East Africa

East Africa. Also includes other parts of Africa, including West Africa, but see the separate page for South Africa.

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Also see

• General Register Office [United Kingdom] for general information about birth, marriage and death records for British nationals abroad.
• Society of Genealogists, London for details of some records from Africa, including inscriptions from Basutoland, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Nyasaland, Sierra Leone and Uganda.
• East Africa (First World War)
• POW Camps in India. During WW1, some German civilians were transferred from East Africa to camps at Ahmednagar and Belgaum in India
• South Africa
• Subscription websites-online newspapers, journals and directories : African publications.

Information about the database African Newspapers, Series 1 and 2, 1800-1925; and African Newspapers: The British Library Collection, both part of Readex World Newspapers Archive, both of which are available at the British Library. Also information about a database containing a collection of African Blue Books from thirteen colonies across Africa, also available at the British Library.

British African regiments such as the King's African Rifles

Excludes South Africa.

After Uganda was declared a Protectorate in 1893, the colonial authorities formed a military force of some 600 regulars and 300 reservists, most of whom were Sudanese recruited in Egypt. A small number of Arabic-speaking British officers were responsible for training this force. In 1895 this force was organized into rifle companies, which collectively became known as the "Uganda Rifles".

Growing disillusionment in the Uganda Rifles over issues such as loneliness, poor food, poor pay and frequent reassignments to remote areas led to a mutiny in 1897. Several British officers were killed, and discontent amongst Uganda’s moslem community, which was sympathetic to the Sudanese, erupted into violence in several places. The British despatched troops from India to put down the mutiny and to stop the violence, although this took until 1899 to complete.

As a result of the mutiny, towards the end of 1897 the colonial government decided to reorganise the Uganda Rifles on an urgent basis, and a number of commissioned and non-commissioned officers for the task of reorganisation were recruited in London. A newspaper report of the day said ,,,The Soudanese forming the force will be greatly reduced, and the vacancies filled up by recruiting from the East African Protectorate and, possibly, also from India… The non-commissioned officers were ready to depart for Uganda around 20th-21st January 1898, and the commissioned officers followed in due course.

The King's African Rifles (KAR) was formed on 1 January 1902 from various local regiments, and were responsible for the defence of British colonies and protectorates in East Africa, initially Nyasaland, Kenya, Uganda, British Somaliland, and later Tanganyika Territory and Zanzibar. Each colony was responsible for recruiting and maintaining its own battalions. The 1st and 2nd (Nyasaland) Battalions [later Regiments] were established from the Central African Regiment, 3rd (Kenya) Battalion [later Regiment] from the East Africa Rifles, 4th and 5th (Uganda) Battalions [later Regiments] from the Uganda Rifles, and 6th (Somaliland) Battalion [later Regiment] from local Somaliland forces. In 1910 this was disbanded, though a 6th (Tanganyika) Regiment emerged in 1917.At least during war time, each regiment could have multiple battalions. Men were recruited locally while officers, and at least some NCOs were from the British Army.

The Army and Navy Gazette 15 February 1902 (page 2) stated

"We alluded recently to the creation of the King's African Rifles, under the Foreign Office, embodying the East and Central Africa and Uganda Forces, as an example of an organisation having many features to commend it, since it brings all units under a single and controlling responsible authority, and will cause the whole to be disciplined upon a simple system under settled rules and regulations.

Control of the King’s African Rifles appears to have passed to the Colonial Office in 1905.

From 1927 the administration of the King’s African Rifles, together with that of the Royal West Africa Frontier Force (previously The Niger and West Africa Frontier Force, known from 1900-1918 as the West Africa Frontier Force) was brought together in a new Military Branch within the Colonial Office. In September 1931 the appointments of inspector generals for the KAR and RWAFF were combined into one post; the Inspector General of African Colonial Forces.

The East African Mounted Rifles (EAMR) was a Volunteer regiment of settlers formed in Nairobi, Kenya, on 5 August 1914. Most of the members of the EAMR were expert riders, crack shots and they had the immense advantage of knowing the country, the conditions and the lingua franca of the country, Swahili. Within a few months many were transferred to other units to satisfy the demand for men who knew the country. Due to transfers, the regiment had faded away by May 1917.

