Brief History Mombasa had long been known to Europeans, the Portugese had used it as a trading base for many years. The Sultan of Zanzibar extended his rule over the East African mainland throughout the Nineteenth Century. The African tribes in East Africa resented this Arab rule but could do little to resist it. The Arab control was tied up very much with the ivory and slave trades. It was this attachment to slavery that brought the area to the attention of the British public. David Livingstone used Zanzibar as a starting point for his explorations of the interior. He was to be joined by explorers interested in discovering the source of the Nile. They would send reports back to Britain publicising the evils of the East African slave trade. These would allow powerful lobbies back in Britain to put pressure on the Sultan of Zanzibar to banish slavery in his lands which he reluctantly agreed to in 1873. Technically, this ban included the East African coast although the policing of this ban was difficult to say the least. The British were generally content with their informal control over the area through their influence over the Sultan of Zanzibar. However, in the 1880s they were to find that their influence under the area would be severely challenged by the Germans. In November 1884 three deck passengers disguised as mechanics arrived in East Africa. This trio was armed with German flags and blank treaty documents. They quietly set about getting local African tribal leaders to agree to the Kaiser being their overlord rather than the Sultan of Zanzibar. These leaders probably assumed that an overlord further away would be less onerous than one on their doorsteps. They would be wrong on this calculation. Peters kept his secret well. He carried his documents to Berlin where a conference was discussing colonial spheres of influence. Not even Bismarck had been aware of these developments. The Kaiser eagerly granted Peters an incorporated German East Africa Company covering the lands of his treaties - From Tanganyika up to Witu. This new colony would be called Tanganyika. It's creation would shock the British in East Africa into action. The British set up their own British East Africa Company in reaction to the German one. Pressure was put on the Sultan of Zanzibar to hand over control of his remaining East African lands to this British Company under William MacKinnon. A temporary agreement with the Germans to respect each others' spheres of influence was agreed in 1886 and a more comprehensive agreement was signed in 1890 which basically gave Britain primacy over Zanzibar and a line stretching from the island of Pemba to Lake Victoria and then the Nile watershed whilst Germany was free to create its colony of Tanganyika between Lakes Victoria and Tanganyika. The Company found that the administration of the colony was far more expensive than they had anticipated. There was some resistance to the British moving into the area, notably when the Kikuyu destroyed Fort Lugard. The Company also had little in the way of income. The area had been ravaged by intensive slave raiding and trading and there was little obvious income available to the company. By 1895 it was clear that the British East Africa Company could not continue as a viable concern and so sold its lands and buildings to the British Government. With more resources at its disposal, the British government could finance a railway with a view to opening up the highlands to white settlement. The highlands combined a pleasant climate with good quality land. It was thought that the area would be suitable for a variety of cash crops. The railway was completed by 1906 by which time, white settlers had discovered that tea, coffee and tobacco could be grown in the highlands. However the new farms and plantations would prove to be harder to turn into profitable enterprises than at first realised as diseases and exhaustion of soils took their toll. On Safari in the 1890s The settlers were partly allowed in 1907 a voice in government through the allocation of some of the seats on the Legislative Council. However, the governor still had the right to appoint the majority of the seats on the Council. Kenya was to become an active theatre of war during World War One as the German Tanganyika commander Paul von Lettow Vorbeck fought a highly effective guerilla campaign throughout Eastern and Central Africa for the entire duration of the war. Many settlers and Africans would be called up to help fight this German force which was to prove to be a serious