From Mau Mau to Middlesex? The fate of Europeans in independent Kenya

Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East

Volumn 26, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 491-505

  Nardocchio Jones, Gavin ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^b Australian High Commission   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

COLONIALISM; COLONIZATION; HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY;

AFRICA; EAST AFRICA; KENYA; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA;

EID: 33846362665     PISSN: 1089201X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1215/1089201x-2006-028     Document Type: Article

References (131)

1. Frantz Fanon, Les damnés de la terre (The Wretched of the Earth) (Paris: Éditions Maspero, 1961).
2. Mahmood Mamdani, Citizen and Subject (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996).
3. Martin Meredith, The State of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence (London: Gardners Books, 2005).
4. Stuart Ward, ed., British Culture and the End of Empire (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001);
5. Snehlata Shah, "Colony to Metropolis: The Cultural Orientation of Kenyan Asians in England" (PhD thesis, University of London, 1984).
6. Paul Gilroy, After Empire: Melancholia or Convivial Culture (London: Routledge, 2004).
7. Ward, British Culture, 1.
8. Jürgen Osterhammel, Colonialism: A Theoretical Overview (Princeton, NJ: Markus Weiner, 1997), 7.
9. Raymond F. Betts, France and Decolonisation, 1900-1960 (London: Macmillan, 1991);
10. Norrie MacQueen, The Decolonisation of Portuguese Africa: Metropolitan Revolution and the Dissolution of Empire (London: Longman, 1997).
11. Emmanelle Comtat, "Le comportement politique des pieds-noirs d'Algérie" ("The Political Behavior of the Algerian pieds-noirs"), Mémoire de DEA (Grenoble: Université Pierre Mendès-France, 2000);
12. John Veugelers, "Ex-colonials, Voluntary Associations, and Support for the Politics of Intolerance in France" (unpublished manuscript, University of Toronto, 2004).
13. John Newsinger, "Revolt and Repression in Kenya," Science and Society 45 (1981): 163-70.
14. Republic of Kenya Statistical Abstract (Nairobi: Empire and Commonwealth Museum [ECM], 1967), 13.
15. Caroline Elkins, Britain's Gulag: The Brutal End of Empire in Kenya (London: Jonathan Cape, 2005).
16. Donald Rothchild, Racial Bargaining in Independent Kenya: A Study of Minorities and Decolonization (oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973), 2.
17. Gary Wasserman, Politics of Decolonization: Kenya Europeans and the Land Issue, 1960-1965 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976), 3.
18. L. S. B. Leakey, White African (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1937).
19. ECM, Duke of Devonshire's White Paper, Indians in Kenya (1923).
20. Elspeth Huxley, Settlers of Kenya (London: Longmans, Green, 1948), 42.
21. David Anderson, Histories of the Hanged: The Dirty War in Kenya and the End of Empire (London: W. W. Norton, 2005), 22.
22. Report of the Kenya Land Commission, Cmd. 4556 (London: ECM, 1934).
23. Dane Kennedy, Islands of White: Settler Society in Kenya and Southern Rhodesia, 1890-1939 (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1987).
24. Ibid., 1.
25. Dane Kennedy, "Climatic Theories and Culture in Colonial Kenya and Rhodesia," Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 10 (1981): 51.
26. Ronald Robinson, "Non-European Foundations of European Imperialism: Sketch for a Theory of Collaboration," in Studies in the Theory of Imperialism, ed. R. Owen and B. Sutcliffe (London: Longman, 1972), 124.
27. Mildred Hampson, ECM interview, n.d., audiotape 353.
28. Mamdani, Citizen and Subject, 94.
29. John Hemsley, ECM interview, 12 February 1998, audiotape 534.
30. Ibid.
31. In 1948, the Kikuyu population numbered approximately 12.5 million, restricted within about two thousand square miles of tribal lands. At the same time, just over thirty thousand settlers occupied twelve thousand square miles of fertile land. Republic of Kenya Population Census (Nairobi: ECM, 1962), 9:41;
32. Newsinger, "Revolt and Repression," 160.
33. Joanna Lewis, Empire State Building: War and Welfare in Kenya, 1925-52 (Oxford: James Currey, 2000).
