The British Empire Library


Remnants of Empire. Memory and Northern Rhodesia's White Diaspora

by Pamela Shurmer-Smith


Review by Mondoro
Unlike Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia) and South Africa, Zambia (Northern Rhodesia) lacked its Doris Lessing and Nadine Gordimer to provide an image of its colonial society. Pamela Shurmer-Smith's collection of oral evidence from the relatively small number of white people who settled there prior to independence in 1964 will thus fill a gap, and appears just in time to capture the very varied testimonies of the 'white Diaspora'. Her book is particularly valuable for putting to rest the common stereotype of the white settler sitting on his veranda enjoying his sundowner while his labourers toil in the fields. Her informants varied tremendously in background, from the Afrikaner miner who brought his racist ideas to the Copperbelt to the paternalistic civil servants sent out by the Colonial Office, and those who fled the austerity of post-war Britain to find a new life in the sun.

'Remnants of Empire' reviews these experiences, moving through the rapid changes of the late 50s that completely transformed what had been a very quiet and seemingly permanent political system. The year 1964 saw the independence of Zambia in what in retrospect was a fairly peaceful transition, in contrast to what happened elsewhere in southern Africa in the 1970s onwards. The diaspora, the emigration of whites from Northern Rhodesia, was similarly a smooth process. The later chapters of her book discuss the experiences of the Diaspora in some detail, ranging from the anger of those who felt betrayed by British policy to those who left bidding Zambia all the best, but leaving with a slight twinge. Indeed, it is surprising how many renewed their acquaintance with Africa later.

As a historian I was particularly interested in her initial chapter about memory: what we remember, what we don't want to remember, what we should remember, and what we choose to forget. It is all too human to distance ourselves from views we had in the past which are no longer acceptable. Colonial rule and the race prejudice that unfortunately flourished under its wings was one such.

A valuable historical record of a relatively unknown former colonial territory.

Additional Review by Mark Henwick
The story of Northern Rhodesia becoming Zambia is like a patchwork quilt, and that is exactly how this book portrays it, relying on the words and phrases of the people who lived it to tell the tale. It is the only way such a diverse experience could be given a balanced exposition.

My father was District Commissioner at Broken Hill (now Kabwe) at the time of independence. He stayed until the end of 1969, working initially in the Zambian government's 'Youth Development' ministry. I was born in Kasempa Mission Hospital, and at school in Broken Hill's Parker Primary and then Lusaka Boys School before being sent south to Springvale in Southern Rhodesia. When I moved to the UK, I went to a school where the bursar was another DC from Northern Rhodesia. With that background, of course many of the names and almost all of the stories are familiar to me.

We were in no way refugees, and I have been lucky all my life, but I find my memory of the shock of being uprooted from Africa and replanted in the UK is echoed and re-echoed in these stories.

It was never one of the glamorous countries of Africa, but NR/Z put a marker in all our souls - witness the associations that still meet all over the world.

Anyone who was there, or anyone who has the slightest interest in a balanced view of this part of history should read this book.

Additional Review by D. Grewar
The story of the diaspora of Northern Rhodesians is a difficult subject to record in a fair and balanced manner because of the many diverse views of Northern Rhodesians. I think Pamela Shurmer-Smith done an excellent job in weaving together the personal stories of so many people with an unbiased view of the history of our country.

I thought that maybe I was alone in being unable to settle back in England the land of my birth after 21 years in Africa, but I find that the majority of returnees had the same difficulty and many of them have moved on. They either returned to Africa or went to other parts of the world or some even became eternal ‘men in a suitcase’ moving like gypsies from one location to another.

This book brings alive the trauma of having to uproot oneself from one’s long time friends and neighbours when or shortly after Northern Rhodesia became Zambia in 1964. The cruelty was compounded by the restrictions on taking one’s honest and hard earned life savings with one. This was made even worse when currency restrictions were expanded to include personal and household effects. Yes, there were reasons for it but for the average Northern Rhodesian who had no option but to leave; for him to have to leave his own life savings behind was just pure theft on the part of the new regime.

The expatriates who came to Zambia after Independence are a different story from NR’s. They knew they were just hired on a short contract basis and had no illusions about the country becoming their home. Even so many if them feel a strange nostalgia for their years in Zambia that is only too evident in the social media pages.

The residents of Northern Rhodesia were roughly divided into the Government or PA types and the rest. The PA community (the British Colonial Civil Servants) were deliberately transferred from station to station and given 6 months home leave every 3 years to prevent them forming any attachment to their host countries. Despite this many did form strong attachments to Northern Rhodesia (especially those who served in the Northern Rhodesia Police).

The non-PA community was divided into the commercial / trading, the mining and the farming communities. Most of the miners came from South Africa and SR and would work a few years on the mines before returning to their farms down south. After a few bad seasons on the farms they would return to the Copperbelt to save up another grubstake. They had little interest in NR or its peoples and were only there to make money. In a way one could call these temporary sojourners the forerunners of the ‘expatriates’ who came after independence. Even so many of them did form an attachment for the affluent and relaxed Copperbelt lifestyle.

Among the non-PA group and mainly in the trading and farming communities were the ‘settlers’, the real Northern Rhodesians, who actually thought that they were going to live in NRZ for ever and who were prepared to adapt to changing conditions and live under an African dominated government. I identify myself with this group. I think these settlers or at least the ones who had to leave NRZ were the ones who felt the loss most poignantly because they lost not only a comfortable lifestyle and their properties and assets and in some cases their families, but most importantly they lost their dreams. They suffered something like what the Yanks call post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in their troops returning from battle fronts. Time eases the pain but many of us will take the mental scars with us to our graves.

The emigrants had a wide variety of success in their new lives after leaving NRZ from Neville Isdell who became head of the giant Coca-Cola organization to the chap who ended up penniless sleeping in a New Zealand garden shed. Most however returned to the western humdrum life of wage slavery as university bursars, teachers, policemen or lawyers with only their memories of a life in the sun to brighten their dull lives.

The book is generally sad and nostalgic but I found the saddest story was that of Heather Hunt who was born in Broken Hill hospital in 1939. She married Des and they built up a farm near Broken Hill from scratch, even making the bricks themselves. After Des’ death Heather stayed on until July 2014 when she moved to the UK at 75 years old. She had no children left in Zambia to take over the farm and look after her in her old age so she had to sell the farm. I really feel for Heather. I hope she finds some happiness in the years that remain for her. What a crying shame after sticking it out through thick and thin in Northern Rhodesia and Zambia that she has had to leave.

British Empire Book
Author
Pamela Shurmer-Smith
Published
2015
Pages
288
Publisher
Gadsden Publishers
ISBN
9982240935
Availability
Abebooks
Amazon
Remnants of Empire Website


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