Samuel Lewis (barrister)

Sir Samuel Lewis (barrister), a founder of modern Sierra Leone

Sir Samuel Lewis KCMG (13 November 1843 – 9 July 1903) was a Sierra Leonean Krio mayor of Freetown and lawyer. Lewis was the first West African ever knighted and was the third Sierra Leonean to qualify as a barrister. Lewis was the first mayor of Freetown after the Freetown Municipal Council was established. In 1896, he was made a knight, the first West African to achieve such an honour,[1] a year after he had been appointed mayor.

  1. ^ Peter Fryer, Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain, London: Pluto Press, 1984, p. 437.