G. E. Ferguson

George Ekem Ferguson (14 July, 1864 - 7 April, 1897), better known as G. E. Ferguson, was a Fante government official in the British colony Gold Coast (modern Ghana).cite journal |last= Dumett |first=Raymond E |year=1975 |title= Review of The Papers of George Ekem Ferguson: A Fanti Official of the Government of the Gold Coast, 1890-1897 by Kwame Arhin|journal=The International Journal of African Historical Studies |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages= 716–718|doi= 10.2307/216721 |url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0361-7882(1975)8%3A4%3C716%3ATPOGEF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X |accessdate= 2007-06-19 ]

Born in Anomabu, Ferguson was educated in Methodist Church-run schools. In 1889, at the suggestion of Brandford Griffith,cite web |url= http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/entertainment/artikel.php?ID=86471|title=Understanding Emancipation/PANAFEST |accessdate=2007-06-19|date=2005-07-24 |last=Asomaning|first=Hannah|work= GhanaHomePage] , he was awarded a Gold Coast Government scholarship and went to England, where he studied surveying, mineralogy and geography at the Normal School of Mines.

He returned to Gold Coast and was picked by the colonial government for the job of negotiating treaties with rulers in the north of the colony. While there, Ferguson also worked to stop slave raids.cite web |url= http://www.ghanaconsulatenewyork.org/pages/region_upper_west.html|title= Upper West Region |accessdate=2007-06-19 |work= Ghanaconsulatenewyork.org|publisher= Ghana Consulate-General, New York] .

His expeditions into the Gold Coast hinterland were highly influential in creating the boundaries of modern Ghana. His reports on the countryside through which he passed were detailed, and he was able to fix the location of places and provide maps.

At the same time, in order to extend the British sphere of influence, he made treaties of protection and freedom of trade with the territories through which he passed. In 1897, he and his expedition reached Danwa, where fighting broke out between the British and the Sofa army over the food supply. In the course of this action, Ferguson, abandoned by his servants, was killed.

One memorial to him is located in the northern city of Wa, cite web |url= http://www.ghanatourism.gov.gh/regions/highlight_detail.asp?id=&rdid=167|title= George Ferguson's Tomb|accessdate=2007-06-19 |work=Ghanatourism.gov.gh|publisher=Ministry of Tourism of Ghana] and another is found in his hometown of Anomabu.

References

External links

* [http://www.archimedes.free-online.co.uk/ferguson.jpgDrawing of Ferguson]

Further reading

*cite book |last=Ferguson |first= George Ekem|editor= Kwame Arhin |title=The Papers of George Ekem Ferguson: A Fanti Official of the Government of the Gold Coast, 1890-1897 |edition= |series=African Social Research Documents, Vol. 7 |year=1974 |publisher= African Studies Center, Leiden|location= Leiden |pages=178