The Rhodesia Regiment was in existence for various periods from 1899, including the Boer War and the First World War. Initially, many of the soldiers came from the Southern Rhodesia Volunteers. During the Second World War, the Battalions were only engaged in Home Service. Refer External links, below.

Records

• Also see External links, below.
• Officers will generally be mentioned in the London Gazette, and British Army Lists. It appears they are more likely to be mentioned in the official War Office publications Quarterly and Monthly Army Lists, or listed with more detail, compared with the commercial Army Lists. For more details of these publications, see British Army - Records. As an (online) example: September 1919 Monthly List, under "Special Lists", lists King's African Rifles officers in Staff, 1st-7th Regiments, Signal Company and Pay Department.
• A researcher found an officer of the Uganda Rifles 1901-2 mentioned in The National Archives record "Africa: Protectorate staff lists (East Africa, Uganda, Somali Coast, Central Africa, King's African Rifles), 1896-1905 FO 403/556"
• Catalogue entry CO 534 Colonial Office: King's African Rifles Original Correspondence TNA. This series contains original correspondence relating to the King's African Rifles 1905-1926.
• Catalogue entry Subseries within WO 106 King's African Rifles, including Somaliland Camel Corps TNA. 1895-1937.
• TNA reference not stated "Nominal Roll Of Warrant And Non Commissioned Officers Serving In The King's African Rifles. Quarter ending September 1918" for the Nairobi-based regiments.
• Search TNA Discovery for WW1 (East Africa, Cameroon and West Africa: WO 95/5289-5388) and WW2 War Diaries.
• King's African Rifles Papers at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
• Catalogue entry CO 445 Colonial Office: Niger and West Africa Frontier Force and West Africa Frontier Force Original Correspondence TNA This series contains original correspondence relating to the Niger and West Africa Frontier Force to 1899, the West Africa Frontier Force from 1900, and the Royal West Africa Frontier Force from 1918. It was raised locally in 1897 to protect the frontiers of the British protectorates in West Africa against the French. It was paid by the imperial government, and officered by the British Army. It took the title 'Royal' in April 1928, and was responsible for the defence of The Gambia, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria.
• Catalogue entry CO 820 Colonial Office: Military Original Correspondence TNA. From 1927 to 1938, the files relate principally to two colonial military forces: the King's African Rifles and the Royal West African Frontier Force. From 1939 there is also correspondence relating to other African colonial forces,
• Service records, should they still exist, would be found in African archives. Researchers have found emails to such archives have not been answered. For practical purposes, any potential service records appear unaccessable, unless perhaps you are personally able to visit the relevant African country. There is no information known about holdings, but any records which survive are likely to relate to later, rather than earlier periods.
• For missing or POW soldiers, see the relevant section on the page British Army, including British Red Cross & Order Of St John Enquiry Lists For Wounded And Missing

Regimental histories

• Also see Historical books online, below.
• The King's African Rifles. A Study in the Military History of East and Central Africa, 1890-1945 by Lieut.-Colonel H Moyse-Bartlett 1956. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01001096707. Sample pages only, reprint edition Volume 1, Volume 2 Google Books. Includes Contents.
• Historical records of the 3rd Battalion [King's African Rifles] 1895-1933. TNA WO 106/270
• Record of the 3rd Battalion [King's African Rifles] during the campaign in East Africa TNA WO 106/273
• The Story of the East African Mounted Rifles by C.J. Wilson 1938. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01009620624. Also available in a reprint edition.
• The Rhodesian African Rifles by Christopher Owen 1970. Series: Famous regiments. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01002736055

