Herbert Macaulay (14 November 1864 – 7 May 1946) was a Nigerian nationalist, politician, surveyor, engineer, journalist and musician, considered by many to be the founder of Nigerian nationalism (Wikipedia).
- Born
- 14 November 1864
- Place of birth
- Lagos
- Died
- 7 May 1946
- Occupation
- Nationalist politician, surveyor, engineer and journalist
- Field
- Political Leaders
Herbert Macaulay (14 November 1864 – 7 May 1946) was a Nigerian nationalist, politician, surveyor, engineer, journalist and musician, considered by many to be the founder of Nigerian nationalism (Wikipedia). Born on Broad Street, Lagos, he was a grandson of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the first African bishop of the Niger territory. From 1891 to 1894 he studied civil engineering in Plymouth, England.
According to the Library of Congress country study, he was the principal figure in the political activity that followed the 1922 constitution, which allowed a few elected members on the Legislative Council: he led the Nigerian National Democratic Party, which dominated elections in Lagos from its founding in 1922 until 1938, and used his newspaper, the Lagos Daily News, to arouse political awareness. Wikipedia records that in his political work he also relied on the Lagos Daily News, on the Lagos Market Women Association led by his ally Alimotu Pelewura, and on the House of Docemo. In 1944, when the NCNC was founded as Nigeria's first party with nationwide appeal, "the aged Macaulay" was elected its president, with Nnamdi Azikiwe as secretary-general (country study).
He attended St Paul's Breadfruit School and CMS Faji School in Lagos, and CMS Grammar School, Lagos, from 1877 to 1880; his father died in 1878. After a trading and missionary journey up the Niger with his uncle, he worked as a clerk in the Public Works Department, and in 1890 left for England with the colonial government's support to train as a civil engineer and surveyor in Plymouth (Wikipedia).
He returned to Lagos in 1893 as surveyor of Crown lands, and left the colonial service in 1898. Accounts of his departure differ: Wikipedia records his growing dislike of British rule, but also allegations by his British superiors, cited by the historian Kristin Mann, that he had used his office to help friends obtain Crown grants. He then worked as a private surveyor and became a political activist, joining the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines' Protection Society (Wikipedia).
- Herbert Macaulay — Wikipedia · link
- Nigeria: A Country Study — Emergence of Nigerian Nationalism — Federal Research Division, Library of Congress · link
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Archive ID: PER-HERBERT-MACAULAY · Last updated 3 October 2026.
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