drain on resources. After the war there were further calls by the British white settler community to convert Kenya into a Crown Colony with more rights for the settlers. The British government was keen to reduce its expenditures at the end of the First World War and so granted this right in 1920. However, it was made clear by the British Government that "Kenya is an African territory and the African natives must be paramount". The British therefore resisted turning Kenya into a full self-governing colony. It also limited white settlement to the highlands. having said this, it still gave the lion's share of representation to the white settlers. In fact, the black Africans did not get any representation at all until 1944. The 1930s were to prove to be a difficult time for the colony as the world wide depression hit commodity prices across the board. The white community was hit particularly hard as the African producers very often grew more appropriate local crops for the local markets. There was to be growing economic and political tension between these groups even after the depression finally ended and the world moved into yet another World War. Fort Wajir Nationalist and independence movements were full of anticipation at the end of World War Two. The sudden granting of independence to India in 1947 motivated subject peoples across the empire and made them hopeful that they would receive this right in the near future also. The British government was generally content to hand over independence to viable political units although they were wary of being left holding the uneconomic colonies at the end of this process. They therefore proposed the creation of large federated political units. They created the British East Africa Federation in the 1950s combining Kenya with Tanganyika and Uganda. However before the ink had even dried on this deal, Kenya was to suffer from one of the deadliest insurgency rebellions of the Post-War period. This Mau Mau rebellion would effectively wreck the federation as regular British army forces had to be called in to quell the situation. The Mau Mau rebellion was a result of the tension between the white settlers and the African Kikuyu tribe in particular. Most of the other African tribes stayed neutral and quiet throughout the emergency. It should be noted that the Kikuyu had historically been based around the highland areas that had been reserved for the white settlers. It is therefore not surprising that they felt more marginalised and bitter towards the white settlers than the other African tribes would. Their economic plight was to be joined with powerful religious forces to convince many Kikuyu of the rightness of their cause and that they had little to fear from British retribution. The choosing of isolated farms and the killing of family members including women and children shocked the white settler community to its core. The insurgents also targetted those Kikuyu who worked for the British in an official capacity. The murders made dramatic headlines back in Britain and spurred the authorities to action. This rebellion occurred during the premiership of Winston Churchill who still felt a powerful connection to the concept of Empire. His administration was determined to make a stand and defend what he regarded as the lawful government of the colony. Turkana Tribal Policemen The British brought in 20,000 extra soldiers to try and quell the situation. They made extensive use of intelligence and turn coats to infiltrate the Mau Mau groups. It was fortunate for the authorities that the rebellion was confined to the one ethnic group. This allowed the authorities to gain intelligence and support from the other groups and it also allowed them to target the Kikuyu for relocation. Mombasa and Nairobi were virtually emptied of Kikuyu as they were forcibly moved to giant reserves. This unsubtle approach undoubtedly removed far more innocent than guilty parties, but the sheer size and efficiency of the operation saw the Mau Mau organisation fall apart as it was moved along with the population to these reserves. Over a million Kikuyu were relocated. A series of political carrots was also offered by the British to entice the more moderate Mau Mau to cease fighting. Africans were given permission to grow coffee for the first time, more land was allocated to them and their representation at the government level was to be increased. This variety of tactics was to see the threat be effectively removed by 1957 although the emergency powers stayed in place until 1960. Despite the victory of the British forces, the sheer cost involved help convince the British government of speeding up demands for independence. In 1960, the British accepted the principle of one person one vote. This would effectively end the privileged political position of the white settlers for good. By 1963, a black majority government was elected for the first time. It declared independence on December 12th 1963.

