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A project to retrace, to find, to know and perhaps understand our past. We start with James...
About James
Saltpond
James Eggay Taylor born on 19th October 1881 in Saltpond, Ghana, was the brother to Sam Taylor and Grace Adofua Taylor. Another brother, Stephen, died in infancy.
Saltpond is the English name of the coastal town in modern Ghana between Cape Coast and Accra in the central region of south Ghana. The Fante name for the town is Achimfu or Akyemfo. Saltpond has remained the English moniker of the township. The town of Saltpond remains a small community that has (since the late 1970s) been a hub of crude oil extraction activity off the coast in Ghana. Saltpond is about seven miles from Mankessim, the original settlement of the Fantes as they moved south from their trek in Techiman beginning around the 7th century.
Saltpond lies in the belt along the West African coast from Liberia to the eastern Niger delta in Nigeria which has been settled since, at least, the 7th Century according to the General History of Africa.[1] By the 12 century, the foundations of the towns and communities in the central region of Ghana were established by Fante subgroups of the Akan. [2] Saltpond came into the colonial historical record based on its proximity to the trading posts, forts and castles along the Gold Coast in the annals of European exploration, settlement, and eventual colonization. [3]
On the coast of southern Ghana, Saltpond is located along the stretch of towns with the painful history of slave trading that dominated the European and African business transactions from the mid-1600s to the late 1700s. Saltpond is not far from Anomabu, another small town with the sad history as a major hub and home of some of the prominent slave traders and middle men. Elmina and Cape Coast are two major cities not far from Saltpond that also figure prominently in the historical narrative of the Fantes and their communities along the southern Coast. Saltpond is about 24 miles from the Cape Coast Castle which was completed in 1662; Saltpond is 29 miles from the Elmina Castle which was completed in 1482 by the Portuguese. In the modern pre-independence era, Saltpond appears in the historical account as a small coastal town where the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) political party was founded on August 4, 1947. [4]
Taylor is the anglicized name that James inherited from his father, Kurankyi (also spelled as Korankye, pronounced as Kuranchi). The oral historical narrative is that the original Akan name is Tawiah. A community in Saltpond called Kurankyikrom [5] (translated as Kuranchi-town or town of Kuranchi) is an eponym of Kuranchi Taylor. Kurankyi Taylor came of age in the early to mid-1800s. When James Eggay Taylor and his siblings came of age in the early 1900s, Kurankyi Taylor had passed away. The mother of James and Adofua Taylor was Miss Ellis of Saltpond. The mother of Sam Taylor was Miss Susan Fletcher.
James Eggay Taylor and his brother, Sam and sister, Grace Adofua grew up in the late 1880s to early 1900s in a milieu of Christian missionary activities and British colonial domination in West Africa after the abolishment of the Atlantic Slave Trade. One significant impact of the Christian missionary presence was the emergence of the Western-educated elite.[6]
The patterns of trade that existed after the slave trade focused on local cash crop production, for example palm oil, groundnuts (peanuts). What was most significant during this period, according to the historical account is that “Europeans were largely displacing African merchants in the port areas.”[7] Furthermore, the imports of various European manufactured goods, particularly from Britain expanded significantly throughout this period. The historical account says that cotton-goods imports increased 50 times from the early 1800s to the late 1800s. [8]
Education
James, and his brother, Sam, and sister, Adofua were educated at Christian missionary schools in Saltpond. In the early 1900s, the family moved to Cape Coast because it was a center of commerce. The English Royal African Company was based in Cape Coast and the town was an important European trading post. [9] There were active missionary educational activities as well in Cape Coast. Historians note that “it was in the educational field that the success of the missions was perhaps the greatest The Africans were quick to realize the advantage to themselves of acquiring the material knowledge and skills of the Europeans and soon began to ask for more schools, more hospitals, more technical training.” [10]
Cape Coast
James Eggay Taylor was one of the leading and pioneering merchants of the central region (of then Gold Coast colony) in the 19th century. [11] James became an agent for F & A Swanzy, which was a dominant British trading firm in Cape Coast. James became one the “large-scale traders….most of this core group worked as principals in the overseas export-import trade; many controlled sizeable inland trading operations, including central retail stores, warehouses, and branch stations and they employed considerable numbers of laborers, store clerks, and traveling agents.” [12]
In 1925, James was one of “the leading members of professional, intellectual, commercial and traditional elite of Cape Coast” [13] called upon to form a committee to expand educational facilities at Mfantsipim School.
