Kwamina Annan Sey was born in the Gold Coast around 1894. At the age of 16 he was sent from Africa to Britain to receive an education. On 7 August 1910, he arrived at Plymouth on board the Akabo and travelled to Somerset.[1] In 1911, Sey attended Queens College, a public school in Trull, Taunton where he undertook training to become a Reverend.[2] It is likely that he remained in the South for a number of years. However, in his early twenties, it is believed that Sey moved to Yorkshire and enrolled at Leeds University where he remained for three and a half years furthering his education.[3]
Why or how Sey came to East Yorkshire is unknown. However, on 19 February 1921, Sey was brought before a special sitting of the East Riding Justices in Beverley. He stated that he was the son of an African chief and a native of the Gold Coast.[4] Sey was charged with stealing a bicycle valued at around £5 which was the property of Mr C. H. Ellerington, a farmer of Bishop Burton. A police officer by the name of Threadgold had seen Sey on the bike and went to Hull in search of him. He found the bicycle at Walter Forsyth’s house in Osborne Street. On speaking to Forsyth, Threadgold found out that he had purchased the item for 12 shillings. He then arrested Sey at Victoria Mansions. Despite claiming that he was the heir to a large estate, Sey pleaded guilty to the crime and admitted he stole the bicycle as a last resort because he had fallen on hard times. He told the court that he had slept in a field the previous night and was starving. Justices Mr Simons Harrison and Mr Carr sentenced Sey to three months imprisonment with hard labour and requested that the Deputy Chief Constable liaise with the prison missionary to get him back to his home country.
After his incarceration, Sey moved to 4 Springfields Place in Leeds. In 1923, he and a relative who had been residing in Jack Lane, Hunslet travelled to the Gold Coast on the ship Abinsi from Liverpool. Whether this was organised by the Deputy Chief Constable and the prison missionary is unknown.[5]
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Sadly, after his return to Africa no trace of Sey has been found. It has also been impossible to discern if he was the son of an African chief. However, his start in life and his movements through Britain suggests that his family could have been reasonably wealthy.
Footnotes
[1] The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists.; Class: BT26; Piece: 422; Item: 70
[2] Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
[3] Hull Daily Mail, 21 February 1921, p. 6
[4] Ibid, p. 6
[5] Passenger Lists Leaving the UK, 1890-1960: West Coast of Africa- Abinsi accessed through Find My Past https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=tna%2fbt27%2f1011000046%2f00038
[1] The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists.; Class: BT26; Piece: 422; Item: 70
[2] Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
[3] Hull Daily Mail, 21 February 1921, p. 6
[4] Ibid, p. 6
[5] Passenger Lists Leaving the UK, 1890-1960: West Coast of Africa- Abinsi accessed through Find My Past https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=tna%2fbt27%2f1011000046%2f00038