Old Africa magazine seeks to tell the story of East Africa’s past through well-written stories and vintage photographs. Founded in October 2005, the first issue featured a story about the Royal Navy’s ill-fated attempt to launch a naval presence on Lake Rudolph (now Lake Turkana) and an account of the Kedong Massacre. Since then the magazine has published stories and photos from Kenya’s diverse ethnic groups – African, Asian and European – to preserve East Africa’s history.
‘Biltong’ Ross
Charles Joseph Ross ‘Biltong’ Ross was a larger-than-life Kenyan character. Born in Australia on 4 July 1857, he joined the Australian Mounted Police, rounding up gangs of bushrangers. As a young man he travelled to America where he lived with native Americans and...
Margaret Griffiths, a Missionary Wife
Margaret Griffiths, a Missionary Wife The women who accompanied their husbands on their early missionary endeavours in East Africa were a stalwart bunch. One such was wife of John Bynner Griffiths, a Methodist missionary at Mazeras. Margaret E. Edwards was born in...
The Kenya Firm of Hughes Ltd.
The Kenya Firm of Hughes Ltd. The firm of Hughes is famous throughout Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. What were its origins? It was the brainchild of John Joseph Hughes, a twenty-year-old sent to Kenya in 1920 as a buyer for the London firm of fibre merchants Robinson,...