Regimental articles

• "Narunya 1917: 1st/2nd KAR (The 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment of the King’s African Rifles) in the Narunyu Action. German East Africa, 18th September 1917" by Harry Fecitt from Harry's Africa. kaiserscross.com
• "The 4th Battalion of the 4th Regiment (Uganda) of the Kings African Rifles in the Great War" by Harry Fecitt March 21, 2011. gweaa.com. 4th Regiment, recruited from Uganda, started the Great War with only one battalion. By the end of the war the 4th Regiment had six battalions. 4/4 KAR was initially based at Mbagathi, outside Nairobi in British East Africa (now Kenya). This was a massive depot where recruit training was centralised for all the KAR regiments except the 1st. 1 KAR continued to use its bases in Nyasaland (now Malawi).
• ""The Polish White Infusion": Polish Officers In Britain's Royal West African Frontier Force, 1941-1945" by Michael S. Healy The Polish Review Vol. 44, No. 3 (1999), pp. 277-293 jstor.org. Register with jstor.org and read online for free, (limits apply) see Miscellaneous tips.

External links

• FamilySearch, a free website provided by the LDS (Mormon) Church has a category Africa, mainly consisting of transcribed records. Alternatively, from the Map, click on Africa, then select relevant country. It is necessary to be signed in to FamilySearch to view any records. In addition, Search the Catalog for digitised microfilms relating to Africa, ensuring you are signed in to FS, as results can differ if you are not. Countries are catalogued according to their modern name. For more about digitised microfilms, see FamilySearch and FamilySearch Centres.
• Findmypast and Ancestry, both pay websites may have relevant records. See South Africa for links to record sets/databases.
  • "England, Andrews Newspaper Index Cards, 1790-1976", This is part of the Birth, Marriage & Death, including Parish, section of pay website Ancestry database and holds some genealogical information relating to countries in East Africa.
• Europeans In East Africa. The database holds information on people of European origin who lived and worked in East Africa from about 1880 to 1939. It concentrates mainly on Kenya, but there are some entries for Uganda and Tanzania.
• East African Cemeteries and Memorials. Includes cemeteries from
  • Kenya
  • Tanzania
  • Uganda
• Find a Grave includes some African records.
• There may be a relevant Ancestry Message Board

Search all Ancestry Message Boards. You do not need to be an Ancestry subscriber, but to post, you must register with Ancestry.

• Rootsweb Mailing Lists. From March 2nd, 2020 all Rootsweb Mailing Lists have been discontinued. Mailing list archives will remain available and searchable.

Search all Rootsweb Mailing List Archives

Search the Kenya List Archives

Search the Tanzania List Archives

Search the Africa List Archives

• Genealogy.com Kenya Forum Archived posts only. Does not appear to be currently active.
• J Gordon Mumford’s African Adventures now archived
• Trace and tell your family’s Empire stories with links to pages "Government Records of Britons in …" including
  • Government Records of Britons in Kenya
  • Government Records of Britons in Malawi (Nyasaland)
  • Government Records of Britons in Tanzania (Tanganyika)
  • Government Records of Britons in Uganda

Government Gazettes, some of which are available at the National Archives, Kew are mentioned as a good source of information in the above links.

These pages c 2008 are from the archived website “Empire’s Children”, a website connected with the 2007 Channel 4 television series of the same name. Note, some of the information may now be outdated. Many of the internal links have not been archived.

There is a "Resources" chapter in the book Empire’s Children: Trace Your Family History Across the World by Anton Gill 2007, available at the British Library UIN: BLL01013623894 . This book accompanied the television series Empire's Children.

• Rhodesia Regiment Wikipedia.
• The Rhodesian African Rifles: The Growth and Adaptation of a Multicultural Regiment through the Rhodesian Bush War, 1965-1980 by Major Michael P Stewart. Master’s Thesis 2011 US Army Command and General Staff College. Contains a brief history of the Regiment prior to 1965. Archive.org
• British Colonial History in Africa, now an archived website. Links to a number of articles (Monographsi) and to a page listing the contents of the first seven editions of the Journal of the Royal West African Frontier Force which was published twice yearly from July 2011. At 2019/9, Cambridge University has all volumes to v. 2, no. 6 (2018 Dec.) , while Oxford University appears to have Volume 1, issues 1-6 and 10, Volume 2, issues 1-7 (2019 July).

