Country Sierra Leone Time zone GMT (UTC-5) | Region Western Area | |
 | ||
District Western Area Rural District | ||
Regent is a mountainous town in the Western Area Rural District of Sierra Leone. Regent lies approximately fifteen miles east of Freetown, and close to the village of Gloucester. The population of Regent is largely from the Creole ethnic group.
Contents
Regent is the hometown of Sierra Leonean economist and politician Solomon A.J Pratt
History
Regent was founded in 1812 to provide accommodation for liberated enslaved Africans, who had been brought to Freetown by the British Royal Navy West Africa Squadron. Originally called Hogbrook, Regent was named in honour of the George IV of the United Kingdom, at the time Prince Regent of England.
St Charles Church
The St Charles’ Church was built in 1816 as part of the Parish Plan. This stone church was financed by the colonial government, and from 1817 the Church Missionary Society paid for a minister, a position taken up by Rev. William Johnson, nicknamed the “Apostle of Regent”. He was so successful in his evangelicism that soon his congregation exceded the 500 person capacity of the church, and a gallery was added so that another 200 worshippers could be catered for. However after Johnson's death in 1823, the size of the congregation became much smaller.