Europeans in British Administered East Africa, A Biographical Listing 1888–1910, 4th Edition

Abstract

With the interest and passion of a collector and through the methods of archival investigation, North presents the results of several decades of enquiry into the written material and photographs that identified and placed Europeans who came in contact with the lands of eastern Africa administered by Britain. Since the 3rd edition (North, 2005), the 4th edition presents over 300 additional pages and is spread across two hardback volumes that totals over 8000 biographical entries of Europeans present in primary historical sources. The author begins with an overview of the early colonial history and key archival sources of documented names and biographical details of European settlers, travellers and employees across tropical eastern Africa — from the Indian Ocean coast inland to the lakes and from Zanzibar. The author describes his journey from initial interest during the 1960s in Nairobi to delving into archives in East Africa and Britain, travels to cemeteries, and later online research, to build biographies and source new material. Biographical entries contain names and known aliases, nationalities, and employment roles; and listing of dates, locations, sources, and recorded activities of the individuals. Black and white bust and head shot photographs of individuals are reproduced when possible. One limitation is that not all the photographs are referenced to the original source(s) or format(s). Names of companion Europeans are also cross-referenced in bold font if there is a corresponding entry in the volumes. The author acknowledges previous efforts to catalogue many of the Europeans present across the region, such as the East Africa Hand Book and Dictionary of East African Biography, as well as online resources. The history of these products and the dispersed nature of cited sources are listed by North for future researchers.