Maps

• Guide: War Office Archive of [online] Maps relating to the former British East Africa (modern-day Kenya, Uganda and adjacent parts of Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, DR Congo, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia). The maps were created between 1890 and 1940. British Library website.

Historical books online

• The Kenya Gazette Issues from 1899. (broken range). There is a small tool bar which enables you to scroll the volumes available. There appear to be no editions for 1916 . There is a Search facility for all issues. Google Books

The Kenya Gazette is an official publication of the government of the Republic of Kenya. It contains notices of new legislation, notices required to be published by law or policy as well as other announcements that are published for general public information. It is published every week, usually on Friday, with occasional releases of special or supplementary editions within the week.

• A new and accurate description of the coast of Guinea, divided into the Gold, the Slave, and the Ivory coasts by Willem Bosman, Chief Factor for the Dutch at the Castle of St. George d’Elmina. 1907 reprint of original 1705 edition translated from the c 1703 Dutch edition. Archive.org. 1705 edition Google Books
• "The English Establishments on the Gold Coast in the second half of the eighteenth century" by Eveline C Martin 1922. Archive.org. An article from Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 4th Series 1922, pages 167-189. Also included "Note on Manuscript Sources and Bibliography" pages 190-208.
• ‪Journal of a Voyage Performed in the Lion Extra Indiaman, from Madras to Columbo and Da Lagoa Bay, on the eastern coast of Africa ... in the Year 1798‬ by William White, Captain, 73rd Highland Regiment of Foot. 1800. Archive.org
• The Forest and the Field by H. A. L. The "Old Shekarry" 1867. Archive.org. India and Africa.

Wrinkles; or, Hints to sportsmen and travellers on dress, equipment, and camp life by The Old Shekarry [Henry Astbury Leveson], a New Edition 1874. Archive.org

• Campaigning in Western Africa and the Ashantee Invasion of 1874 by Captain E Rogers 1874 Google Books
• Coomassie and Magdala : the Story of two British Campaigns in Africa by Henry M. Stanley 1874 Archive.org. The Third Anglo-Ashanti War, also known as the "First Ashanti Expedition", took place 1873-1874 in the interior of the Gold Coast (now Ghana). Coomassie is now known as Kumasi. The author was Special Correspondent of the New York Herald.
• The Story of a Soldier's Life by Field Marshal Viscount Wolseley 1903. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org. Volume II includes the Ashantee War of 1873-74, in the interior of the Gold Coast (now Ghana), from page 257.
• West African hygiene, or, Hints on the preservation of health and the treatment of tropical diseases, more especially on the west coast of Africa by Charles Scovell Grant 2nd edition 1884. Archive.org
• The Land of Gold, Diamonds and Ivory; being a Comprehensive Handbook and Guide to the Colonies, States and Republics of South and East Africa by J F Ingram 1889 Archive.org
• British East Africa; or, IBEA; a history of the formation and work of the Imperial British East Africa Company by P L McDermott 1893 Archive.org
• Handbook of British East Africa, including Zanzibar, Uganda, and the territory of the Imperial British East Africa Company Prepared in the Intelligence Division, War Office. 1893. [By Captain H. J. Foster, R.E.] Great Britain. War Office. Intelligence Division. London : HMSO Stationery Office, 1893.
• Big Game Shooting, Volume I by Clive Phillipps-Wolley 1894 Archive.org. Part of The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes.
• With the Mounted Infantry and the Mashonaland Field Force, 1896 by E A H Alderson, (Edwin Alfred Hervey) 1898 Archive.org. The location became part of Southern Rhodesia, now northern Zimbabwe.

