Albert Whiggs Easmon

Albert Whiggs Easmon (1865 – 21 May 1921) was a Sierra Leonean Creole medical doctor and the half-brother of Dr John Farrell Easmon. Easmon was among the first group of Sierra Leoneans to qualify as a medical doctor after getting a degree from Edinburgh University.[1] He became the leading gynaecologist in Freetown, Sierra Leone and had an extensive private practice.[2]

Albert Whiggs Easmon
BornAlbert Whiggs Easmon
(1855-06-30)30 June 1855
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Died21 May 1921(1921-05-21) (aged 65)
Freetown, Sierra Leone
OccupationChief Medical Officer
LanguageEnglish
NationalityBritish Subject,
EducationWesleyan Boy's High School, Edinburgh University

Background and early life
Further information: Easmon family

Albert Whiggs Easmon was born to Walter Richard Easmon (1824-1883) and Mah Serah, a Susu from modern-day Guinea. Albert Easmon's father belonged to a prominent Nova Scotian Settler Easmon family of Little East Street, Freetown.[1] Albert Whiggs Easmon was the younger half brother of Dr. John Farrell Easmon, who was promoted to the position of Chief Medical Officer of the Gold Coast.[1]

Education

Albert Whiggs Easmon enrolled in Edinburgh University to study medicine; he qualified in 1895, graduating with First Class Honours.[1]

Influenza epidemic

He was reportedly the only physician who did not contract influenza during the 1918-19 influenza epidemic in Freetown. According to his son Raymond S. Easmon: "Father had literally to doctor the whole city."[2]

Paralysis and death

Soon after the epidemic, Easmon had a stroke that paralysed the right side of his body, leaving him bedridden for two years until his death on 26 May 1923, at the age of 56.[2]

Family

Albert Whiggs Easmon had at least two children; Dr Raymond Sarif Easmon and Maserae Easmon.[1]

References
  1. Gates, Professor Henry Louis Jr.; Akyeampong, Professor Emmanuel; Niven, Mr Steven J. (2 February 2012). Dictionary of African Biography. OUP USA. ISBN 9780195382075.
  2. Adell Patton, Jr, Physicians, Colonial Racism, and Diaspora in West Africa, University Press of Florida, 1996, p. 176.
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