Royal Commonwealth Society : Uganda: photographs acquired for the Colonial Office Visual Instruction Committee

Royal Commonwealth Society

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Contains prints of various sizes, with handwritten captions beneath the prints. It has a varied collection of excellent photographs illustrating scenery, trade, customs, agriculture and rural life in the early years of the protectorate. The album contains the following list of people who supplied prints for inclusion: H. Batley [? could be George Herbert Batley], L.E. Caine [Lionel Edward Caine, 1865-1938], C.C. Gowdey [Carlton Cragg Gowdey, 1883-1928], C.W. Hattersley [Charles William Hattersley, 1866-1934], Captain Hutchinson [probably Captain Henry Hutchinson, 1869-1920], F.A. Knowles [Frederick Arthur Knowles, 1872-1922], A. McClure [Andrew McClure, 1879-1945], Alison Russell [Probably William Alison Russell, 1875-1948], J.C.R. Sturrock [John Christian Ramsay Sturrock, 1875-1937], F. Spire [Frederick Spire, 1863-1951], and A.E. Weatherhead [probably Arthur Evelyn Weatherhead, 1880-1956]. Biographical details are available from the Europeans in East Africa database. </p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The list does not indicate whether these men, mainly Protectorate officials and missionaries, took the photographs or merely donated them and it is likely that both categories are included. Alfred Lobo, a commercial photographer at Entebbe from circa 1905-1920s is not included, but some of the better quality work is certainly by him (probably 1-17 and 20-23). Certain prints in the album are duplicated elsewhere in the RCS photograph collection with his stamp on the reverse. It has not been determined whether Alfred Lobo the photographer is the same man as the A. Lobo who is recorded as a Uganda Railway employee resident in Nairobi in the 1904 'Handbook for East Africa, Uganda and Zanzibar.' Eleven prints (plates 14, 16, 22, 23, 29, 32-34, 36, 42 and 64) are definitely attributed to Charles William Hattersley (1866-1934), a missionary in Uganda and a keen amateur photographer. There are probably other examples of Hattersley's work in the album.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Digitisation funded through a Smuts library grant, 2019.</p>