A copy of the book "West African Trade and Coast Society", West African Graphic Co. Ltd., Oxford University Press, 1969, has been submitted by John Brew of Seattle. It contains countless references to Brews, who came from Ireland, and who were involved in trade on Africa's West Coast. For copies of information from any part of the book, please contact either John by clicking on the link to his e-mail address above if you live in North America, or me if you live in Europe or Australasia. As the whole book is about 212 pages, please expect to incur postage and copying fees. Below is a summary of the book and it's contents.
Tom Brew, of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, has read the book and made the following comments: "...I read the book regarding Richard Brew, West African Trade and Coast Society, and the book indicates that it is not known for sure where Richard came from but records searched show Ireland. He was a very popular man in Africa and built a "Brew" Castle. One of my secretary's came from this area of Africa and has seen it. Richard had a few African wives of which were nobility or princesses of various tribes. About two years ago I heard of a Brew attending the University here in Windsor and made contact with her. She visited me at work and you should have seen the people take a double look when she introduced herself as a Brew, as she was from Africa and now was living in England. She told me that the Brew name was very well looked upon in Africa and that all Brew females after marriage kept their Brew surname and did not go by their husbands name at all."
An Extract from the Preface
West African family history is a much neglected subject, although in 1947 Professor Raymond Firth drew attention to its potentialities in an article in "Africa" and some years later Dr. Arthur Porter enlarged on the theme in his paper "Family Histories and West African Social Development". The present study aims at making a contribution to this field, focusing on the Brew family in the Fanti region of Ghana, and spanning more than one hundred and fifty years.
Many different personalities and facets of affairs are involved over this period of time, and it is hardly surprising that the data available should be somewhat uneven. Thus the life of the Irish trader, Richard Brew, can be depicted more fully than the lives of his African descendants, with the possible exception of James Hutton Brew and J. E. Casley Hayford. The lengthy research that was necessary to construct an account of the nineteenth-century Brews has precluded full concentration on these two active public figures. It must also be pointed out that the study seeks to relate the Brews to important themes in the history and development of Ghana; areas where current knowledge is inadequate, for example Fanti in the eighteenth century and the economic history of the coastal region in the nineteenth, are thereby thrown into prominence.
An Extract from the Contents
| Part One - The Interaction of the Cultures | |
| I | European Settlement |
| II | Fanti in the Eighteenth Century |
| . | |
| Part Two - Richard Brew : European Trader | |
| I | The Irish Background |
| II | Governor of Anomabu Fort |
| III | Private Trader |
| IV | Castle Brew |
| . | |
| Part Three - The Fanti Brews | |
| I | Richard Brew's Descendants |
| II | Sam Kanto Brew : Abolition and the Ashanti Question |
| II | Samuel Collins Brew : Legitimate Trade and Pax Britannica |
| IV | James Hutton Brew : Conflict with Colonialism |
| V | Samuel Henry Brew and Ebenezer Annan Brew : Africans in Government Service |
| VI | The Brews in Society |
| . | |
| Appendix | |
| A | Brew Family Tree |
An Extract from the Index
| Brew | Mrs. (Wife of Samuel Collins Brew) | |
| Brew | Albert Cruickshank | |
| Brew | Ebenezer Annan | |
| Brew | Eleanor (Wife of Richard Brew of Ennis) | |
| Brew | Eleanor and Amba | |
| Brew | Elizabeth (m. Edmund Bannerman) | |
| Brew | Eyaapah | |
| Brew | Family | - The Irish Brews |
| - Traditions and interest in ancestry | ||
| - Sources of family history | ||
| - Genealogy | ||
| - Naming Patterns | ||
| - Property disputes | ||
| - And Ashanti | ||
| - Occupations | ||
| - And traditional society | ||
| - As a western educated elite | ||
| - Connections with other coast families | ||
| Brew | Henry (Harry) (Son of Richard Brew, Irish Trader) | |
| Brew | Henry (Harry) (Son of Sam Kanto Brew) | |
| Brew | House | |
| Brew | James Hutton (Son of Samuel Collins Brew) | |
| Brew | James Hutton Jnr. (Son of Albert Cruickshank Brew) | |
| Brew | Mary (m. Rev. de Graft Hayford) | |
| Brew | Prince | |
| Brew | Richard (of Ennis) | |
| Brew | Richard | - Irish origins |
| - Parents | ||
| - Arrival on coast | ||
| - Service with Royal African Company | ||
| - Command at Dixcove | ||
| - Command at Tantumkweri | ||
| - Private trader at Mumford | ||
| - First command at Anomabu | ||
| - In Ireland and London | ||
| - Second command at Anomabu | ||
| - Private trader at Anomabu | ||
| - Extent of trading empire | ||
| - Trading partners | ||
| - Trading methods and organisation | ||
| - Disputes with Committee | ||
| - Disputes with Governor and Council | ||
| - Cape Coast Castle | ||
| - Disputes with the Fanti | ||
| - And Ashanti-Fanti politics | ||
| - Literary style and taste | ||
| - Personality | ||
| - Country marriage and children | ||
| - Mode of life | ||
| - Integration with local society | ||
| - Insolvency | ||
| - Death | ||
| - Winding up of his estate | ||
| - As a coastal settler | ||
| Brew | Richard Jnr. (Son of the Irish trader) | |
| Brew | Richard (Grandson of the Irish trader) | |
| Brew | Richard Collins | |
| Brew | Richard Henry (Son of Henry (Harry) Brew, brother of Samuel Collins Brew) | |
| Brew | Samuel Collins | |
| Brew | Samuel Henry (Son of Henry (Harry) Brew, brother of Samuel Collins Brew) | |
| Brew | Samuel Henry Jnr. | |
| Brew | Samuel Husband | |
| Brew | Sam Kanto | |
| Brew | William Ward | |
| . | ||
| Castle Brew | Construction of | |
| Ownership | ||
| As centre of trade | ||
| As home of a settler | ||
| Occupants after Richard Brew | ||