James Eggay Taylor was featured in the book The Pen-Pictures of Modern Africans and African Celebrities published by Charles Francis Hutchison in 1929. In this book, James is called “a commercial genius.” This is a book of photo essays and biographical sketches of 'non-European Gold Coast society.' [14]
James vs. United Africa Co Ltd
The successful career James had built for himself was undermined by fraud. Two of his employees, book-keeper Carr and cashier Acquah were tried for defrauding the company; James was held accountable for the loss of revenue since he was the principal agent [15].
James was nearing retirement at 56 years old when this judgment came down. He had reached the height of his career as an established agent. He had managed fairly large retail stores, branch stations and warehouses and he had more than 40 employees. He was never accused of embezzlement. The only charge the prosecutor could muster was negligence. This is a low point of his career.
Marriage, Significant Others and Children
James divided his time between Cape Coast and Saltpond, where he maintained a homestead. James Eggay Taylor died in Cape Coast in 1940. His pioneering contributions to commerce in Cape Coast were a highlight of his career as an entrepreneur and merchant. His support of Mfantsipim School reflected his commitment to education.
His children are: Jimmy, Hope, Kojo Boye, Shaw, Augustus, Atu Mensa, Kwesi Kurankyi, Regina, Janet and Roland Kobina, who was the last son of James. The mother of Jimmy and Hope is Ms Cann. The mother of Kojo Boye is Ms Hagan. The mother of Shaw, Augustus and Atu Mensa is Ms Ellis. The mother of Kwesi Kurankyi is Ms Zenobia Johnson, The mother of Regina is Ms Daniels.
Jimmy
James (Jimmy) went to London when he was sixteen to attend Kings College, Taunton, Devon. He then went to Selwyn College, Cambridge to read Economics and then went on to read Law at Lincoln's Inn. He met his wife, Beatrice (Trixie), a professional dancer at a WASA (West African Students Association) dance. He offered several people a lift home including Beatrice. The following day he arrived at Beatrice’s home carrying a bunch of flowers. Beatrice was naturally flattered, and then she discovered that the flowers were not for her but for her mother. Jimmy was making sure that he had an ally in his pursuit of Beatrice.
After their marriage and the birth of their daughter, Effuah (Efua), they took a dance troupe of African dancers to tour Norway in 1939. During their time there were rumblings of war were around. In September 1939 war was declared and the police in Stravangar came to ask them to leave as they were asking all foreigners to return home. Trixie was then heavily pregnant and they had a full tour booked. They got a letter from the doctor saying that she was not fit to travel as she was a couple of months from delivery. The Chief of Police then came to them and said they must leave as he could not be responsible for what happened to British passport holders should things escalate. They were escorted to the ship. This may have been the last ship to leave Stravangar with foreigners. The ship was torpedoed on its way back. The journey was longer than normal as the ship passed several ports to pick up passengers fleeing Norway. It was a very rough journey and most of the passengers were sea sick. On arrival in London Trixie was rushed to hospital where she gave birth to a very premature baby, Kwamina, weighing under 4 lbs, in those days a critical weight. Jimmy had another son, Vincent.
During the war Jimmy moved his family from London to Cardiff then Yorkshire on to Penmaenmawr and Tyn-y-Groes in North Wales, and Liverpool in the hope of avoiding the bombing. Eventually they settled in Manchester. Trixie helped Jimmy run the Negro Welfare Centre, set up to act as an advocate, social and support organisation for 'negroes' who joined the war efforts, American servicemen and merchant seamen from West Africa and the British West Indies. These seamen were a lifeline to Britain during the war as they kept vital supplies and food coming into these countries; a fact that most people in Britain are unaware of.