34. The term's exact provenance is still unknown. Some maintain that the British definition was pejorative, but others claim that it was simply a Swahili conjunction for "little KAU," the main Kikuyu political party of the time.
35. Newsinger, "Revolt and Repression," 180.
36. Ibid.
37. Elkins, Britain's Gulag, 366-67.
38. John Lonsdale, "Mau Maus of the Mind," Journal of African History 31 (1990): 417.
39. Bruce Berman, "Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Modernity," Canadian Journal of African Studies 25 (1991): 182.
40. Ian Rand, ECM interview, n.d., audiotape 247;
41. Peter Collister, ECM interview, 12 September 1995, audiotape 205;
42. Susan Baekeland, ECM interview, n.d., audiotape 394.
43. Pepita Lamb, ECM interview, n.d., audiotape 363;
44. Christine Marsh, ECM interview, 22 November 1996, audiotape 375;
45. Robin Wainwright, "The Memoirs of Robin Wainwright, 1913-1990," ECM, 2000/138/001 (unpublished manuscript), 223.
46. Elkins, Britain's Gulag, xiii.
47. "Pieds noirs" in Algeria accounted for about 10 percent of the total population. Europeans in Kenya were never more than 1 percent of the population Over five hundred thousand French troops were stationed in Algeria during the conflict, and around twenty thousand lost their lives. Around three thousand European civilians were killed by "terrorist" actions. Guy Pervillé, Pour une histoire de la guerre d'Algérie (For a History of the Algerian War) (Paris: J. Picard, 2002), 238-39.
48. Benjamin Stora, La gangrène et l'oubli: La mémoire de la guerre d'Algérie (Corruption and Oblivion: Memory and the Algerian War) (Paris: Découverte, 1998);
49. Martin Evans, The Memory of Resistance: French Opposition to the Algerian War, 1954-62 (Oxford: Berg, 1997);
50. Miles Kahler, Decolonization in Britain and France: The Domestic Consequences of International Relations (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984).
51. Daniel Lefeuvre, "L'échec du Plan de Constantine" ("The Failure of the Constantine Plan"), in La guerre d'Algérie et les Français (The Algerian War and the French), ed. Jean-Pierre Rioux (Paris: Fayard, 1983), 321.
52. The term pipeline was given to the network of detention and work camps used by the British to sift out Mau Mau oath takers from the Kikuyu population. Elkins, Britain's Gulag, 368;
53. J. B. W. Breckenridge, "Up the Pipeline," Corona (May 1956):180-83.
54. W. Thimba, J. Gitau, and B. Wangendo, "Mau Mau into Citizens," Corona (May 1956): 170.
55. B.A. Ogot and W. R. Ochieng, Decolonisation and Independence in Kenya, 1940-1993 (London: James Currey, 1995), 87.
56. Ibid.
57. John Harbeson, "Land Reform and Politics in Kenya," Journal of Modern African Studies 9 (1971): 231.
58. Republic of Kenya Population Census (Nairobi: ECM, 1966), 1:42.
59. Ibid.;
60. Republic of Kenya Population Census, 1967, 24.
61. Republic of Kenya Statistical Abstract, 1967, 13. In 1964, 3,500 Europeans arrived in Kenya (57 percent of whom were British nationals); in 1965 the figure was 5,085 (65 percent were British nationals), and in 1966 it was 2,728 (65 percent were British nationals).
62. Republic of Kenya Population Census, 1966.
63. Rosalind Balcon, ECM interview, n.d., audiotape 451.
64. Michael Blundell, So Rough A Wind: The Kenya Memoirs of Sir Michael Blundell (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1964), 65.
65. Elkins, Britain's Gulag, 356.
66. "Safeguards Necessary for Local officers on the Transfer of Power," 5 February 1962, National Archives (NA), CO 822/1962.
67. Telegram from British High Commission in Nairobi (BHCN) to Commonwealth Relations Office (CRO), 27 June 1963, NA, Dominions Office (DO) 226/8.
68. Bocock (CO) to Carr-Gregg (British Information Sevices, Nairobi), 27 August 1963, NA, DO 226/8.
69. Telegram from BHCN to CRO, "Exodus of Europeans from Kenya," 1 March 1965, NA, DO 226/8.
70. Ibid.
71. Republic of Kenya Statistical Abstract, 1967, 24.
72. In 1964, 86 percent of Europeans who left were British nationals; in 1965 the figure was 93 percent, and in 1966 it was 92 percent. Republic of Kenya Population Census, 1966.
73. BHCN to CRO, "Exodus of Europeans," 1 March, 1965, NA, DO 226/8.
74. Minutes of meeting, n.d., NA, CO 822/1960.
75. John Macarthur, ECM interview, 6 June 1996, audiotape 310; Richard Hughes, ECM interview, n.d., audiotape 390.
76. Richard Hughes, ECM interview, n.d., audiotape 390.
