Just like most Nigerians, especially Yoruba people, the major thing we know about Rev Samuel Ajayi Crowther is the fact that he was the one who translated the English bible into Yoruba language. This is really good and remarkable but there are so many other great events that happened in his life which needs to be appreciated.
Samuel Ajayi Crowther was born in the year 1809 at Osoogun (in what is in lanlate, Oyo State, Nigeria). He was a Yoruba linguist and the first African Anglican bishop in Nigeria. His family were captured by Fulani slave raiders when he was about twelve years old.A direct descendant of King Abiodun, Ajayi was 12 years old when he and his family were captured, along with his entire village, by Fulani slave raiders in 1821 and sold to Portuguese slave traders. (His mother, toddler brother, and other family members were among the captives.) The British had outlawed the Atlantic Slave Trade in the early 19th century and used its navy to patrol the coast of Africa but before the slave ship left port for the Americas (where Spain and Portugal still had slavery in their colonies), it was boarded by crew from a British Royal Navy ship under the command of Captain Henry.
They freed the captives, and took Ajayi and his family to Free town Sierra Leone, where they were resettled by local authorities. Crowther was freed from slavery at a coastal port by the Royal Navy West African Squadron, which was enforcing the ban against the Atlantic slave trade. The liberated peoples were resettled in Sierra Leone . In Sierra Leone, Ajayi adopted an English name of Samuel Crowther, and began his education in English. He adopted Christianity and also identified with Sierra Leone's ascendant Creole ethnic group.
While in Sierra Leone, Crowther was cared for by the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) and was taught English. He converted to Christianity. On 11 December 1825 he was baptized. He named himself after Samuel Crowther, vicar of Christ Church New Gate, London, and one of the pioneers of the CMS. Ajayi was baptized by John Raban.
While in Freetown, Crowther became interested in languages. In 1826 he was taken to England to attend the school of St Mary's Church in Isliton , which had established a connection with free Africans in the 18th century. He returned to Freetown in 1827. He was the first student admitted to the newly opened Fourah Bay College, an Anglican missionary school however, because of his interest in language, he studied Latin and Greek of the classical curriculum, but also Temne of West Africa. After completing his studies, Crowther began teaching at the school. He studied languages and was ordained as a minister in England, where he later received a doctoral degree from Oxford University. He prepared a Yoruba grammar and translation of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer into Yoruba, also working on a Yoruba version of the Bible, as well as other language projects.
Crowther married a muslim schoolmistress, Asano ( Hassanat), baptised Susan. She had been liberated from the same Portuguese slave ship as Ajayi, and was among the captives resettled in Sierra Leone. She had also converted to Christianity. Their several children included Dandeson Coates Crowther, who later entered the ministry and in 1891 became archdeacon of the Niger Delta. Susan and Crowther's second daughter, Abigail, married Thomas Babington Macaulay, a junior associate. Their son and Crowther's grandson, Herbert Macaulay, became one of the first Nigerian Nationalists. He played an important role in ending British colonial rule in Nigeria.
Crowther was selected to accompany the missionary James Schon on the Niger Expediction of 1841. Together with Schön, he was expected to learn Hausa for use on the expedition. Its goal was to stimulate commerce, teach agricultural techniques, encourage Christianity, and help end the slave trade. Following the expedition, Crowther was recalled to England, where he was trained as a minister and ordained by the Bishop Of London. Schön wrote to the Church Missionary Society noting Crowther's usefulness and ability on the expedition, recommending that he be prepared for Ordination.
Crowther returned to Africa in 1843 and, with Henry Townsend, opened a mission in Abeokuta, in today's Ogun State, Nigeria.
Crowther began translating the Bible into Yoruba and compiling a Yoruba dictionary. In 1843, his grammar book was published, which he had begun working on during the Niger expedition. A Yoruba version of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer followed later. Crowther also compiled A Vocabulary of the Yoruba Language, including a large number of local proverbs, published in London in 1852.
He also began codifying other languages. Following the British Niger Expeditions of 1854 and 1857, Crowther, assisted by a young Igbo interpreter named Simon Jonas, produced a primer for the Igbo Language in 1857. He published one for the Nupe Language in 1860, and a full grammar and vocabulary of Nupe in 1864.
Crowther had become a close associate and friend of Captain James Pinson Labulo Davies, an influential politician, mariner, philanthropist and industrialist in colonial Lagos. The two men collaborated on social initiatives in Lagos, such as the founding of The Academy (a social and cultural center for public enlightenment) on 24 October 1866. Crowther was the first patron and Captain J.P.L Davies was the first president.
In 1864, Crowther was ordained as the first African bishop of the Anglican Church; he was consecrated a bishop on St Peter's day 1864, by Charles Longley, Archbeshop of at Canterbury Cathedral. He had continued his studies and later received the degree of Doctor Of Divinity from the University of Oxford.
He later met Queen Victoria and read the Lord's prayer to her in the Nigerian language of Yoruba, which she described as soft and melodious. In March 1881, he and his son Dandeson attended a conference on the island of Madeira, in the Atlantic Ocean west of Morocco. Crowther had begun to work in languages other than Yoruba, but he continued to supervise the translation of the Yoruba Bible (Bibeli Mimọ), which was completed in the mid-1880s, a few years before his death.
Crowther died of a stroke in Lagos on 31 December 1891 after some church Priests were sent down by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) from England on a visitation to the Niger Mission who out of jealousy and hatred returned with very negative and destructive reports. As a result, the Bishop who was well over 80 years old suffered a stroke from which he never really recovered. In one of the letters he wrote he explained the events in details
'' I was laid aside by a sudden attack of paralysis, as I got up from my desk, which paralyzed my right hand and leg and affected my speech for many days. The Doctor thought a change of place would improve me and therefore ordered me to this place for which I left Bonny on the 25th September and got here on the 28th. I am thankful to say that I am Improving, hoping to be all right again in few weeks. I sincerely thank my friends who sympathize with me in my affliction from which I never suffered before. Wishing soon to recover my health, to spend the remainder of mt days in the service of our divine master.''
He spent the last few months of his life in the care of his daughter Mrs. Abigail Macaulay. He died about 12.45 am, midnight of December 31, 1891. He was buried later that morning of January 1, 1892. A funeral service was held at Christ Church Marina, with the Governor leading a large congregation of mourners. The sermon was given by the Rev (later Bishop) James Johnson. Afterwards his body was taken in long procession to Ajele Cemetery. Ten European and African priests preceded his coffin which was strewn with palms and frangipani. Rev E. Pearce and Archdeacon James Hamilton did the grave side rites. A hymn, “Hush Blessed Are The Dead,” was sung in conclusion.
In 1971 the Lagos State Government under Mobolaji Johnson wanted to redevelop the site of the cemetery for new government offices and issued notices to families of the deceased. Seth Kale, Anglican Bishop of Lagos, representing the Anglican community and Crowther's family, delayed exhumation and reburial until 1976. An elaborate ceremony was held at a new burial site and a cenotaph was installed at Cathedral Church Of Christ, Lagos.
Crowther is celebrated with a feast on the liturgical calendar of some Anglican churches, including the Episcopal Church and the Church Of Nigeria, on 31 December.
Sources; "Ecclesiastical Intelligence"
Death Of Bishop Crowther
Dictionary for Christians
Falola and Usman
Church History
Yoruba History
Wikipedia
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