Imperial Flag 1895 Map of Africa 1897 Map of Kenya 1897 Map of Kenya 1897 German Map of S. Kenya 1906 Map of British East Africa 1920 Map of Kenya 1925 Map of Kenya 1925 German Map of East Africa 1926 Map of Kenya Map of South-Western Kenya and Lake Victoria, 1948 1955 Map of Nairobi Region 1956 Map of Marsabit Region 1956 Map of Kenya 1962 Map of Mombasa Region 1962 Map of East Africa 1963 Map of Mombasa Region Images of Kenya National Archive Kenya Images Pre-1963 Anthem of Kenya Thanks to Michael Jamieson Bristow Kenya Colony Administrators 1889 - 1963 Significant Individuals 1889 - 1963 Kenya Colony Regiments Kenya Regiment Kenya Colony Videos Kenya Colony Audio Mau Mau BBC Witness program on the Mau Mau Revolt Films Flame Trees of Thika Something of Value Out of Africa White Mischief Heat of the Sun Links PDFs of the East African Railways and Harbours Magazines East Africa Women's League Memoirs Mtoto to Mzee: Story of My Life's Safari by Mervyn Maciel Articles Bwana Karani Mervyn Maciel gives a full account of what it was like to be a Goan working for the British administration in Kenya and the Northern Frontier District from the late 1940s until early 1960s. Return To Lodwar Mervyn Maciel wrote an article about returning to the baking hot Northern Frontier District where he had been posted many years before. Nyanza Watering Place: The Remarkable Story of SS William Mackinnon Ian Grant tells the story played by his father in helping to get steam ships transported from the Clyde in Scotland to the waters of Lake Victoria in Central Eastern Africa. Tilbury to Mombasa Via the Suez Canal: The Life and Times of a Customs Officer P. B Sweeney recalls the 18 day voyage from Britain to Mombasa through the Suez Canal. The Transfer of Power: The Colonial Administrator in the Age of Decolonisation Four District Officers, Terrence Gavaghan, E N Scott, C McLean and C Fuller, explain what it was like as an administrator in the last, turbulent years of British rule in Kenya as the country was prepared for its independence. A Kenya Cattle-Breeding Tribe Prospers Under British Guidance Sport and Country magazine detailed the work of Terence Gavaghan in helping the Samburu people of Kenya improve the quality of their livestock and their consequent income. The Unforgettable Dubas of Kenya's Northern Frontier Mervyn Maciel recalls the imposing and loyal desert commandos raised by the British to defend the unruly Northern borders of Kenya. Survey Work in the Kenya Emergency Bill Jackson gives an example of how life and work just had to go on despite the Mau Mau Emergency in Kenya in the 1950s. The Kenya Colonial Service David Nicoll-Griffith gives an overview of the Colonial Service in Kenya and gives an account of his ten years working around the colony from 1952 to 1962. Goan Contribution to the Civil Service Rosendo P. Abreo gives a brief overview to how the Portuguese colony of Goa ended up contributing so much to the British Empire in East Africa in particular up until 1963. The Ramblings of a Wicked Colonialist Justin Trevor Moon gives an - at times witty but also brutally honest - account of spending time in Trinidad training to be a Colonial Agricultural Officer and then putting that expertise into operation on the coast of Kenya in the 1930s. Passage from Mwanza to Kisumu J. D. Kelsall gives an account of the time that his Lake Victoria Fisheries Service Motor fishing vessel was forced to become an ad hoc sailing ship in order to complete its journey from Tanganyika to Kenya. It's a Dog's Life Duncan D McCormack explains how, as a New Zealander working for the Colonial Service, he and his family were reluctant to be parted with their beloved pet dog. He goes on to explain the complexities of moving his dog to and from Kenya. Call of the Road - an Elegy Kuldip Rai Moman fondly remembers being on safari in a Post Office Savings Van during World War Two in the wilds of Kenya attempting to raise money for the British war effort. Season of Green Leaves Kuldip Rai Moman gives a brief overview of his work and responsibilities as an Asian working in the East African Posts Department and