77. BHCN to CRO, "Exodus of Europeans," 1 March 1965, NA, DO 226/8.
78. Dispatch from BHCN to Bottomley, 2 March 1966, NA, DO 226/8.
79. Republic of Kenya Statistical Abstract, 1967, 24.
80. BHCN to CRO, "Exodus of Europeans," 1 March 1965, NA, CO 226/8.
81. Russell to Chin, 4 April 1962, NA, CO 822/2574.
82. Minutes from CO meeting (including 4 April 1962 letter), April 1962, CO 822/2574.
83. Note by Harold Macmillan to Secretary of Treasury, 7 May 1963, NA, CAB 21/4772.
84. Connell to Lansdowne, 6 February 1963, NA, CO 822/3178.
85. Blundell, So Rough, 255.
86. Excerpt from Hansard, 30 April 1963, 883, NA, T 317/156.
87. BHCN to CRO, "Repatriation and Relief of Distressed British Subjects from Kenya," 11 July 1964, NA, DO 170/69.
88. Treasury to Beazley, 20 June 1963, NA, T 317/156.
89. List of Compassionate (farm) cases, compiled March 1963, sent to Treasury May 1963, NA, T 317/156.
90. F. D. Weber to C. J. Hayes, 2 May 1963, NA, T 317/156.
91. Required was £26,000 for transportation and £300,000 more for the purchase of property. Note by Taylor to Chancellor, 20 August 1963, NA, T 317/156.
92. Brief for meeting with CO Secretary, 8 May 1963, NA, T 317/156.
93. Note to Minister of Agriculture (Nairobi), from R. O. B. Wilson, "Compassionate Cases," 15 April 1964, NA, T 317/156.
94. Weber to Beazley, 28 June 1963, NA, T 317/156.
95. BHCN to CRO, "Repatriation and Relief," 11 July 64, DO 170/69.
96. National Assistance Board, Leaflet 18 - Supplements to Pension and Other Assistance Grants, CO 822/3178.
97. Second Compassionate Cases List approved by Griffith-Jones August 1963, CO 822/3181.
98. Letter from Weber to Beazley, 28 June 1963, NA, T 317/156.
99. Article in Women's Voluntary Service Bulletin for August 1963, CO 822/ 3179.
100. CRO Secretary to officer administering the government of Kenya, 27 May 1963, NA, T 317/156; "Resettlement of Elderly Distresses or Politically Embarrassed Europeans in Kenya," 1963-65 - set of arrival cards for Kenya Repatriates, CO 822/3179.
101. Gary Wasserman, "European Settlers and Kenya Colony: Thoughts on a Conflicted Affair," African Studies Review 17 (1974): 425.
102. Ibid., 426.
103. George Hampson, ECM interview, n.d., audiotape 353.
104. Macarthur, ECM interview.
105. Gary Wasserman, "Continuity and Counter-Insurgency: The Role of Land Reform in Decolonising Kenya," Canadian Journal of African Studies 7 (1973): 133-48.
106. Harbeson, "Land Reform and Politics," 241.
107. Wasserman, Politics of Decolonization, 140.
108. Christopher Leo, "The Failure of the 'Progressive Farmer'in Kenya's Million-Acre Settlement Scheme," Journal of Modern African Studies 16 (1978): 619-38.
109. The first five thousand families that settled in the first Million Acre scheme (and that got some of the best land available) were experienced, progressive farmers. Harbeson, "Land Reform and Politics," 240.
110. Macarthur, ECM interview.
111. Eleanor Malik, interview by author, London, 24 June 2005.
112. Note by R. L. Sharp to Treasury Secretary, "Kenya: White Settlers," 10 July 1964, NA: T 317/156.
113. C. H. Imray to ShaW, 22 October 1965, NA, DO 226/8.
114. Peter Knauss, "From Devil to Father Figure," Journal of Modern African Studies 9 (1971): 131-37.
115. Imray to Shaw, 22 October 1965, NA, DO 226/8.
116. BHCN to DO, "Exodus of Europeans," 1 March 1965, NA, DO 226/8.
117. Ibid.
118. Ibid.
119. Republic of Kenya Population Census, 1:24.
120. Ibid.
121. BHCN to CRO, "Exodus of Europeans," 1 March 1965, NA, DO 226/8.
122. Ibid.
123. Mr. and Mrs. Ian Rand, ECM interview, n.d., audiotape 247.
124. Dispatch from BHCN to Bottomley, 2 March 1966, NA, DO 226/8.
125. Republic of Kenya Population Census, 1969, 69.
126. BHCN to Douglas-Home, 30 March 1971, NA, FCO 31/870.
127. Elkins, Britain's Gulag, 43.
128. Richard Frost, Race against Time: Human Relations and Politics in Kenya before Independence (London: Rex Collings, 1978); Hughes, ECM interview.
129. Hughes, ECM interview.
130. One of the few relevant articles in the Anglo-phone field is Elizabeth Buettner, "From Somebodies to Nobodies: Britons Returning Home from India," in Meanings of Modernity: Britain from the Late-Victorian Era to World War II, ed. M. Daunton and B. Riegen (Oxford: Berg, 2001).
131. P. J. Cain and A. G. Hopkins, British Imperialism: Innovation and Expansion, 1688-1914 (Harlow: Longman, 1993).