page_title: Alexander Grant (British Army officer)
section_title: Establishment of Bathurst
hierarchical_section_title: Alexander Grant (British Army officer) / Commandant of St Mary's Island / Establishment of Bathurst
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of Gambia
context_page_description: Sir Alexander Grant was a British Army officer who served as the first Commandant of St Mary's Island from 1816 to 1826.
  An officer with the newly-founded Royal African Corps, Grant negotiated the purchase of St Mary's Island in the Gambia River from the King of Kombo in 1816, following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The island was the first settlement in what would later become the Gambia Colony and Protectorate. During his time as commandant, Grant founded the town of Bathurst on the island, which later became Banjul and the capital city of The Gambia as an independent country. Grant also purchased MacCarthy Island, further down the Gambia River, and founded on it Georgetown - now Janjanbureh - as a settlement for freed slaves.
  Grant was knighted in 1821, and served as Acting Governor of Sierra Leone from 1820 to 1821, and again later in 1821. He returned to Britain in 1826, and died a year later from illness.
context_section_description: Following the Treaty of Paris in 1814, which ended the war with France and the War of 1812 with the United States, the British evacuated Gorée, in what is now Senegal. This meant the Gambia once again assumed importance as the nearest harbour and colony to Britain situated on the West African coast. It, therefore, became necessary that the British rebuild their forts and make other arrangements to accommodate the influx of troops and officials from Gorée.
  Sir Charles MacCarthy, the Governor of Sierra Leone, dispatched Captain Alexander Grant, who at the time was an officer with the 2nd West India Regiment and was attached to the Royal African Corps. Grant took with him a detachment of 75 soldiers of the Royal African Corps to establish whether it would be feasible to create a military stronghold on the Gambia River. At first, it was intended that Grant would rebuild Fort James, but the lack of room on the island led to Grant being asked to explore other options. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Brereton, the Governor of Senegal, approved the sandy pit at the extreme point of Banjulo, "probably more from a strategic view than a sanitary one" as it was battered by the Atlantic waves, had a mangrove swamp behind it, but also commanded the mouth of the Gambia River.
  On 23 April 1816, Grant signed a treaty with the King of Kombo, Tomani Bojang. The treaty stipulated the lease of the island for an annual payment by the British of 103 iron bars, the equivalent of £25 at the time. Brereton aided Grant in this negotiation. Following its lease, the island was renamed from Banjulo to St Mary's Island. The houses, barracks, stores, factories, forts and other buildings were built around the crescent-shaped sandbank and gradually the land behind was partly reclaimed. The barracks on the island could hold 80 soldiers and house six cannons. The town was drained with tidal sluices to prevent the flooding of the town by sea water. This new capital on St Mary's Island was initially called Leopold, but the name was shortly afterwards changed to Bathurst by MacCarthy, under whom the town was designed. The name was taken from Earl Bathurst, who was then the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies.
caption: A modern-day map of the Gambia showing Bathurst (Banjul) and Georgetown.
exif: {}