After the war Jimmy and Trixie ran night clubs in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff and Hull. Most of the profits from these ventures went toward the African liberation movement and also helped fund the 5th. Pan African Congress held in Manchester in 1945.. After Ghana's Independence Jimmy went back to Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast and Trixie followed him. Here he was appointed manager of the then new Star Hotel and later became Director of Tourism. He was an advocate for people in Saltpond, his mother's home town, was very active in the fight for independence of African countries. During his time in the UK he was a father figure to young Ghanaians. Jimmy died in 1966.
The Pan African Congress 1945
The 1945 Pan African Congress held in Manchester was a significant and an important meeting for several reasons. In their book The 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress Revisited (1995, New Beacon Books, London) Hakim Adi and Marika Sherwood write that:
1. "The Congress was the first major step in the post-war struggle by peoples of African descent and of Africa to join together to free themselves of [colonial domination].
2. The Congress was the first time that representatives of the Anglophone working peoples of the colonies came together to discuss what they wanted for the future.
3. The Congress gave an international platform to some who had been in the struggle for years as well as newcomers, such as Kwame Nkrumah. The Congress set Kwame Nkrumah on the path which led to his presidency of independent Ghana."
The meeting was held at Chorlton Town Hall in Manchester. (The stone façade of the Hall exists, but the original Hall no longer exists. It is now owned by Manchester University).
James (Jimmy) Taylor was one of the key organizers of this meeting. Jimmy Taylor owned a house in Manchester, 45 Acker Street, and accommodated some of the delegates to the conference (as recalled by F.R. Kankam-Boadu, one of the delegates). The conference started on Monday, October 15th.
Jimmy Taylor, George Padmore, Jomo Kenyatta, I.T.A. Wallace Johnson, Peter Millard, and Ras Makonnen were tasked with drafting the manifesto for the conference for presentation to the forthcoming United Nations conference in San Francisco. Jimmy’s brother, Kurankyi Taylor was also one of the participants in the Congress. The Congress was chaired by Mrs. Marcus Garvey. Below is a listing of the delegates at the conference.
DELEGATES AND ORGANIZATIONS at the 5th Pan African Conference
WEST AFRICA
Sierra Leone: Delegate:
Teachers' Union Rev. HARRY E. SAWYER
Trade Union Congress I. T. A. WALLACE-JOHNSON
Youth League I. T. A. WALLACE-JOHNSON
The People's Forum L. SANKOH
Nigeria:
Trades Union Congress A. SOYEMI COKER
The National Council of Nigeria and MAGNUS WILLIAMS
the Cameroons F. B. JOSEPH
Nigerian Youth Movement O. AWOLOWO
H. O. DAVIES
Calabar Improvement League E. B. NDEM
Gold Coast:
Aborigines' Rights Protection Society G. ASHIE-NIKOI
Gold Coast Farmers' Association W. J. KWESI MOULD
G. ASHIE-NIKOI
African Railway Employees Union J. S. ANNAN
Friends of African Freedom Society B. A. RENNER
Mrs. RENNER
Gambia:
National Council of Gambia J. DOWNES-THOMAS
Trades Union E. GARBA-JAHUMPA
Liberia:
Progressive Society J. TOBIE
R. BROADHURST
EAST AND SOUTH AFRICA
Uganda:
The Young Baganda I. YATU
Tanganyika: S. RAHINDA
Kenya:
Kikuyu Central Association JOMO KENYATTA
African Union
Nyasaland:
Nyasaland African Congress Dr. HASTINGS K. BANDA
South Africa:
African National Congress MARKO HLUBI
PETER ABRAHAMS
WEST INDIES
Antigua:
Workers' Union R. G. SMALL
W. R. AUSTIN
Barbados:
Progressive League E. de L. YEARWOOD
Workers' Union A. MOSELEY
Bahamas:
R. JOHNSON
J. McCASKIE
R. D. WATSON
J. M. KING
Bermuda: Workers' Association G. R. TUCKER
British Guiana:
Trades Union Council M. HARPER\
African Development Association W. MEIGHAN
Dr. P. MILLIARD
British Honduras:
Workers' League G. CARGILL
H. DAWSON
H. T. WEIR
Grenada:
Labour Party S. J. ANDREWS
Jamaica:
Trades Union Council KEN HILL
People's National Party L. A. THOYWELL-HENRY
Ex-British West Indies Regt. Assn.
