Trace and Tell your Family's Empire Stories
Research guide
A good starting point when researching your family in Kenya is to join a genealogy forum such as the 'Kenya Genealogy Forum', where you can post questions relating to your research, and also look at other people's questions and answers to help you progress further.
http://genforum.genealogy.com
/kenya/
You can also start off with a surname search. There are lots of websites that will help you find the surname origins of your Kenyan ancestors. 'SurnamesByTown.com' has a list of surnames arranged by town. Don't be despondent if your ancestors don't appear: the list isn't exhaustive.
http://kenya.surnamesbytown.c
om/
For a general overview of African history and roots, use 'Ancestry.com'. This site contains access to listings of African classified newspaper adverts, which you can search by geographical region. Within the 'Notices' section you can search births, engagements, death certificates, etc. These entries are changed daily and unfortunately there are no archived entries, so it is advisable to look at them routinely to keep up-to-date. This site also enables you to search a huge number of historical records for more information.
http://www.ancestry.com/learn
/library/article.aspx?article=
9503
Newspapers are a great resource for tracing your ancestors, as not only will they provide you with a rich picture of life at the time, but in most cases will contain notices for births, marriages and deaths. It can be a lengthy search, but if you know dates of events then they can be a very useful and reliable resource. ABZ Newspapers has links to newspapers from around the world, although these mainly cover the most recent history.
http://www.abyznewslinks.com/
kenya.htm
There are also a number of collections which you can visit and search in person. Some of these are in Kenya.
The British Library holds private papers and manuscript collections of prominent British administrators, statesmen and military men in Africa, and it covers Kenya. The subject coverage of this collection is wide-ranging and includes historical, political and administrative themes, observations on African society, culture and traditions travellers' accounts, maps, charts and topographical drawings.
http://www.bl.uk/collections/
african.html
The British Library Newspaper Collection: Colindale Avenue, London, NW9 5HE Tel: +44 (0)20 7412 7353
British Library newspaper library has an extensive holding of colonial newspapers, including Kenyan papers.
http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/n
ewspapers
The 'Gazette of Kenya' holds important genealogical information that is not always found in newspapers. The Gazette is essentially a newspaper and one was published by the government of each colony. The amount of information available in the Gazette can vary according to the date and some time periods don't hold as much information as others. The Gazette may sometimes provide important genealogical information not always found in other newspapers.
Unfortunately the Gazette is not available on the web. For much of the nineteenth century, Gazettes had no contents page and are not indexed, so be prepared to spend some time looking through these records. The National Archives reference for Gazettes dating from 1908-1975 is CO 542. Earlier Gazettes dating from 1899-1907 can be found in CO 457.
Kenya National Archives: PO Box 49210, 00100, Nairobi, Kenya. Tel: 254 02 228959
info@kenyarchives.go.ke
The Kenya National Archives contain a wealth of records, images, video and newspapers. Some collections have been microfilmed and are held at the National Archives, Kew.
Department of Civil Registration: Office of the President, PO Box 49179, Nairobi, Kenya.
You need to contact the Department of Civil Registration for copies of civil registration documents.
Asians tracing family history in Kenya may find relevant records in the National Archives, Kew, the Kenya National Archives or the National Archives of India or Pakistan.
The National Archives of Pakistan: Administrative Block Area Block N, Pakistan Secretariat Islamabad. Pakistan.
This may hold records relating to central government as well as various Gazetteers and public and private records relating specifically to post-1947 Pakistan. These records aren't available online, but they do have a website.
The National Archives of India: Director General of Archives, Janpath, New Delhi 110001 Telephone +91 11 23383436
The National Archives of India was established in 1891 as the Imperial Record Department. Pre-independence census records are available for the period 1871-1923. These can be useful in establishing household relationships, dates of birth and occupations for both Indian nationals and Britons born in India. Digitisation of some records is in progress but you will need to visit to view all records. The National Archives of India now has four regional offices at Bhopal, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar and Pondicherry. If you are planning to visit, call the Central Repository Regional Office, Bhopal on 0755 2660173. Full contact details for all offices are available on their website.
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The British Library
Large parts of Africa were administered by the British, but not as early as in India and other British colonies. The 'Scramble for Africa' began in 1882, when Britain took the administration of Egypt to safeguard the newly built Suez Canal, an important route for trading ships that opened up India without the need to travel around Africa.
Other European powers rushed to establish colonies across the continent in an attempt to increase their wealth, their motives frequently masked by a missionary zeal to bring Christianity to the natives. Britain extended its influence across East Africa, with Kenya becoming a British protectorate in 1895 and a colony in 1919.
The construction of the Kenya-Uganda railway led to the creation of a large white community of workers who settled with their families. Many Indians also moved to East Africa, encouraged by the British, who brought over tens of thousands as indentured labourers to work on the railway.
Indian independence sparked a drive for similar concessions across Africa, and in 1944 the Kenyan African National Union was formed to pressure the British administration. Alongside the political movement came a secretive militant group, known as the Mau Mau, consisting of members of the Kikuyu, Embu and Meru tribes committed to driving the white settlers from Africa by force.
Mau Mau operations began in earnest in 1952 and the British response was swift and brutal. The fighting lasted for several years, claiming the lives of thousands of people. Yet the drive to independence was ultimately successful, and in 1963 Jomo Kenyatta became prime minister of the first independent Kenyan government.
The British Library has collections of government publications from Kenya. However, obtaining a regular supply of material from African countries was problematic and therefore the holdings contain many gaps.
The publications that they do contain include census reports, development plans, legislative documents, official gazettes, parliamentary debates and papers, and annual reports of government ministries. If you know or think your ancestor was involved in central government, there is a chance he/she may appear in these holdings.
The British Library collections are arranged in alphabetical order by country. Within each country, the titles are listed alphabetically. Each entry gives details of the shelf mark and the British Library holdings, and includes a brief annotation. To view these documents, you need to visit the British Library in person.
http://www.bl.uk/collections/africanofficialkenya
.html
In response to pressure from the British community in the country, the colonial government launched Operation Anvil in 1954 in an attempt to sever rebel supply lines during the Mau Mau Uprising. The British central government records for Operation Anvil are available at the National Archives, among the Cabinet Office series (CAB). This will be of particular interest if you had an ancestor involved in the Mau Mau Uprising, or if you had an ancestor in the military or central government.
Time: 21:26 Date: Aug 02, 2007
I missed the featured program about Kenya on Channel 4 and will look forward to watch it on August 22. I am a fourth generation Kenyan whose family suffered under the oppressive colonial rule. I was overwhelmed to read stories of other children of the empire who were affected from a different perspective especially through David Steele's story. Suffering is a universal language all human beings understand. I was born in Thika Town, a short distance from Nairobi. I would love to talk with David Steele or anyone else as i seek to come to terms with the suffering of my people. I know revenge is the worst option and restoration and a common understanding of what happened in Kenya is very important. It will be our generation that will truly close this chapter through reconciliation and healing and that's what I am about. I look forward to hearing more stories and can't wait to watch the program on the 22nd of Aug. Thank you.
By Njoroge