2 
Bulletin of the EANHS 29(1/2) 
the honorary office-bearers, delays in publication of the 
Journal— these were all issues of concern back in 1911 
as much as today. If the Society flourished, it was be 
cause of the commitment of its members, and the gen- 
erosity of those who contributed to meet its expenses 
and allow it to expand. 
The Society took a significant step in 1921 with the 
construction of its own permanent museum on Kirk Road 
(opposite the present All Saint's Cathedral). This was 
formally opened in February 1922 by the Governor. Sir 
Edward Northey Unfortunately, more tangible govern- 
ment and municipal suppon was not forthcoming, no 
curator could be employed, and the collections suffered 
despite the best efforts of several Honorary Curators. 
Matters improved somewhat in 1924 Tile Governor. 
Sir Robert Coryndon. took a personal interest in the 
Society's affairs and helped to secure a grant of £150 
from the Colonial Office. This, with some successful 
fund raising through an appeal, allowed the remaining 
debt for the museum building to be paid off 
When Sir Robert died unexpectedly in December 
1924, it was decided to take up a public subscription to 
establish a memorial to him. This would take the form 
of an extension to the museum to be called the Coryndon 
Hall. 
Despite the perennial shortage of funds, the Society 
and its members were doing valuable vwnk In the Jour- 
nal were appearing the Hist ‘handbooks' lo Oast Aln- 
can birds and butterflies, by V G.l van Someren and 
the Rev Canon K St Auhyn respectively. The collec- 
tions were building up quickly and numerous exchanges 
had been established lor the Journal, forming the nu- 
cleus of an excellent natural history library 
However, disaster struck in 192ft flic Government 
decided to realign Kirk Road, and the museum— just 
four years old— would have to be demolished. There 
began a long process of negotiation lictwvui ihc EANHS 
and the authorities The final outcome was that the So- 
ciety agreed to move its collections to buildings that 
would be built on a new plot on Ainsworth Hill (now 
Museum Hill). These buildings would include ihc 
Coryndon Memorial building, which ihe Society would 
run as a museum accessible to the public.- and laborato- 
ries and study rooms lo be built by the Society. Rather 
less-ihan-lavish compensation of £2.500 was paid by 
Government for the existing museum Almost half of 
this was immediately voted to the Coryndon Fund The 
remainder was used to build the study rooms and labo 
ratorics behind the new Coryndon Memorial building. 
Tlic Coryndon Memorial, which forms the centre- 
piece of today's Nairobi Museum, was completed in 
September 1929. and the Society's collections were 
transferred there soon after The expansion in space and 
facilities led to a flowering of activity The ethnological 
section received valuable materials from Sir Frederick 
Jackson's collection, while stone age culture was repre- 
sented by material collected by Louis Leakey Plants 
were not neglected, with the public -spirited Ernest Carr 
lof Carr’s Biscuits) donating funds lo employ a botanist 
for three years Insects of economic importance, fish, 
amphibians, reptiles, birds and timber were all on dis- 
play A full time librarian was also engaged to take care 
of the rapidly growing collection of hooks and journals. 
Running this growing museum required a body of 
professional staff, but the Society still did not have the 
resources to employ enough people. Despite the popu 
larity of the museum (more than 2.000 visitors were 
recorded in 1931 ». entrance fees did not even come close 
lo providing enough income Despite constant picas from 
the Society. Government still seemed indifferent lo the 
need for a properly equipped and staffed museum that 
would promote research and public education. Assist- 
ance was forthcoming only in the most minimal and 
grudging way Indeed, the Government's financial com- 
mittee felt that the Society was spending extravagantly, 
a view that amazed those actually involved In the muse- 
um’s administration So the Society was left to scratch 
around for such other support as it could muster, Con- 
stant cuts m salary and laying off of stafl were no way 
to develop an institution, and curation inevitably suf- 
fered 3S a result Once again, only the dedicated efforts 
of the Society's members and its long-suffering employ- 
ees allowed any progress to be made At least visitor 
numbers were still growing: a total of 5,099 visitors (of 
The EANHS wishes lo lhank the following for fheir 
support in 1999: 
Sponsors of Ihe Society: 
Corporate member 
Arturo Forcsli 
Benny Bytebior 
(overseas): 
Tom Butynski 
A.R. Gregory 
Wiliam Glover 
Jan Kalina 
Leo Niskancn 
David Obura 
Jay ant Ruparel 
John Fox 
Radha Ruparel 
Major Donors: 
M K. Minot 
Seeta Ruparel 
Royal Society for the 
K.L. Wood 
Neil Wi Usher 
Protection of Birds 
Sunny Bindra 
J.H.L. Leakey 
Global Environment 
Sanjiv Secdhar 
Bas van Ilelvoort 
Facility 
E. Bradley Martin 
Sulyn Talbot 
N.H. Searle 