Universal Negro Improvement Assn. Miss ALMA LA BADIE
Garvey's African Communities League L. A. THOYWELL-HENRY
V. G. HAMILTON
K. BOXER
St. Kitts:
Workers' League R. JOHNSON
St. Kitt-Nevis Trades and Labour E. McKENZIE-MAVINGA
Union J. A. LINTON
St. Lucia:
Seamen's and Waterfront Workers'
Union J. M. KING
Trinidad and Tobago:
Federated Workers' Trade Union G. PADMORE
Negro Welfare and Cultural Assn. C. LYNCH
West Indies National Party C. LUSHINGTON
Labour Party E. McKENZIE-MAVINGA
Oilfield Workers' Union JOHN ROJAS
Trade Union Congress RUPERT GITTENS
GREAT BRITAIN
The Negro Association, Manchester C. PEART
M. I. FARO
F. NILES
Dr. P. MILLIARD
F. W. BLAINE
The Negro Welfare Centre, Liverpool J. E. TAYLOR (JIMMY TAYLOR)
E. J. DUPLAN
C. D. HYDE
E. A. COWAN
K. E. TAYLOR (KURANKYI, JIMMY's BROTHER)
Coloured Workers' Association E. P. MARKE
E. A. AKI-EMI
J. NORTEY
United Committee of Coloured and A. E. MOSSELL
Colonial People's Assn., Cardiff S. J. S. ANDREW
J. NURSE
M. HASSAN
B. RODERICK
African Students' Union of Edinburgh J. C. de GRAF JOHNSON
The Young African Progressive R. FINI
League E. BROWN
G. NELSON
A. AGUNSANYA
League of African Peoples, Dr. C. J. PILISO
Birmingham
West African Students' Union, London F. R. KANKAM BOADU
J. E. APPIAH
F. O. B. BLAIZE
International African Service Bureau T. R. MAKONNEN (Tomasio Griffiths)
Mrs. ASHWOOD GARVEY
G. PADMORE
P. ABRAHAMS
K. F. NKRUMAH (Kwame)
African Progressive Assn. London K. O. LARBI
Assn. of African Descent, Dublin JA-JA WACHUKU
Fraternal Delegates and Observers:
Committee of Cyprus Affairs L. JOANNOU
Somali Society ISMAIL DORBEH
ALI MEBAH
Federation of Indian Organisations
in Britain SURAT ALLEY
Ceylon Lanka Sama Samaj T. B. SUBASINGHA
Women's International League Miss H. BURTON
Common Wealth Miss LEEDS
Independent Labour Party JOHN McNAIR
Negro Welfare Assn. Miss LEVY
Miss R. B. ROSE
Miss A. B. BLAINE
COMMITTEES
The following committees were appointed by the Plenary Session of Congress:
STANDING ORDERS COMMITTEE:
G. PADMORE, Chairman.
B. A. RENNER, Secretary.
E. A. AKI-EMI, J. S. ANNAN, T. R. MAKONNEN.
CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE:
J. KENYATTA, Chairman. (Jomo Kenyatta)
F. B. JOSEPH, Secretary.
E. A. COWAN, A. S. MOSSELL, J. TAYLOR.
PUBLICITY COMMITTEE:
E. ABRAHAMAS, Chairman.
K. F. NKRUMAH, Secretary. (Kwame Nkrumah)
E. de L. YEARWOOD, E. K. TAYLOR.
RESOLUTIONS COMMITEE:
I. T. A. WALLACE-JOHNSON, Chairman
KEN HILL, Secretary.
