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Papers concerned with the Golden Stool situation, plus two letters, 1921-1923; 1934-1935

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Papers concerned with the Golden Stool, plus two additional letters dated 1934 and 1935. The papers are fastened into a file, not in chronological order. Includes:

  1. (fol. 1) title page of folder: 'The Golden Stool Palaver, Coomassie, Sep 1921', n.d.
  2. (fol. 2) extract from a speech or article by or about Sir Hugh Clifford headed 'The best possible text for adoption by the great Colonial Civil Service of the Tropics', n.d.
  3. (fol. 3) title page: 'Ashanti Golden Stool', n.d.
  4. (fols. 4-5) two copies of the Government Gazette (Extraordinary) No. 82, signed by A.R. Slater, Colonial Secretary, announcing the immediate award of the CMG (Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George) to Mr. C.H. Harper, Chief Commissioner of Ashanti. The award was made on account of his skilful handling of the Golden Stool crisis, 31 Dec 1921
  5. (fol. 6) copies of two letters expressing appreciation: (l) of Harper's address to the Colonial Services Club, from Kenneth H. Bell, Balliol College, Oxford; and (2) of Harper's paper 'The Golden Stool of Ashanti' [published in Blackwood's Magazine May 1935 (MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 344/3, folder 2, fols. 5-16)] from Theodore Roosevelt, with references to Sir Charles McCarthy, former Governor of the Gold Coast (Ghana), 28 Feb 1934 and 14 May 1935
  6. (fols. 7-9) five extracts expressing appreciation of Harper's handling of the Golden Stool crisis, from: (1) The Times Empire Supplement, 1922; (2) The Field, 15 Feb 1923; (3) The Governor's address to the Legislative Council of the Gold Coast, Mar 1922; (4) Comments by Lord Selborne, in The Morning Post, 1922; and (5) Comments by Lord Selborne at the Gold Coast Dinner, May 1922, 1922-1923
  7. (fols. 10-34) signed copy of Harper's full account of the Golden Stool case, written for the Ashanti Annual Report, with marginal notes added by him. It includes a description of the origins and history of the Stool, Mar 1922
  8. (fols. 35-51) Appendix A: Memorandum [by Dr R.S. Rattray, Government Anthropologist on the Gold Coast (Ghana)] entitled 'The Anthropology of Ashanti No. 4, 'The Golden Stool'.' This is the first of five appendices, A-E; a note in Harper's hand states that these should have been inserted after his despatch of 3 Oct 1921 (fols. 108-123). The paper describes the traditions and spiritual significance attaching to the Stool, as recounted by an old Ashanti of the ruling class, and relates the events and misunderstandings that led to the Ashanti rising of 1900. A sketch of the Stool is included (fol. 40v), and there are marginal notes in Harper's hand, [1921]
  9. (fols. 52-53) Appendix B: Letter from J.K. Frimpon and others to Harper, asking him to invite 'all the Amanhene and Head Chiefs of Ashanti to join in the investigations into this all-important case', 16 Sep 1920
  10. (fols. 54-94) Appendix C: Letter from 27 chiefs to Harper, submitting the record of the proceedings of the Tribunal and their finding against eleven of the accused, six being deemed by them to be deserving of the death penalty and five to imprisonment for life. The papers include copies of the evidence (a note in Harper's hand, fol. 58 lists the correct order of evidence) and the grounds of judgement, 29 Sep 1921
  11. (fols. 95-99) Appendix D: Speech by Harper to the Chiefs and Ashanti people, announcing his decision in the case, 30 Sep 1921
  12. (fols. 100-101) Appendix E: Letter from the Chiefs to Harper describing the condition of the Stool at its reappearance and pointing out that only a fraction of the gold ornaments had been recovered, 30 Sep 1921
  13. (fols. 102-107) report of a meeting of the Council Chiefs held at the Fort, Coomassie (Kumasi). In his opening speech, the Governor referred to the case of the Golden Stool and the deportation or imprisonment of those found guilty, and also to the question of the return of former King Asantehene Prempeh. The report concludes with the thanks of the Chiefs to the Chief Commissioner for his help in dealing with the case of the Golden Stool, 31 Mar 1922
  14. (fols. 108-123) despatch from Harper to the Acting Colonial Secretary, Accra, giving a full account of the Golden Stool situation and the events that had up to it, and recommending that the Governor announce publicly to the Coomassie (Kumasi) Chiefs that the government had no wish to take possession of the Stool, 3 Oct 1921
  15. (fols. 124-128) despatch from Harper to the Acting Colonial Secretary, supplementing the above by a report dealing with matters of a confidential nature, 6 Oct 1921
  16. (fols. 129-130) letter marked Appendix A from Oswald F. Ross, Acting District Commissioner, to the Acting Provincial Commissioner, Eastern Province Ashanti, reporting that two Chiefs did not wish to attend the enquiry, 19 Sep 1921
  17. (fols. 131-133) Appendix B: Copy of a document listing the two groups of prisoners and summing up the finding in each case, signed by C.E. Martinson, Isaac S. Cole, S.E. Dodd, and Moses Enim [possibly the four indigenous ministers from various missions referred to by Harper in an article published in Blackwood's Magazine (MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 344/3, folder 2, fols. 5-16)], n.d.
  18. (fols. 134-137) letter from Harper to the Colonial Secretary forwarding a report by Captain F. Douris, Acting Commissioner of Police, on the ceremony of 'drinking fetish' before the Chiefs in the case of those persons ordered by Harper to go through this ceremony, carried out in the presence of Captain Douris, 1 Nov 1921
  19. (fols. 138-143) two letters from Harper to the Colonial Secretary about Harper's reconsideration of the sentence of banishment passed on certain of the accused, 1-2 Nov 1921
  20. (fols. 144-156) letter to Harper signed by the Chiefs, submitting the record of the proceedings and grounds of judgement in support of their previous judgement against one of the accused, Asubontin (elsewhere spelt Esubontin). The documents were signed by J.E. Bobbie, Corporal of Police, Writer and Witness, 20 Oct 1921.

Dates

  • Creation: 1921-1923; 1934-1935

Extent

156 Leaves

Language of Materials

  • English

Shelfmark

MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 344/3, folder 1

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository

https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/weston
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