Revolt in Southern Rhodesia, 1896-7: a study in African resistance by T. O. Ranger 1967 Archive.org

• Sikhs under Major Manning are mentioned in the article "Glave in Nyassaland. British raids on the Slave-Traders. Glimpses of life in Africa, from the journals of the late E J Glave" from The Century Magazine 1896, page 589. Journal entries are from July 1893. victorianvoices.net. There are also additional extracts from Glave's journal from The Century Magazine, possibly also from 1896. Edward James Glave Wikipedia.
• British Central Africa; an attempt to give some account of a portion of the territories under British influence north of the Zambezi by Sir Harry H Johnston 1897 Archive.org
  • Page 98. A small force of Indian troops was engaged as a nucleus for the police force in Central Africa, from the 23rd and 32nd Pioneers, and Haiderabad Lancers.

The reorganisation of the military in Uganda c 1900 page 252 The Uganda Protectorate; an attempt to give some description of the physical geography, botany, zoology, anthropology, languages and history of the territories under British protection in East Central Africa... by Sir Harry Johnston, Volume 1, 1902 Archive.org. Includes a brief reference to Indian troops.

Britain across the seas. Africa: History and description of the British Empire in Africa by Sir Harry Johnston 1910 Archive.org

• Benin, the City of Blood by Reginald Bacon 1897. Archive.org. The Benin Expedition of 1897.

The Benin Massacre by Captain Alan Boisragon 1898 Archive.org

Life of Admiral Sir Harry Rawson by Geoffrey Rawson 1914 Archive.org. Includes information about operations in East Africa 1896 which led up to the storming of Mweli.

• With Macdonald in Uganda : a narrative account of the Uganda Mutiny and Macdonald Expedition in the Uganda Protectorate and the territories to the north [1897-98] by Major Herbert H Austin 1903 Archive.org.

Article "Macdonald's Expedition and the Uganda Mutiny, 1897-98" by R. W. Beachey The Historical Journal Vol. 10, No. 2 (1967), pp. 237-254. Register with jstor.org and read online for free.

• The life of Sir George Pomeroy-Colley, K. C. S. I., C. B., C. M. G., 1835-1881; including services in Kaffraria--in China--in Ashanti--in India and in Natal by Lieut.-General Sir William F Butler 1899 Archive.org
• The Advance of our West African Empire by C Braithwaite Wallis, late District Commissioner, Sierra Leone Protectorate. 1903 Archive.org. Details of the Sierra Leone Campaign (April 1898-March 1899), also known as the Sierra Leone Protectorate Expedition, or the Hut Tax War.

The is also a personal account of this Expedition by "One who was there" in Royal United Services Institution Journal Volume 43, 1899 - Issue 255, pages 534-542.

• The Ashanti Campaign of 1900 by Captain C H Armitage and Lieutenant-Colonel A F Montanaro 1901 Archive.org
• From Kabul to Kumassi by Brigadier-General Sir James Willcocks 1904 Archive.org. In late 1897 Willcocks was offered second in command of a new Force about to be raised on the Niger in West Africa. He remained in Africa until 1901.
• The West African Pocket Book: A Guide for Newly-appointed Government Officers Compiled by direction of the Secretary of State for the Colonies . Provisional edition 1905. Fifth Edition November 1920 Archive.org
• The East Africa Protectorate by Sir Charles Eliot 1905 Archive.org
• Big Game Shooting on the Equator by F. A. Captain Dickinson. 1908. 2nd file Archive.org
• Our newest colony : being an account of British East Africa and its possibilities as a new land for settlement by A G Anderson 1910 Archive.org
• A colony in the making : or, Sport and profit in British East Africa by Lord Cranworth 1912 Archive.org
• The West African Medical Staff List December 1913, June 1914, October 1915 Archive.org
• Farming & planting in British East Africa : a description of the leading agricultural centres and an account of agricultural conditions and prospects by T J O’ Shea 1917
  • Photograph: All Saints’ Church Nairobi facing page 27
• The Tanganyika Territory (formerly German East Africa), Characteristics and Potentialities by F S Joelson 1920 Archive.org
• Sun, Sand and Somals; Leaves from the note-book of a district commissioner in British Somaliland by Major H Rayne 1921 Archive.org
• The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa by The Right Hon. Sir F D Lugard 1922 Archive.org
• The Uganda Journal The Uganda Literary and Scientific Society. Editions from Volume I 1934 (broken range). World Digital Library a project of the U.S. Library of Congress, from National Library of Uganda. Stated to be 75 editions. If all results do not display, click on "Narrow results", and then select by time period.
• Five Years Hard: Being an account of the fall of the Fulani Empire and a picture of the daily life of a Regimental Officer among the people of the Western Sudan by Brigadier-General FP Crozier. 1932 Archive.org. Covers the period 1901-1905. Note: missing some pages. Biographical details, including obituary theauxiliaries.com. For WW1 books by Crozier, see Western Front - Infantry and others.
• The British Overseas : Exploits of a Nation of Shopkeepers by C E Carrington 1950. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Includes many chapters about Africa.
• The History of the Royal West African Frontier Force by Colonel A. Haywood and Brigadier F.A.S.Clarke. 1964. lib.militaryarchive.co.uk, now archived at Archive.org. Originally required Flash turned on, this requirement may still apply - if you see a Flash icon, click it. Transcribed version.

