Robert Sutherland Rattray


Robert Sutherland Rattray,, known as Captain R. S. Rattray, was a barrister and held a diploma in Anthropology from Oxford.
He was an early Africanist and student of the Ashanti. He was one of the early writers on Oware, and on Ashanti gold weights. An amusement park constructed by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly is named Rattray park in memorial of R.S. Rattray.

Life

Rattray was born in India of Scottish parents. In 1906 he joined the Gold Coast Customs Service. In 1911 he became the assistant District Commissioner at Ejura. Learning local languages, he was appointed head of the Anthropological Department of Asante in 1921. He retired in 1930. He was killed while flying a glider in 1938.
"When a new Anthropological Department was set up in Ashanti in the 1920s, Rattray was charged with the task of re-searching the law and constitution of Ashanti, to assist the colonial administrators in ruling the Ashantis. With his office in the Anthropological Department in Ashanti, Rattray set out to do detailed and voluminous research on Ashanti religion, customs law, art, beliefs, folktales, and proverbs. His personal contact with the people of Ashanti afforded him an intimate knowledge of their culture, which is reflected in his thoughtful and nuanced writing on them."

Works