by Shel Arensen | Jul 25, 2014 | Shel Arensen
The Red Pelican by Jon Arensen was recently reviewed in mini-SITREP, the newsletter of the Kenya Regiment. Eric Calonius wrote the review. Here it is. I just finished The Red Pelican-and what a great read it is! There’s not a memoir in my recent memory that I enjoyed...
by Christine Nicholls | Jun 22, 2014 | Christine Nicholls
A.S. Rogers, Controversial British Official Alexander Stuart Rogers was a less than satisfactory official used by the British during their early days in East Africa. He had been born in Peshawar, India (now Pakistan), on 13 November 1862, to a family which originated...
by Christine Nicholls | May 19, 2014 | Christine Nicholls
A very interesting book has just been published, telling the story of the coming of Goans to East Africa. Many of you will remember Goan clerks, but how did the group obtain a monopoly of such positions, and what else did they do? The answers lie in A Railway Runs...
by Christine Nicholls | Apr 17, 2014 | Christine Nicholls
Interestingly, I had an email about the subject of last month’s blog, about Captain Dugmore, which reads: ‘I have Captain Dugmore’s home service helmet to the 64th Foot, which can be dated to 1878-1881. It has his name and regiment written in the interior and...
by Christine Nicholls | Mar 20, 2014 | Christine Nicholls
The Mad, Bad and Dangerous Captain Francis Dugmore Francis Sandys Dugmore was born in Paddington, London, where he was baptised on 18 March 1839. He was the son of a barrister, William Dugmore, and his wife Mary Louisa. He was brought up in London and had three...
by Christine Nicholls | Feb 19, 2014 | Christine Nicholls
The Imperial British East Africa Company, which administered Zanzibar and part of East Africa, received enquiries in June 1894 from an organization calling itself the British Freeland Association of the International Freeland Association. It had devised a plan for a...
by Jon Arensen | Feb 13, 2014 | Elaine Barnett
When a person thinks about animals living in South East Asia they automatically think “elephants”. This is truly the home of Asian elephants, but they are becoming increasingly rare in in the wild. On a recent visit to Cambodia, I learned that in the whole country...
by Shel Arensen | Jan 22, 2014 | Shel Arensen
Here’s a review of one of Old Africa’s most recent titles, Red Pelican. Houghton College is pleased to announce a new book by professor emeritus Jon Arensen. The book, “The Red Pelican: Life on Africa’s Last Frontier,” is the third in an unofficial...
by Christine Nicholls | Jan 20, 2014 | Christine Nicholls
Here’s a note on Olive Grey who I wrote about in my November blog. A relative in Australia has kindly given me the place and date of Olive’s death. She died in Poona, India, on 20 October 1920 and was buried there on the following day. Purkiss’ Parrot William J...
by Christine Nicholls | Dec 18, 2013 | Christine Nicholls
I wrote a blog about the fascinating Vladimir Vassil Verbi in the Old Africa blog page on 20 February 2013. Since then, much new information has come in about the missionary, mainly from his daughter Mary, and the story is so fascinating that it is worth telling here....
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