John Mensah Sarbah (1864–1910), born in Cape Coast, was the first African from the Gold Coast to qualify as a barrister (Lincoln's Inn, 1887). He wrote Fanti Customary Laws (1897), Fanti Law Reports (1904) and Fanti National Constitution (1906), co-founded the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society against the 1897 Lands Bill, helped establish Mfantsipim School, and sat on the Legislative Council from 1901 until his death.
John Mensah Sarbah's Fanti Customary Laws remains a key source on Fante law.