Joseph de Graft Hayford (1840–1919) was a Ghanaian Wesleyan Methodist minister who was a prominent figure in Fante politics and society in the Gold Coast.
[3] He was one of the founders of the Fante Confederation[4] of 1867 and one of the first political detainees in Ghanaian history.
[5] De Graft Hayford was a supporter of the Methodist church planter Thomas Birch Freeman and when Freeman was forced to resign from his post in 1857, de Graft Hayford also left the church; he later returned and became a preacher for the denomination.
[6] He has been described as "one of the greatest politicians of his day, and the most active member of the Fanti Confederacy of 1867".
His descendants continued to be leaders in law, politics and arts, and in 2008, the Casely-Hayfords were named as the most influential black family in the UK.