G. JAHUMPA, Dr. W. E. B. DUBOIS, Mrs. A GARVEY,
G. ASHIE-NIKOI, E. J. DUPLAN.
PLATFORM COMMITTEE:
Dr. W. E. B. DUBOIS, Chairman
Dr. P. MILLIARD, Secretary.
Mrs. A. GARVEY, MARKO HLUBI, A. S. MOSSELL, I. T. A.
WALLACE-JOHNSON, G. ASHIE-NIKOI.
ENTERTAINMENT COMMITTEE:
Miss A. ROSSALL, Chairman.
Mrs. A. GARVEY, Secretary.
Miss V. THOMPSON, Miss R. B. ROSE, Mrs. A. B. BLAINE,
Miss LEVY, Mrs. PRICE, Miss E. DORMAN, Miss DRONAH
PETROFF, Mrs. RENNER.
OFFICIAL STENOGRAPHER:
Mrs. DOROTHY LIVINGS.
Hope
Hope was James’s first daughter; Hope married her sweetheart Joseph Acquah in 1929 and they settled in Saltpond where the young couple owned a general merchandize store. Hope was a homemaker and supported Joseph in the running of the store. Hope doted on her dear Joseph and their only child, Joseph Willie, who was born in 1931. Hope was a determined young lady and although she was slowly losing her eyesight, she persevered in her role as a wife and a mother even against the odds.
Willie was in the U.K. when his father Joseph passed away in 1969. Hope was shaken by the death of her dear Joseph. In the later years, Hope moved to UK to live with Willie and his dear wife Mary and their children, Maxine, Ian Theresa and Venessa. After a year in Manchester Hope missed her beloved Ghana too much and she moved back to Saltpond. Hope Acquah died at age 86 in 1994. Nanna Hope inspired all who met her and she was role model as a mother, aunt and grandmother.
The Small Business Owners
The town of Saltpond remains a small community that has (since the late 1970s) been a hub of crude oil extraction activity off the coast in Ghana. Saltpond is about seven miles from Mankessim, the original settlement of the Fantes as they moved south from their trek in Techiman beginning around the 7th century.
As the entire Cold Coast became a British colony (1874-1901) the small towns along the southern seaboard grew in prominence as centers of Christian mission educational activities, British Colonial administration and commercial activity. During the colonial period, Saltpond was one of the communities that was home to many families who were employed in the British colonial government, or were general merchants and entrepreneurs. Cape Coast was another major hub.
In this milieu, Joseph and Hope Acquah owned a small general merchandize store that became a community asset. Hope’s father, James, had taught her the elements of inventory management and pricing and the store was a successful venture for the business-minded couple. Hope was the able manager and Joseph was the book-keeper.
The role of small independent family-owned general store has remained core to the endurance of especially small communities. Residents of Saltpond would have to travel to Cape Coast, the next major town, to buy essential items were it not for the store run by Joseph and Hope. As part of the community, many family-owned stores also extend lenient credit terms to residents who are able to purchase essential items without cash. These stores are trusted community resources.
The general merchandise store operated by Joseph and Hope stocked many essential items for a growing community of consumers. Hope continued to operate the general store for more than a decade after her dear Joseph passed away. When Hope retired, she had served her Saltpond community for over 30 years.
Kojo Boye
Kojo (Kurankyi Boye) was born in Saltpond on the 12th September 1910. Kojo was passionate about the nationalist cause and politics. As a young activist, he was involved in political organizing in Ghana after the second World War. But his aspirations were not to be met in Ghana.
Kojo left Ghana for England in February 1957, after standing unsuccessfully as a National Liberation Movement candidate in Cape Coast in the 1956 Legislative Elections.