how much of Africa he was able to experience as a result. Which Colony? W. L. Barton recalls the time he came into contact with Alan Lennox-Boyd, the Colonial Secretary, in Kenya and was surprised to find that Lord Boyd still remembered who he was 14 years later when they met again at The London School fo Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Four Inches at Waa A. B. Mason tells the story of how you could be enjoying an idyllic Kenyan beach in full glorious sunshine one day, and be literally swimming in flood water the next! All In A Day At Lake Baringo Elsie Maciel recounts the time when a simple family picnic in the wilds of Kenya could become quite a magical experience. Wote Timamu, Effendi Ian D. St.G. Lindsay affectionately recalls the professionalism and loyalty of his Tribal Police Sergeant in Kenya. Suleimani bin Abu Abdulla was an innovative and highly respected policeman and the kind of person that a young British District Officer could rely on implicitly. "Uncle" Gerald Reece of Kenya's N.F.D. Mervyn Maciel gives a thumbnail biography to an inspirational and influential character who spent much of his career in the Northern deserts of Kenya and whose reputation was renowned far beyond those who met him. Coping Without a Resident Doctor in Kenya's Northern Frontier Elsie Maciel relays the difficulties and hardships of being so isolated from the best doctors and hospitals whilst living and working in Kenya in the 1950s and 1960s. Although help could be found in the unlikely guise of a one-armed pilot! The Life And Times Of An Indomitable Goan Lady Mrs. Mascarenhas Of Kisii Mervyn Maciel gives a fascinating biographical overview of a resourceful East Asian lady who showed remarkable entrepreneurial flair in Kenya. In many ways, Mrs. Mascarenhas' story shines a light on how new opportunities were granted and seized in the British Empire and how determined, thrifty and hard working people could carve out a successful business for themselves in even the most unlikely of locations. Honeymoon in the Wilds Elsie Maciel recalls the magical experience of her wedding and honeymoon in East Africa in 1952. Mapping Kenya before Independence Duncan McCormack explains the lengths that the British administration went to create accurate maps of all of Kenya even in the midst of the Mau Mau Emergency. To Lodwar I'm posted Mervyn Maciel explains what it was like as a Goan to be posted to the 'Closed District' of Lodwar in the North West of Kenya and about his admiration for the Turkana tribesmen of the region. With The Pastoralists Of Kenya's Northern Desert Once More Mervyn Maciel explains the tribes he would encounter and their customs whilst on safari in the Northern Deserts of Kenya. Memoirs of a Frontier Man Mervyn Maciel gives a fascinating insight into the contributions of the Goan community in the Administration of Kenya through his own experiences. Kenyan Independence Jim Herlihy, who was in Special Branch in the colony, looks at the events leading up to Kenyan Independence. A Kenya Journey B.W. Thompson remembers a journey taken along the Mombasa to Nairobi road in 1952 which illustrated the best and worst of undertaking road trips in colonial Kenya. Lamu Town Peter Lloyd explains what it was like to be sent to this ancient Arab trading town (and now a UNESCO World Heritage Centre) on the East Coast of Africa as a young District Commissioner in the 1950s. Rain Stimulation in East Africa B.W. Thompson explains how as a meteorologist in East Africa in the 1950s he was expected to help the rains to fall from the sky! Moving the Maasai - What were the Conditions David Forrester takes issue with Lotte Hughes' strong criticism of the Government of British East Africa for relocating the Maasai tribe between 1900 and 1912. My First Weights and Measures Prosecution Clive Howard-Luck remembers his very first excursion as a Trading Standards Officer in the Rift Valley in Kenya and the speed with which justice could be achieved! First Posting in Kenya J A Nicholas Wallis recalls his first posting to Kenya when he had to give a tour to a visiting American dignitary which ended up ticking off most of the stereotypes Westerners had for East Africa at the time. The 'Bush Telegraph' brings Royal News Ted Saggerson remembers the way that he learned that Britain had a new Queen whilst in the depth of the East African Bush. Wanderings among the Nomads Mervyn Maciel recalls the magical experience of living amongst the Turkana in the North-West of Kenya in the late 1940s. Further Reading John