ABSTRACT
At the end of the nineteenth century, Freetown society was sharply divided into three strata: Europeans, Creoles, and Natives. The third stratum comprised the tribal immigrants, who were regarded by the Creoles as hewers of wood and drawers of water, servants and labourers, and who were for time content with their humble station. The tribal people who have settled in Freetown have copied Creole and Yoruba institutions but they have also brought with them their own models for voluntary associations. Children of liberated Africans and the later descendants of Settlers and Maroons came to be known as 'Creoles', though in official documents they have always been referred to as non-natives. The term 'Creole' is generally applied to all non-natives of Sierra Leone extraction other than Muslims. The Creoles tended to build their society round ideals and practices they had learnt from European administrators and missionaries.