Kojo settled in Manchester where he had relatives. He met and married Margaret Elizabeth and they had five children, James Kofi , Kojoe Kurankyi, Michael Mensah (who passed away at a young age) and Susan Essie. In addition, Kojo’s children are: Felix, Susan, Ben, Justice, Samuel, and James.
Kojo worked in Manchester for many years as an organizer; he died after retirement in 1998.
The Legislative Elections 1956
The 1956 Gold Coast Legislative Elections was significant for the fact that it was the final pre-independence contest between CPP and its opponents. The elections would determine the government of the anticipated independent state. Dennis Austin captured the mood in his 1970 book, Politics in Ghana: 1946-1960 (London: Oxford University Press. Page 316):
“The result of the two days’ of voting would determine not only the timing of independence– a question raised by the United Gold Coast Convention in 1947 and still undecided–but the nature of the regime which would possess the full control of the state. If CPP won by a comfortable margin of seats, then the movement was likely to continue... towards a unitary centralized state under a radical party leadership. If, on the other hand, the NLM and its allies won, by whatever margin of votes and seats, it was difficult to see what the outcome might be. It was not easy to see how an effective government, whether federal or unitary, would emerge from the uneasy coalition…”
"Was it possible that the CPP would lose? Had the NLM any chance of winning? The opposition leaders were convinced in 1955 and the early months of 1956 that they had the CPP at their mercy..."
Kurankyi Taylor and fellow party members of NLM and its allies faced a populist leader in Nkrumah, whose CPP had won precious pre-independent elections. Kwesi Kurankyi's brother, Kojo Taylor was also a NLM candidate in the elections in Saltpond. When the results were announced at high noon on July 19, CPP had collected 71 legislative seats out of 104. Kojo was unsuccessful in his bid. It was a resounding defeat for the NLM and a convincing victory for the CPP.
Shaw
Shaw trained as a nurse and pharmacist at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. He joined the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF) and was deployed in Asia during the Second World War. Shaw went to Cape Coast in September 1939 to see his father before shipping out to war. It was the last time father and son will see each other.
Shaw would later recount the wretchedness of war and the aftermath struggle for racial equality that heralded the change in the world order. Shaw saw action in the Kaladan Valley in Burma. His grandchild Kofi, would become a veteran as a US Army medic in the Iraq War (War on Terror) that began in 2003.
Shaw was a pharmacist at Government Hospital in Kumasi, where he met the love of his life, Victoria, a nurse. After their marriage in 1947, Shaw and Victoria manned health centers and health posts as a team of clinicians in remote areas including Abomosu, Kete-Krachi and Asante-Mampong. They finally settled in Accra. Their children are: Nana Kow, Kofi, Ato, Eva, Tabitha, Yoku Otu, Yoku Quainoo.
Shaw retired as a principal pharmacist in 1978 and maintained a practice as nurse practitioner. He divided his time between Accra and Maryland, to visit with his grandchildren and for medical check-ups. In April 1986, Shaw died after a short illness at 74 years, with a record of service to humanity.
Serving Humanity 1948–1978
In 1948 Accra was a comparatively small administrative city of the colonial power; its population was about 40,000, and the city was rife with politics of self-rule and the overthrow of colonialism and imperial power. But, the general population lived in the rural areas, 75 percent of them who were not directly linked to the services of government in larger communities. Sub-district and community health clinics were scant or non-existent.
Shaw, the pharmacist, veteran, nurse and his wife, Victoria, also a nurse, took assignments in remote areas where they manned health posts that were distant from the regional centers of service. In the absence of medical doctors, the couple provided primary and ambulatory care to the rural needy. The clinician couple also covered the routine public health awareness campaigns for nutrition and preventive services such as vaccinations, sanitation and personal hygiene for their communities.
Their tour of duty included Abomosu, a community nestled in the cocoa farmlands of the eastern region in Ghana. In the west of the Volta region in Ghana is a town called Kete Krachi, which is not far from the Lake Volta; it was here Shaw and Victoria manned another health post. Shaw and Victoria also manned a health post in Mampong, part of the Ashanti region in central Ghana. After 16 years, they settled into the urban life in Accra with the creature comforts they had forsaken after they completed their rural assignments.
