by admin | May 30, 2026 | Christine Nicholls
Firmly established in Zanzibar, the firm Smith Mackenzie was in an excellent position to take advantage of the opportunities for trade on the mainland once the Imperial British East Africa Company penetrated the interior of the lands that were to become Kenya and...
by admin | Apr 1, 2026 | Christine Nicholls
In the 1870s The Sultan of Zanzibar, Seyyid Bhargash, was well disposed towards Westerners, particularly if their activities boosted the island’s commerce. The British India Steam Navigation Company (BISN) started a regular service of steamers between Bombay and Aden...
by admin | Feb 4, 2026 | Christine Nicholls
As part of their attempts to counter the Slave Trade, the British sent Atkins Hamerton to Zanzibar in 1842 to discover the extent of the trade in human beings. He was lent a house by Seyyid Said, the Sultan of Zanzibar, on the foreshore near the Sultan’s palace. It...
by admin | Dec 22, 2025 | Christine Nicholls
In the last Old Africa, Karen Rothmyer talked of the 1923 rebellion in ‘When Kenya’s White Settlers Threatened UDI’, so I thought I would provide further details about it. Winston Churchill had proposed a common electoral role, one Indian member on the Executive...
by Christine Nicholls | Sep 29, 2025 | Christine Nicholls
The Old Nyali Bridge On 8 Aug 1931 Mombasa stopped work. The Governor of Kenya was poised to open a new bridge linking Mombasa island to the north mainland, and everyone wanted to be there. The Governor arrived in a motorcade and in his formal speech opening the...
by Christine Nicholls | Jul 31, 2025 | Christine Nicholls
To the north-west of Mombasa island is an inlet and on its mainland side is a flat piece of land later named Port Reitz. It is now the site of Mombasa’s Moi International Airport. Why was this area called Port Reitz? In 1824 a young lieutenant in the Royal Navy set...
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