More Stories from East Africa's past for you to enjoy
The Other Adamson: Terence, Brother of the More Famous George
The Other Adamson: Terence, Brother of the More Famous George We hear a great deal about George Adamson, of Born Free fame, but he had an extraordinary brother, whose life needs celebrating. The Adamson brothers, George and Terence, came to Kenya with their parents,...
Peter Aarup, Karen Blixen’s Friend
Karen Blixen’s Friend, Peter Aarup AARUP, Peter M., son of Joergen Madsen Aarup, was born in 1863 in Kolding, Denmark. He went to South Africa, to the diamond mines, and we first hear about him in East Africa in 1900. By 1906, according to an advertisement he placed...
Nairobi in 1922 – Excerpt from new book Among Whistling Thorns
Nairobi in 1922 by Joan Booth Old Africa recently published a memoir written by Joan Booth, who came to Kenya in 1922 to help her brother Eric Booth establish a ranch in Rumuruti. The manuscript had been in the possession of Celia Owles of Naivasha for many...
Mystery of Italian Inscription at Longido Solved
Mystery of Italian Inscription at Longido Solved by Annamaria Alfieri The first step in this quest belongs to Old Africa Magazine. A few years ago, as a new subscriber delving into back issues, I came across—in Number 12—a photo of a rock wall in Longido Tanzania....
Architectural Treasures to be Featured in History Mystery Contest
Janfrans van der Eerden is a Dutch architect with a keen interest in 20th century architecture in Kenya. At present teaching classes at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, he travelled around Kenya for many years, looking for old houses and taking...
Early Farming Disasters in Kenya
Early Farming Disasters in Kenya When the first white settlers started farming in Kenya in the early twentieth century, their enterprise was far from successful. Potatoes were tried, but they died of blight. At his first farm at Njoro Lord Delamere decided to raise...
Kisettla, a dialect of Kiswahili?
In 1932 a writer identified only as JW wrote a tongue-in-cheek article about the evolving language of Kisettla, spoken in Kenya by settlers as they attempted to communicate with their African neighbours and staff. The article first appeared in the East African...
Rinderpest Brings Disaster in the 1890s
Rinderpest Brings Disaster in the 1890s In the 1890s many of the early European visitors to what became Kenya commented on the famine that had hit the country. What had happened? The famine was largely caused by the disease rinderpest, which had started to infect...
When did Electricity Come to Nairobi?
When did Electricity Come to Nairobi? In order to supply electricity for lighting and power in the district of Nairobi, the Nairobi Electric Power and Lighting Company Limited, with a capital of £30,000, was founded in February 1906. Its originator was Clement HA...
How did Christianity come to Kenya?
How did Christianity come to Kenya? The first Christians to visit East Africa were Vasco da Gama and his crew, including Roman Catholic missionaries, in 1498. He did not, however, leave any of these in East Africa and the next missionary we hear about is...
Odoriferous Mombasa
Odoriferous Mombasa In the first decades of the twentieth century Mombasa was often a far from pleasant place to work or live in. The old town had a graveyard where leg and skull bones stuck out of the thin layer of soil. In the Old Harbour there was a large deep tank...
Hugo van Lawick, Wildlife Photographer
Hugo van Lawick, Wildlife Photographer One of Hugo van Lawick’s wives, Jane Goodall, is perhaps better known to the public than he is. But van Lawick’s work was important in bringing the issue of conservation to the forefront of people’s interest. Hugo was born in...
The Donovan Maule Theatre
The Donovan Maule Theatre Many of you will remember Nairobi’s Donovan Maule Theatre. My abiding memory is of us Kenya High School girls trying to persuade our headmistress, Miss Stott, to let us go to see Lock up Your Daughters there in 1960. She eventually relented....
Herbert Hugh Cowie Comes to British East Africa
Herbert Hugh Cowie On 9 July 1902, at St Mary’s church in Johannesburg, Captain Herbert Hugh Cowie (born in South Africa on 8 September 1870) married Ada Evelyn Harries, the eldest of the nine children of Charles and Olivia Mary Ann Harries. She was born in Maseru,...
More about Thomas Remington
More about Thomas Remington In last month’s blog I wrote about Thomas Remington. One of Remington’s relatives has contacted me and kindly given me more information about this extraordinary man who established postal services in East Africa. The Frenchwoman he married...
How did the Mail get Delivered in East Africa before 1910?
How did the Mail get Delivered in East Africa before 1910? The postal service of East Africa was first begun as a branch of that of Zanzibar, and its first postmaster-general resided in Zanzibar for eight years before coming to British East Africa in 1899. In...
The Rise and Decline of Cotton Growing in Kenya
The Rise and Decline of Cotton Growing in Kenya Some pioneer settlers thought cotton might succeed in East Africa. So the British East Africa Corporation Ltd was established in 1906 with the aim of spreading the work of the British Cotton Growing Association, a body...
Stories of Workers on a White Farm
Stories of Workers on a White Farm Elspeth Huxley recorded some stories of the workers on the farm of her mother, Nellie Grant, which give a fascinating insight into the history of Kenya. The Grants’ first farm was near Thika and then they moved to a farm at Njoro....