As a veteran, Shaw showed steely determination to serve a cause that he believed. And, together with his dear wife, Vic, Shaw served humanity. They were unflagging in their duty to provide health care to the vulnerable and needy among their communities.
Kwesi Kurankyi
Kwesi Kurankyi Taylor went to Manchester University to study for his advanced degree in law and there, he fell in love with Dorothy. After he passed the LLB, they left Manchester when Kurankyi was accepted to Cambridge University, where he completed his PhD (Ashanti indigenous legal institutions and their present role.) .
They were a young couple and Kurankyi was swept up in the liberation movement. When he was at Manchester , he was president of the West African Student’s Union (WASU). The young couple left Cambridge for Ghana after Kurankyi’s studies. In Ghana, Kurankyi immersed himself in the politics of self-rule. He taught at Mfantsipim and the University College of Ghane during the war years. He joined Nkrumah’s Congress People Party (CPP) and in 1953, he was the “accredited representative of the Prime Minister and the CPP in London.”[17] Nkrumah was the populist, Kurankyi was the able intellectual and they had been compatriots during the 5th Pan African Congress.
Kurankyi left the CPP in October 1953 after philosophical disagreements with Nkrumah. Kurankyi and a small group within the CPP advocated for immediate self-rule for Ghana as early as 1952. [18 page 168-9]. After joining the opposition party, the National Liberation Movement (later United Party) in 1954, Kurankyi became a vocal advocate of democracy; Kurankyi made public declarations of corruption in government in the struggle for power.
After campaigning in the decisive 1956 legislative elections in Ghana, Kurankyi settled into the role of opposition Member of Parliament. In 1958, Dorothy and Kurankyi left for Manchester to convalesce; they were a young family and they needed to catch their breath from the tumult of pre-independence power politics. In January 1959, Kurankyi suddenly passed away at the Royal Infirmary in Manchester, at his side was his beloved Dorothy Bertha.
The 1956 Elections
The 1956 Gold Coast Legislative Elections was significant for the fact that it was the final pre-independence contest between CPP and its opponents. The elections would determine the government of the anticipated independent state. Dennis Austin (1970) Politics in Ghana 1946-1960. London: Oxford University Press. Page 316) captured the mood as follows:
“The result of the two days’ of voting would determine not only the timing of independence– a question raised by the United Gold Coast Convention in 1947 and still undecided–but the nature of the regime which would possess the full control of the state. If CPP won by a comfortable margin of seats, then the movement was likely to continue... towards a unitary centralized state under a radical party leadership. If, on the other hand, the NLM and its allies won, by whatever margin of votes and seats, it was difficult to see what the outcome might be. It was not easy to see how an effective government, whether federal or unitary, would emerge from the uneasy coalition…”
Kurankyi Taylor and fellow party members of NLM and its allies faced a populist leader in Nkrumah, whose CPP had won precious pre-independent elections. When the results were announced at high noon on July 19, CPP had collected 71 legislative seats out of 104. It was a resounding defeat for the NLM and a convincing victory for the CPP. Kurankyi was elected Member of Parliament for Kumasi South with the most votes cast for one candidate, 11,882.
Atu Mensa
Atu Mensa left the Gold Coast to attend Jesus College, Oxford University in 1947. He returned home with a Master’s Degree in hand. Atu was in Nsawam, as a teacher, when he and Clara met and fell in love. After their marriage, Atu returned to Oxford to study for an advanced degree. Atu became one of few Africans, in the mid-1960s, to hold a Doctorate in Mathematics (Some Problems in Quantum Theory and its Classical Limit).
Atu and his dear Clara settled into their life in Kumasi, where he was a lecturer/professor in mathematics at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. At Kumasi, Atu and Clara raised their children, Linda, Perpetua, Jennings and Michael.
