to prevent the flooding of the town by sea water. This new capital on St Mary’s Island was initially called Leopold, but the name was shortly afterwards changed to Bathurst by MacCarthy, under whom the town was designed. The name was taken from Earl Bathurst, who was then the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies.

Further growth

Gun batteries were laid out on Barra Point, Fort St Mary, and in Bathurst for the purposes of defence. As to commerce, the British merchants in Senegal were forced to leave when the Treaty of Paris was ratified and, with some French traders who preferred to trade under the British flag, emigrated to St Mary’s Island. They built a number of factories and houses there which remained for many decades. The influx of traders marked a return to prosperity in the Gambia, that had flagged during the British occupation of Senegal. The task of Grant's men in building the new town was made difficult by the fact that Bathurst was a flat land mass which was mosquito infected and susceptible to regular flooding. By 1821, a number of official buildings had been constructed, including the barracks, a hospital and a courthouse. Grant also began the practice of sending blue books from the Gambia between 1819 and 1823.

Also in 1821, Bathurst was incorporated into the authority of the Governor of Sierra Leone. The British government’s policy was that, besides defence, the colony had to be maintained by revenue derived from customs duties on imports. In 1822, MacCarthy, after his tour of West Africa, commented on the improvement in commerce in Bathurst being greater than any of the other locations that belonged to the British on the West African coast. Grant, as commandant, used his forces to stop the riverine slave trade and also to encourage the activities of the Society of Friends and the Wesleyan Church.

In 1818, Gaspard Théodore Mollien, a French explorer, explored the sources of the Gambia River, Senegal River and the most northern tributary of the Niger River during Grant's tenure at St Mary's Island. He travelled alone and “suffered hardship and danger without murmuring”, before returning in 1819 by way of the Rio Geba. From 28 July 1820 to 28 November 1821, with a short break from 1 February 1821 to 4 February, Grant served as the acting Governor of Sierra Leone. This was in between two terms served by MacCarthy in the country. On 18 December 1821, Grant was promoted to Major. In 1823, Sierra Leone was chosen as the seat of government for the British West African Settlements, and annexed by Act of Parliament with a jurisdiction that included the Gambia.

MacCarthy Island and the Ceded Mile

Lemain Island was purchased as an outpost in 1823, 160 miles up the Gambia. The name was then changed to MacCarthy Island. A Government House was built, with a barracks for a company of soldiers, called Fort George. Grant established Georgetown on the island, as a settlement for freed slaves. MacCarthy Island at the time was notorious for fighting and rumours of fighting, with night alarms and “enough excitement to satisfy the most energetic soldiers seeking a show.” The soldiers on the island were ten to twelve days from headquarters and surrounded by warring tribes, who saw the British presence as “the first step towards their total dispossession.” On 8 January 1824, Grant was promoted from Major to Lieutenant Colonel, without purchase.

After the establishment of a base on MacCarthy Island, Grant oversaw the acquisition of what was known as the Ceded Mile. It was a strip of territory one mile wide at the mouth of the Gambia River on the north bank, opposite Bathurst, and stretching from the ocean inland as far as the eastern boundary of the Kingdom of Barra. Burungai Sonko, the King of Barra, agreed to the deal – which led to the British constructed Fort Bullen in the Ceded Mile over the next five years. St Mary’s Island, which was still being leased from the King of Barra, was also annexed and formally became British territory.

On 1 August 1826, Grant was succeeded by Captain Alexander Findlay as the commandant. During Grant's time as commandant, the population of Bathurst had increased from about 700 in 1818, to 1800 in 1826. This was due to an influx of Liberated Africans from Sierra Leone. Grant had also served as acting Governor of Sierra Leone in 1820 and in 1821, and became the first Governor of Sierra Leone to receive a knighthood.