Hannah Kilham (1774 1832) was a missionary whose aim in her work in the Gambia and Sierra Leone was to teach children in their own indigenous languages rather than in English. In order to do so she learned the Wolof language from African sailors in London and later, in Sierra Leone, collected specimens of thirty languages through her encounters with freed slaves. The first of two publications reissued in this volume, Kilham's Report on a Recent Visit to the Colony of Sierra Leone (1828), discusses the state of education in the colony as well as the general condition of its people. The second, Claims of West Africa to Christian Instruction through the Native Languages (1830) also discusses the system of education, outlining the process of tuition, and emphasising the need for Bible translations into African languages. For more information on this author, see http: //orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=kilhha

This memoir, compiled from the journals of Hannah Kilham, traces the life of this remarkable woman (1774-1832). It was prepared for publication in 1837 by her stepdaughter, Sarah Biller, who emphasises those aspects of her stepmother's life that support the representation of her as an independent and pioneering women in order to make further claims for women. In 1796 Hannah Kilham joined the Society of Methodists and became an advocate for the poor, for exploited children and for Irish immigrants. She voyaged to Sierra Leone wishing to bring Christianity to its inhabitants and on her third visit to the country she established a school there. Hannah Kilham fought for the rights of slaves and former slaves and against the practices of colonialism and colonial trade. She also produced textbooks for the study of African languages and established herself as a politically astute chronicler of missionary and educational activities.