The Great War in West Africa by Edmund Howard Gorges, Commandant West African Regt, originally published c 1916, is available on fold3.com, a pay website owned by Ancestry, located in Military Books (locate from the Search)/West Africa. This is an online version of a Naval & Military Press reprint edition.

• War Journal Of The Fifth (Kenya) Battalion The King’s African Rifles 1939-1945 by W. D. Draffan & T. C. Lewin is available on fold3.com, a pay website owned by Ancestry, located in Military Books (locate from the Search)/Kenya. This is an online version of a Naval & Military Press reprint edition. Begins with the campaign against the Italians in Abyssinia and ends fighting the Japanese in Burma.
• The Image of Africa : British Ideas and Action, 1780-1850 by Philip D Curtin 1964. Contents Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• The Quest for Timbuctoo by Brian Gardner 1968. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.

The African Dream by Brian Gardner 1970. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.

• Colonial West Africa : Collected Essays by Michael Crowder 1978. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• Tales from the Dark Continent: images of British colonial Africa in the twentieth century by Charles Allen 1979. Archive.org Lending Library. Originally commissioned by, and broadcast on BBC Radio as oral history documentaries.
• The Savage Wars : British Campaigns in Africa, 1870-1920 by Lawrence James 1985 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• The Victorian Soldier in Africa by Edward M Spiers 2004. Open Access oapen.org.
• The Colonial Office List for ... Includes a section on each country, and the Colonial Office List at the end of each volume. Google Books, HathiTrust Digital Library and Archive.org.

1862: First publication; 1867, 1877; 1878;1879; 1880, Google Books, 1880, HT with rotatable pages; 1881; 1889; 1901; 1902; 1903; 1904; HathiTrust Digital Library editions to 1925 viewable in restricted areas such as North America: A and B

In addition, Colonial Office List, 1863 and Colonial Office List, 1870 are available in the findmypast (pay website) dataset "Britain, Directories & Almanacs" located in Newspapers, Directories & Social History/Directories & Almanacs.

FamilySearch has a catalogue entry for a series of microfiches of the Colonial Office List, (produced by Chadwyck-Healey, 1987), currently (2019/06) available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, with however the potential to be digitised in the next few years, and perhaps be more widely available, or at least searchable. The same microfiche series may also be available at some other libraries, or to a very limited extent at some other FamilySearch Centres.

Colonial Office List (to 1925) and the later title The Dominions Office and Colonial Office List are available at the British Library UIN: BLL01002841625 and UIN: BLL01007173533

• "Africa" page 354 A Reference Guide To The Literature Of Travel Volume One: The Old World by Edward Godfrey Cox 1948 reprint edition, originally published 1935. Archive.org.
• Drug Plants Of Africa by Thomas S. Githens 1949 Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Koloniale Sammlungen, [Colonial collections] mainly German language books, (limited English and French language) about the German colonies in Africa. Universitätsbibliothek, Frankfurt am Main.
• Fiction
  • The Crescent Moon by Francis Brett Young 1918 Archive.org. Author of Marching on Tanga, see East Africa (First World War).