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6 April 1865 · The Brig CORA · Bridgetown Harbour, Barbados
347 free Black Barbadians sailed for Liberia. This platform is their record — and the record of those who found them again.
The Africa Barbados Heritage Initiative is a registered Liberian nonprofit organisation, with Minnesota 501(c)(3) status pending, chartered to memorialise the 1865 emigration of 347 Barbadians to Liberia, document the descendant lineages of the brig CORA's passenger families, and anchor the bilateral heritage relationship between Barbados, Liberia, and the global diaspora.
We do four things: build the genealogical archive, produce documentary and educational content, organise pilgrimages of return, and convene partnerships among governments, museums, and academic institutions on both sides of the Atlantic.
These were not refugees. They were pioneers — free Black Barbadians who chose to build something new on African soil. Invited by President Daniel Bashiel Warner of Liberia, they settled at Crozierville and built a nation.
Full historical account →Born into slavery in Bridgetown. Manumitted in his mid-twenties. One of the wealthiest merchants in 1830s Barbados. Patron of Samuel Jackman Prescod. Co-founder and principal patron of the Fatherland Union Barbados Emigration Society — the organisation that sent the brig CORA to Liberia in 1865. Maternal grandfather of Arthur Barclay, fifteenth President of Liberia.
The 1865 voyage did not happen by accident. It was organised, funded, and intellectually framed — and London Bourne was at the centre of all three.
Read his biographyThe CORA carried roughly fifty Barbadian families. Among the named lineages whose descendants are documented today are the Barclays, Portes, Padmores, Goodridges, Eastmans, Weeks, Carrs, and Thorpes. TABHI's archival programme begins with the Porte-Best line — the line of Founder Ambassador Witherspoon — and is extending family by family.
View Our People →A selection of TABHI's documented diplomatic outcomes since 2024.
All milestones →Signed in Monrovia on 18 March 2026. Eliminates visa requirements for Barbadian nationals travelling to Liberia and establishes a formal political consultation framework.
Presidents Boakai and Mason convened. A monument unveiled honouring three Liberian leaders of Barbadian descent.
Liberia's highest state honour conferred on Ambassador Witherspoon. Appointed Special Envoy for Cultural and Heritage Diplomacy.
Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley speaks on the significance of the 2024 Sankofa Pilgrimage — the first organised return of Barbadian-Liberian descendants since 1865.
All impact & milestones →Participation is structured by purpose.
If your family traces roots to Barbados, Liberia, or the 1865 emigration, your lineage belongs in this record.
Historians, genealogists, academics, and journalists. Access authenticated primary source documents.
Partner organisations advancing formal recognition of Barbadian-Liberian heritage through policy and diplomacy.
Fund the work of heritage preservation and diplomacy. Support the archive, the documentation programme, and the bilateral missions that make this work sustainable.
A 2023 docuseries by Barbadian-Liberian historian Cherrine Goodridge-Smith, drawn from more than 80 interviews with descendants of the 1865 emigrants — their voices, their families, and the line that connects Bridgetown to Crozierville and to the global diaspora today.
Produced through her independent platform Our History TV. Embedded with permission of the producer.
Embedded with permission · © Our History TV / Lemongrass Productions
Proud Sponsors & Partners of the Sankofa Pilgrimage