The Krios (Creoles) of Sierra Leone, West Africa are descendants of a variety of cultures including the Maroons of Jamaica, African Americans, West Indians, and Europeans, mainly from Great Britain.

The first group of colonists to establish a colony in Sierra Leone were the Black Poor (also known as the “Old Settlers”) of Granville Town. Eventually 411 African Americans, West Indians, and Black Britons left the dock at Plymouth on April 9th 1787. Only 377 of the blacks went ashore when they arrived at Frenchman’s Bay (renamed St. George’s Bay and now called Kruman’s Bay).

The second attempt to establish a Colony in Sierra Leone was successful and lasted as a political entity until 1961; it lasts today as the present day and (appropriately named) ‘Western Area’ of Sierra Leone. This second attempt to establish a Colony in Sierra Leone began in March 1792. Black Americans who came to Sierra Leone via Nova Scotia founded this second colony and settlement.

The next influential group of colonists were the Jamaican Maroons. In Sierra Leone they are probably famous for the church they established between 1820-1822 called St. John’s Maroon Church. The Maroons have a rich history which extends back to their time in Jamaica.

Between 1808-1860s, the last main group of ancestors of the Krio people arrived in Sierra Leone. This group was known as the Liberated Africans, and they had been rescued from slavery before they reached the shores of the Americas. Most of these recaptured slaves (who were also commonly called ‘Recaptives’ having been ‘captured’ twice) were from the modern day region of Nigeria and were mainly of Yoruba and Igbo stock. However many Recaptives came from the Congo, Dahomey, Cameroon, and Senegal. The Liberated Africans came from as far away as Mozambique and as close as the interior of Sierra Leone. The Recaptives contributed greatly to the African heritage of the Krio people.