Professor Atu was one of the core lecturers in the department of sciences at the University. Atu’s grasp of quantum measurement theory made him an asset to the department as the college expanded. Together with his colleagues, they established the department of mathematics at the university and created a rigorous program of study. He had been elected to the Council of Royal Astronomical Society [19].
Professor Atu came to Accra in 1977 for medical check-up and consultation at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. His brothers, Shaw and Augustus, both lived in Accra. It was a reunion of all three of them as the brothers met in Accra. It was the last time they were together. Atu died suddenly when he was at Korle-Bu the next day. Professor Atu was a pioneering mathematician at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Dr. Atu Mensa Taylor is listed in the book: African Doctorates in Mathematics: A Catalogue [20] sponsored by the Pan-African Congress of Mathematicians.
The Mathematics Department 1961-1977
In 1961, the Kumasi College of Technology achieved university status and was renamed Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Nkrumah was the president of the newly independent Ghana.
The Faculty of Science included the Department of Mathematics, a core part of the program of science studies at the new University. The emerging institution relied on a mix of expatriate and Ghanaian instructors and lecturers to achieve the standards of a first-rate African university.
Atu Mensa was one a few lectures who had the requisite educational and intellectual background to help train the new crop of technocrats needed by the fledging nation. His teaching career began in 1961 as a lecturer in mathematics. He had a master’s degree in mathematics and by 1967, he was only one of three Ghanaians who held advanced degree in mathematics.
During this tenure at the University, Atu Mensa taught many courses. He and his colleagues created the mathematics curriculum and mentored the students and served as role models for future mathematicians in Ghana and Africa. The very few mathematicians in the country and West Africa at the time made him and his colleagues exceptional assets. As the Department of Mathematics has expanded over the years , the rigor of the program of study is evidence of the foundational efforts by Dr. Atu Mensa and his colleagues during the early years when the University was established.
Rowland
Rowland was born in Saltpond on 12th February 1926. After completing secondary school, he was a teacher at Wassa Akropong until 1948 when he started training with the Gold Coast Police Force at the Police National Training in Accra. Rowland was posted to Nsawam, and was also transferred to Kibi, Adeaso, Akwatra, Akim Oda, Nandom, Essam and Charchi. He was transferred to all regions and was posted to urban areas including Offinso, Kumasi, Effiduase, Asante Mampong and Konongo. He was also transferred to Bole, in the Northern Region and worked in Cherponni and Tatali.
In his lifetime, Rowland was married five times and was blessed with fourteen children, three of whom have passed away. His children are Agnes, James, Samuel Ato, Hope, Mrs. Yankson, Ernest Kwesi, Mary Aba, Jonathan, Rowland Fiifi, Aka-Kouame, Grace. Madam Catherine Acquasah was his wife (deceased), who stayed with him throughout his retirement. Grandpa Rowland passed away in March 2019.
Service to his Country
Rowland was disciplined and a diligent Officer. He was one of the pioneers of the Border Guard in Ghana. When the Guard was disbanded in 1972, Officer Rowland was transferred to the Ghana Armed Forces. He served for five years in the Armed Forces and retired as Warrant Officer, Class II in 1977.
Janet
Janet was born in Saltpond on January 27, 1924 and started her education at Government Girls School (now Philip Quaque Girls School) in Cape Coast. She worked at Ridge Hospital in Accra after her studies and earned the respect of her colleagues and patients for her patience and politeness. She married Albert Clarke-Williams, an accountant, and together they were blessed with six children: Comfort, Maria, Alberta, Edwin, John, and Victor. They settled in Cape Coast after Albert’s transfers to Takoradi, Winneba, and Accra.
Dedication
Janet was a staunch Methodist and an active member of the Wesley Cathedral Women’s Fellowship, and Christ’s Little Band, which she joined in 1969. Sister Janet was a Church leader who served by example in various capacities. She was a source of history for many in the Church and she is remembered for her service and dedication for over 50 years. Grandma Janet was generous, and independent. She passed peacefully on May 23, 2023, with her last words “Oh my Lord.”