History of Sierra Leone called 'Captured negroes', 'Recaptives' or 'Liberated Africans'. In 1808, the British Crown Colony of Sierra Leone was founded, with Freetown serving as the capital of British West Africa. The city's population expanded rapidly with freed slaves, who established suburbs on the Freetown Peninsula. They were joined by West Indian and African soldiers who settled in Sierra Leone after fighting for Britain in the Napoleonic Wars. In the early 1800s, Sierra Leone was a small colony extending a few kilometres (a few miles) up the peninsula from Freetown. The bulk of the territory that makes up present-day Sierra Leone was still
Queen of Sierra Leone Queen of Sierra Leone Elizabeth II was Queen of Sierra Leone from 1961 to 1971, when Sierra Leone was an independent constitutional monarchy. The Queen was also monarch of the other Commonwealth realms, including the United Kingdom. Sierra Leone became an independent realm by the Sierra Leone Independence Act 1961, which transformed the British Crown Colony of Sierra Leone into an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The Queen was the ceremonial head of state, represented by the Governor-General of Sierra Leone, who resided in State House, which flew the Union Jack. Her formal title was "Queen of Sierra