Ghana and Togo Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1843–1957

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Ghana and Togo Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1843–1957

A map from 1910 of British West Africa, focusing on the Gold Coast and Togo.

Annual departmental reports relating to Ghana and Togo, 1843–1957

The new constitution of the Legislative Council was conferred upon the Gold Coast Colony by an Order of the King in Council, dated 8th April 1925

Guggisburg Report on the Gold Coast, 1920-1928, Img 4

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Ghana and Togo under colonial rule

An ½ penny (1952) yellow-brown and carmine postage stamp depicting portrait of Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Ghana and a Map of West Africa.

Ghana and Togo Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1843–1957, contains papers from the colonial governments in Ghana and Togo. They shed much light on British rule in these territories. Throughout the period covered by this collection Ghana and Togo were known as the Gold Coast and British Togoland. Their records are published together because Togoland included land which is part of modern-day Ghana.

The government reports contained in this collection cover the First and Second World Wars and the rise of African sleeping sickness from the Tsetse fly. They also document the administration of social services prior to independence. This collection provides students and academics with insights into the histories of Ghana and Togo and their experiences of British colonialism.

Content Warning: This collection contains racist or offensive terms. Owing to their historical importance, the sources are in their original state. Please read our Sensitivity Statement for more information.

Highlights

Cover of The Gold Coast Police 1844-1938 by W. H. Gillespie.

Licensed to access Gillespie Report on Police, 1844–1938

This document contains an account of Ghana’s history which includes details of the third Ashanti War and its aftermath.

Cover of a report on Economic Agriculture on the Gold Coast, 1889, presented to both houses of Parliament in August 1890.

Licensed to access Special Reports relating to Agriculture, 1889–1907

This document details British efforts to exert control over agriculture, a fundamental part of the Gold Coast’s domestic and export economy.

Section of the Annual Sanitary Report on Kumasi for 1926-27.

Licensed to access Health and Disease Control, 1926–1955

This document covers the founding of the Tsetse Control Department in November 1949 in an effort to combat African sleeping sickness.

Section of the 1895 annual report on the Volunteer Force, dated 20 March 1896.

Licensed to access Gold Coast Volunteer Riflemen, 1895–1907

This document contains information on the Gold Coast Volunteer Riflemen.

Insights

These reports are arranged by department. Comparison of reports over time yields insights into how each area of government developed throughout the period of British colonial rule.
These papers cover the First and Second World Wars, the rise of African sleeping sickness due to the Tsetse fly, and the administration of social services before independence. They also provide details of the third Ashanti War and its aftermath.
While the Gold Coast had a significant mining sector, agriculture remained the mainstay of the export economy. Farming was also the basis of the domestic economy. The most important export of the Gold Coast was cocoa. British efforts to exert control over land and forests in the Gold Coast were met with determined local opposition. The volume on Natural Resources provides details of the colonial administration’s control of agriculture.
The contents page at the front of each report lists the departments which existed at that time. Comparison of these contents pages reveals how the structure of the colonial governments developed throughout the period of British rule.

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