Kenya: Major Dutton, 28 May 1926-22 Apr 1930, 31 Jan 1935
folder
Held at the Weston Library
Correspondence between Major Eric Dutton, Private Secretary to the Governor of Kenya, Sir Edward Grigg, and Oldham. They discuss:
- (fols. 1-34) the Feetham Commission on Local Government; Lord Delamere's Unofficial Conference and his visit to England; Grigg's visit to Dar es Salaam and Cameron's fear of interference in his territory; the use of the vernacular in education; a proposed East African Research Department and American interest in it; the Missionary Council's memorandum; the folly of stirring up the Indian Question again in Kenya and recent legislation there; speeches by the Governor and Major Grogan on the Kenyan debt; and a proposed education tax for the benefit of indigenous people
- (fols. 35-52) land tenure; the commission on the labour situation and its effect on the coffee-crop; the value of the Convention of Associations; the views of the Governor, including the false rumour that he was suffering a nervous breakdown; his speech to the Caledonian Society, and his proposed visit to England; the views expressed in letters published by Mabel Carney; and Oldham's opinion that she had learned enough to change her mind about the British Empire
- (fols. 53-78) Dutton's visit to England, during which Oldham took him to stay with Lugard; the subjects they discussed there, including the appointment of a Governor-General for East Africa or a peripatetic High Commissioner; and progression by means of the Governors' Conference to federation; Grigg's reaction to Lugard's views; Dutton's criticisms of Buell's work for being prejudiced and inaccurate and of 'do-gooders' in England, who set the settlers against indigenous communities by constantly holding up the former to contempt; his own views on how to improve race relations; and his views on Oldham's book, which he had seen in manuscript
- (fols. 72-78) the visit of the President and Secretary of the Carnegie Corporation to Kenya
- (fols. 79-80) Amery's acceptance of the principle of federation after discussing it with Lord Francis Scott and Sir Sidney Henn in London, proposing 1929 as a possible date and deciding to send out someone to investigate local opinion
- (fols. 81-87) the meeting of Lord Francis Scott and Lugard at a Chatham House dinner before a meeting and Dutton's proposed return to Kenya via South Africa and Basutoland (Lesotho)
- (fols. 88-90) the Governor's speech, stating that Native Reserves were inviolate for all time; the reaction of the settlers and Indian community; and the Feetham Report
- (fols. 91-120) the Hilton Young Commission; Oldham's misgivings; the settlers' reaction; the rumours circulating about the Coryndon Memorial Museum; hostility to missionaries caused by Archdeacon Owen's letters to the press and the Church Mission Council's action in response; Lugard's scheme of continuous responsibility in Nigeria; the 'white island' theory rejected by Grigg and Delamere; Grigg's correspondence with Hilton Young; and the need for discussion when the Commission returned to England
- (fols. 121-129) the Native Land Trust Bill; the missionaries' attitude to it; the Commission's unpopularity because of its stand on the Bill; the dead issue of federation; the difficulty of drafting the Commission's Report; and the prospect of visits by Grigg, Dutton, and Delamere to London
- (fols. 130-141) the Hilton Young Report; the visit of the East African Governors to London to discuss it; the reactions in Britain and Kenya to it; the demand by H.L. Gordon of Nairobi for a more scientific assessment of Kenya's needs; and the Prince of Wales's visit to Kenya and its effect on indigenous communities
- (fols. 142-149) the Wilson Report and its greater acceptability to East Africans; Dutton's hope that Scott and Martin would persuade Oldham to change his mind; the visit of Julian Huxley and another academic, Morison, to Kenya; and the anger of an influential Australian, Major Casey, at what Lugard was saying about Australian administration of mandated territory. Dutton asks Oldham to arrange a meeting between Casey and Lugard to resolve the matter
- (fols. 150-151) the misconception in Kenya that Oldham was attacking the settlers, not the obsolete forms of government, and that the Hilton Young Report advocated a uniform indigenous policy for East Africa
- (fols. 152-159) Dutton's conviction that Oldham's original policy of interpenetration had been the right one and his revised views a mistake; Grigg's struggle over the Elected Members' demand that the estimates be cut by £150,000; the Student Christian Movement (SCM) pamphlet by Oldham, What is at Stake in East Africa; the settlers' annoyance at being called immigrants in the Hilton Young Report; and Oldham's book on Smuts's ideas
- (fol. 160) letter of thanks from Oldham to Dutton for the latter's book, Kenya Mountain
- (fols. 161-172) Memorandum on Indirect Rule by Charles Dundas, Chief Secretary of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), sent by Dutton, 31 Jan 1935
- (fol. 173) folder endpaper.
Dates
- Creation: 28 May 1926-22 Apr 1930, 31 Jan 1935
Extent
173 Leaves
Language of Materials
- English
Shelfmark
MSS. Afr. s. 1829/6/1, folder 5
Former reference:
File E
Repository Details
Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository
Contact:
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom
specialcollections.enquiries@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom
specialcollections.enquiries@bodleian.ox.ac.uk