The Ashantee village toured Britain during 1902 - including stops at Manchester, Sheffield, and Cardiff. Another advertisement (Sheffield Independent, 6 Dec 1902) describes the event in a little more detail - arts, trades and industries, of their country [Gold Coast, later Ghana], war songs and tournaments.
Little, if anything, is known of the participants or how they came to be in Britain, or what they thought of the show. It is worth noting that just two years prior to the Ashantee village tour, Britain had put down an Ashantee rebellion resulting in over 2,000 Ashantee deaths and the banishment of their leaders to the Seychelles.
During the show’s residence in Sheffield one of the Ghanaians - an infant, Kai Akosia Meusa (born to Meusah La) died (and was buried in the Sheffield General Cemetery).
Full text of advertisement:
Artillery Drill Hall, Sheffield.
For a short season only.
Daily, from 11am to 10 pm.
The Big Success of the Great St. James’s Hall, Manchester. Visited by nearly 100,000 people in four weeks.
THE ASHANTEE VILLAGE. 100 NATIVES, MEN, WOMEN and CHILDREN.
Daily, at 4pm and 9pm.
MONTE CHRISTO: A DIVE FOR LIVE.
See a man, tied in a sack and sealed, dive from the roof of the hall into four feet of water.
THE SENSATION OF THE WORLD.
ADMISSION SIX PENCE. Children, Half-price.
Image from Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 9 Dec 1902. |