William Clevland (1720 – 6 December 1758) was an Anglo-Scot who became the self-appointed King of the Banana Islands off the coast of present-day Sierra Leone.^[1]

William Clevland was the son of Commodore William Clevland, a Scotsman who settled at Tapeley Park, near Bideford, Devon. His brother was John Clevland, who was appointed as Secretary of the Admiralty.^[2]

In the 1730s Clevland was working for the Royal African Company, which had a monopoly on trade at Sierra Leone. He was on board a slave ship that was wrecked off the Banana Islands. He and surviving African slaves made their way to the islands, which they settled. Clevland took power and named himself king.^[3]

His children included:

• By Kate Corker, daughter of King Skinner Corker:
  • John Clevland (1740–1764)
  • Elizabeth Clevland Hardcastle (1741–1808) who settled in South Carolina.^[4]
• By Ndamba, a Kissi woman. Their children included:
  • James Cleveland

Both Elizabeth and James were sent to England for their education.

John succeeded his father as sovereign of the Banana Islands, but died in 1764.^[5] He was succeeded by James Cleveland.^[6]

In this period, the British had a trading post at the mouth of the Sierra Leone River and by 1792 had established a colony of freedmen at Freetown.

• Lang, George (1999). Entwisted tongues: comparative creole literatures. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi Bv Editions. ISBN 978-90-420-0737-6.