Group of misisonaries seated on verandah, Ghana, ca. 1910

"On the verandah in Mission House, Seccondee. The late Rev H.H. Bridge shewn in corner. by W.T. Balmer." [now Sekondi, Ghana]. Hubert H Bridge died within his first year of service in May 1910. Rev. William Turnbull Balmer served as the head of various educational establishements for the Methodist Missionary Society in West Africa, including Richmond College in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Mfantsipim High School at Cape Coast, Ghana, before returning to Fourah Bay Ministerial Training College in Freetown. Balmer spent vacations travelling with James Walton in order to acquire new languages. He published many educational books, in English and African languages. Methodist Missionary work in West Africa had begun in 1811 with Coke's mission to Sierra Leone. A second station was opened on the River Gambia in 1821, and on the Gold Coast in 1834. Rev. Balmer served in the Sierra Leone and Gambia district from 1901 to 1909 when he transferred to the Gold Coast briefly until 1911. He resumed his work in Sierra Leone from 1914 to 1921.