Sherbro Island

Sherbro Island lies off the coast of Sierra Leone, separated from the mainland by tidal waterways. Its low shores and mangroves belong to the homeland of the Sherbro, or southern Bullom, people. The island and neighbouring coast were drawn into Atlantic trade through alliances between local families and European merchants. Among them was the Caulker family, descended from the English trader Thomas Corker and a Sherbro woman; its members became prominent rulers and slave traders in the Sherbro country.