Sherbro Caulkers

The Caulkers of Sherbro are an Afro-European Sherbro clan of the region of Southern Sierra Leone and they ruled as chiefs in Shenge and Bonthe. In the 18th century the Caulkers began to get involved in the slave trade and became more powerful than the white slave traders. They began to employ the Mende people to work for them to find slaves to meet the growing demand for slaves.
Slave trade
During the 1620s, English merchants had a number of agents in the Sherbro region who had been trading and purchasing items of interest such as camwood. The number of agents increased and the Royal African Company eventually began to send agents to the country in the mid-17th century. It was in 1684 that an English trader, Thomas Corker of Falmouth, left London and went to Africa in the service of the Royal African Company. Thomas initially worked on the rivers but eventually became a chief agent at York Island. It was during this time (like many other white agents in the area) Thomas Corker married an African princess of a Sherbro ruling house. Englishmen did this to increase their influence in the area and to produce Afro-European 'middlemen' who could be a bridge between the European and African cultures for trade. The African princess who was known to the English as 'Seniora Doll' was a daughter of the Ya Kumba Kingdom's ruling between the Sherbro estuary and the Sierra Leone peninsula. Thomas Corker and Seniora Doll produced two multiracial sons, Robin and Stephen, who would be the first sons of the clan. The two sons inherited their mother's chiefdom and utilised their European connections and name to expand their kingdom and to further their trading exploits. The clan was one the first clans to maintain strong ties with its European connections and yet still remain thoroughly Africanised, even joining the Poro Society. The clan was also one of the most powerful and well known Afro-European families in that region and even produced other separate clans. Many of the first generation Corkers continued to marry prominent Caucasians and produce other Afro-European clans and one such example is with the Clevelands. A generation later, one of the Corker chief's daughters married a prominent English slave trader stationed in Galinhas, William Cleveland, who was of the prominent Devonshire family and was also the brother to the then Secretary of the Admiralty. William Cleveland and the Corker chief's daughter produced a separate Afro-European clan (with obvious ties to the Corkers), the Clevelands, and they began to become a prominent family like the Corkers. One of William Cleveland's daughters married the Englishman Henry Smeathman, but died before he left Sierra Leone. Despite many Corkers marrying prominent whites, they also intermarried into other Afro-European clans such as the Tuckers and Rogerses. Through trade, marriage, and strong ties with African and European cultures, the Corkers expanded their influence in the region immensely. However despite their expansion, the Corkers had rivalries within the family, leading to two separate branches among the family. The Clevelands also began to break ties with the Corkers; the son of William Cleveland and his Corker bride, James Corker, joined the Poro society after being educated in Liverpool, England. He turned against the Corkers and in 1785 he sent a force to the Plaintains and surprised and killed Chief Charles Corker. James Corker retained his mother's surname (or last name) and did not take his father's name Cleveland. This shows how powerful Afro-European families were becoming and that the Corkers were one of the most powerful of these families. It also shows how Afro-European families were increasing their power and influence over the area than even the English traders and agents.
19th Century Caulker Dynasty
*1820-1832: Thomas Caulker
*1832-1842: Charles Caulker
*1842-1857: Canray Ba (Canreba)
*1857-1864; Thomas Theophilus Caulker
*1864-1888: Richard Canreba Caulker
*1888-1895: vacant
*1895-1898: R.C.Caulker (2nd period)
*1898-1901: vacant
*1901-19??: James Canreba Caulker
Caulkers today
The Caulkers are still a prominent family in Sierra Leone and have many historical intermarital ties with the Tuckers, Rogerses, and Clevelands. Most the evident ties with their European heritage have been severed and the Caulkers of today are thoroughly Africanised despite maintaining some European customs and ways of living. Today there is an oral or semi quasi testimony about the Caulkers family history and there is also a written testimony.
Prominent Caulkers
*Thomas Caulker-13 year old King of Bumpey, was sent to England for his education and died there in 1859. He was buried at Abney Park Cemetery.

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