Ainsworth, Pioneer Kenya Administrator, 1864-1946. Being the hitherto unpublished memoirs of Colonel J. D. Ainsworth by John Ainsworth The Fannin Papers: The Life And Letters Of Katharine Fannin 1902-1970 by Judy Aldrick Northrup The Life Of William Northrup McMillan by Judy Aldrick Kenya’s Opportunity: Memories, Hopes and Ideas by Lord Altrincham Histories of the Hanged: The Dirty War in Kenya and the End of Empire by David Anderson Eroding The Commons: The Politics Of Ecology In Baringo, Kenya, 1890 -1963 by David Anderson From Mau Mau to Harambee: Memoirs and Memoranda of Colonial Kenya by Tom Askwith Getting my Knees Brown: Day to Day Episodes in Colonial Kenya by Tom Askwith Retreat from Empire: Sir Robert Armitage in Africa and Cyprus by Colin Baker In and Out of Africa by Bill Barton Wagon of Smoke : An Informal History of the East African Railways & Harbours Administration 1948-1961 by Arthur F. Beckenham Control & Crisis in Colonial Kenya by Bruce Berman Unhappy Valley: Conflict in Kenya and Africa by Bruce Berman Banagi Hill - A Game Warden's Africa by John Blower Fraser Darling in Africa: A Rhino in the Whistling Thorn by John Morton Boyd Uncivil Servant: John Butter in India, Pakistan, Kenya and Abu Dhabi by John Butter Baker Butcher Doctor Diplomat: Goan Pioneers of East Africa by Selma Carvalho A Railway Runs Through: Goans of British East Africa 1865 - 1980 by Selma Carvalho A Medical History of Kenya: A Personal Memoir of the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya by J A Carman Sun, Sand and Safari: Some Leaves from a Kenya Notebook by J B Carson Pages from the Past - Kenya by J B Carson By Kenya Possessed: The Correspondence of Norman Leys and J H Oldham by John Cell Reminiscences of East Africa and Western Australia in the Milestones of a Doctor’s Life by A D Charters The Desert’s Dusty Face: Personal story of an Englishman's ten years as District Commissioner of Kenya by Charles Chenevix Trench Men who Ruled Kenya: The Kenya Administration, 1892-1963 by Charles Chenevix Trench Khaki and Blue: Military and Police in British Colonial Africa by Anthony Clayton and David Killingray The Airmails Of East Africa To 1952 by William Colley Kenya: The Evolution of Independence by R.L. Collins Childhood Memories of Colonial East Africa, 1920 - 1963 by John Considine Practising Colonial Medicine: The Colonial Medical Serice in British East Africa by Anna Crozier Letters From The Horn Of Africa 1923-1942: Sandy Curle, Soldier & Diplomat Extraordinary by Christian Curle East African: An Airline Story by Peter J. Davis Isak Dinesen: Letters from Africa 1914-1931 by Isak Dinesen Evelyn Baring: The Last Proconsul by Charles Douglas-Home African Crossroads by Sir Charles Dundas Britain’s Gulag - The Brutal End Of Empire In Kenya by Caroline Elkins The Early Postcards Of The British East Africa Protectorate/Kenya by P C Evans Colonial Kenya Observed: British Rule, Mau Mau and the Wind of Change by Sydney Fazan A Cuckoo in Kenya: The Reminiscences of a Pioneer Police Officer in British East Africa by W Robert Foran The Kenya Police, 1887-1960 by W Robert Foran A Pied Cloak: Memoirs of a Colonial Police (Special Branch) Officer by Derek Franklin Scram From Kenya: From Colony to Republic 1946 - 1963 by James Franks Enigmatic Proconsul: Sir Philip Mitchell and the Twilight of the Empire by Richard Frost Kenya: From Colonization To Independence 1888-1970 by R. Mugo Gatheru Of Lions and Dung Beetles: A Man in the Middle of Colonial Administration in Kenya by Terence Gavaghan Tribute to Pioneers: Index of Many of the Pioneers of East Africa by Mary Gillett Gentle Warrior; A Life Of Hugh Grant, Soldier, Farmer And Kenya Administrator Edited by Anne Goldsmith Turn the Hour: Tale of Life in Colonial Kenya by M.H. Hamilton Memories Of A Colonial Product by P.H. Hamilton-Bayly A Diplomatist in the East by Sir Arthur Hardingle The Hunt for Kimathi by Ian Henderson African Morning by R O Hennings Kenya Cowboy: A Police Officers Account Of The Mau Mau Emergency by Peter Hewitt A Roving Scot by Douglas Hutton Pioneers' Scrapbook: Reminiscences of Kenya, 1890 to 1968 Edited by Elspeth Huxley Cricket in the Backblocks by Colin Imray Policeman in Africa by Colin Imray Early Days in East Africa by Sir Frederick Jackson Colony To Nation: British Administrators in Kenya 1940-1963 by Sir John Johnson Kenya - The Land and the People: District Administration 1950 –1963 by Johnson, Sir John by Sir John Johnson A School In Kenya: Hospital Hill 1949 - 1973 by Joan Karmali The Shamba Raiders: Memories of a Game Warden by Bruce Kinloch Back Seat Driver by Oliver Knowles Family of Ginger Griffins by Pamela Lattimer The Colour Bar in East Africa. by Norman Leys Kenya, The Kikuyu And Mau Mau by David Lovatt Smith My Enemy: My Friend by David Lovatt Smith Rise of Our East African Empire by F.J.D. Lugard Ringing The Changes : A Memoir by Richard Luce The Desert and the Green by the Earl of Lytton Imperial British East Africa Company by P.L. McDermott Bwana Karani by Mervyn Maciel Mtoto to Mzee: Story of My Life's Safari by Mervyn Maciel Wrong Place, Right Time - Policing the End of Empire by Michael J. Macoun Anthony's Odyssey by Tony Mason Nandi Resistance to British Rule: The Volcano Erupts by A. T. Matson From Suburbia to Subukia by Christine Matthews John Ainsworth and the Making of Kenya by R M Maxon Ilemi Triangle: Unfixed Bandit Frontier claimed by Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia by Dr Nene Mburu Beyond the Cape: Sin, Saints, Slaves, and Settlers (The Matata Trilogy: Volume 1) by Braz Menezes The World of the Swahili: An African Mercantile Civilization by John Middleton African Afterthoughts by Sir Philip Mitchell Drums Of Rebellion - Kenya In Chaos by J Gordon Mumford White Man’s Drum - Tales Of The East African Bundu by J Gordon Mumford A Zoo Without Bars: Life in the East African Bush 1927-1932 by T A M Nash A Fighting Retreat: British Empire, 1947-1997 by Robin Neillands The Kenya Police: A Living History Written By Those Who Served Edited by John Newton Elspeth Huxley - A Biography by C S Nicholls A Kenya Childhood by C S Nicholls Red Strangers: The White Tribe of Kenya by C S Nicholls Europeans In British Administered East Africa: A Biographical Listing 1888-1905 by Stephen North Lost Lion Of Empire - The Life Of 'Cape-To-Cairo' Grogan by Edward Paice An Impossible Dream - Some Of Kenya's Last Colonial Wardens Recall The Game Department In The Closing Years Of The British Empire Edited by Ian Parker The Last Colonial Regiment: The History Of The Kenya Regiment (T.F.) by Ian Parker Shipwrecks And Salvage On The East African Coast by Kevin Patience Kenya: A Country in the Making 1880 - 1940 by Nigel Pavitt Simama: A Lifetime Study of Tropical Issues by Charles Pereira Lord Lugard Diaries edited by Margery Perham Britain, Kenya and the Cold War: Imperial Defence, Colonial Security and Decolonisation by David Percox Opening Africa - The Life Of James Martin - From Finding Obama's Tribe to Founding Nairobi by Philo Pullicino To My Wife, 50 Camels by Alys Reece Hammer, Compass and Traverse Wheel: a Geologist in Africa by William H. Reeve Angels in Africa: Memoir of Nursing with the Colonial Service by Bridget Robertson The Old Third World: The Golden Years; by M A Ross Kenya From Within: A Short Political History by W McGregor Ross Kenya, Beyond the Marich Pass: A District Officer's Story by John Russell Malcolm MacDonald: Bringing an End to Empire by Clyde Sanger Lion in the Morning by Henry Seaton At The End Of The Line: Colonial Policing And The Imperial Endgame 1945-80 by Georgina Sinclair The Land of Zinj: Being an Account of British East Africa, its Ancient History and Present Inhabitants by Captain C H Stigand Times Remembered in Africa and the Caribbean by Sir John Stow Kikuyu District: Francis Hall’s Letters from East Africa to his Father, Lt. Colonel Edward Hall 1892– 1901 by Paul Sullivan A Very Different Land: Memories of Empire from the Farmlands of Kenya by Hilary Sunman Far from the Valleys by Graham Thomas Little Sparks of Celestial Fire by Parampil Thomas A Passage of Time by Frank Thompson A Beat Around the Bush: Memoirs of a Former Kenya Policeman 1953 - 1963 by Alastair Tompkins Men Who Ruled Kenya: The Kenya Administration, 1892-1963 by Charles Chenevix Trench Towards Independence In Africa: A District Officer In Uganda At The End Of Empire by Patrick Walker Cypher Officer by Elizabeth Watkins Jomo's Jailor - The Life of Leslie Whitehouse by Elizabeth Watkins Olga In Kenya: Repressing The Irrepressible by Elizabeth Watkins Oscar from Africa: Biography of O.F. Watkins by Elizabeth Watkins The Shimmering Heat: Memories of a Bush Doctor in East Africa by David Webster Nowhere Near Greenland by Barry Weightman Song of the Rainbird by Barbara Whitnell Early days in British East Africa and Uganda, by C A Wiggins Bwana Polisi - Under Three Flags and A Long Beat by Percy Turner Wild A Colonial Postmaster-General’s Reminiscences by Alan Workman Robert Thorne Coryndon: Proconsular Imperialism in Southern and Eastern Africa by Christopher Youe