| Title |
Miscellaneous views in Calabar, Opobo and Sierra Leone, circa 1912-1913 |
| Reference |
GBR/0115/Y3043O |
| Creator |
Various |
| Covering Dates |
circa 1912-circa 1913 |
| Extent and Medium |
27 images in 1 file; Good condition. |
| Repository |
Cambridge University Library: Royal Commonwealth Society Library |
|
| Content and context |
A collection of prints by various photographers including the Lisk-Carew Brothers of Freetown, Sierra Leone (prints 22-27). All of the photographs are uncaptioned and the majority measure approximately 200 x 150 mm. The geographical locations of the prints breaks down thus: 1 - 8 Calabar; 9 - 13, 16-17 Opobo; 22 - 27 Sierra Leone. |
Access and Use
|
Please cite as Cambridge University Library: Royal Commonwealth Society Library, Miscellaneous views in Calabar, Opobo and Sierra Leone, circa 1912-1913, Y3043O |
| Further information |
|
Indexed
This collection level description was entered by KS using information from the original typescript catalogue.
This collection is available on microfiche: Africa, fiche numbers 43-44.
|
| Index Terms |
| Africa |
| Nigeria |
| Sierra Leone |
| RCS/Y3043O contains: |
|
1
|
[Arrival of Sir Frederick Lugard at Calabar, December 1912]. 204 x 136 mm. A view looking down on the scene at the Calabar landing stage just after the arrival of Sir Frederick Lugard on his tour of the Central and Eastern Provinces of Nigeria of December 2-15 1912. In the foreground a guard of honour stands at attention, with a group of civil and military officials gathered beside the landing stage watching Lugard's departure in the motor car which can be seen rounding the corner in the background: . 'The main port of call was the relatively old town of Calabar... The 'Ivy' turned into the wide estuary of the Cross River and steamed up to the pleasantly sited town... Half the population seemed to be on the banks of the river and the rest on the water... with streamers of coloured paper flying, Lugard went ashore in a shining 'Governor's gig', manned by smart Southern Nigerian marines. His motor-car had been brought on the 'Ivy'... and in this he made a tour past the usual guard of honour and thousands of schoolchildren.' (Perham 1960, p. 395). The crowds lining the streets can be seen here, with long rows of flags of various countries, interspersed with that of Southern Nigeria, hanging over the road.
Good condition.. |
Dec. 1912 |
|
2
|
[Calabar waterfront]. 204 x 142 mm. A view looking along the waterfront at Calabar, with long wooden canoes, some loaded with barrels of palm nut oil, beached at the waters edge.
Good condition.. |
|
|
3
|
[View in Duke Town, Calabar]. 207 x 141 mm. A view looking down a street in Duke Town (the native quarter of Calabar) with a row of thatched houses on the left and the waterfront and Calabar River visible in the background. The tower of the Duke Town Church can be seen projecting above a clump of trees at the right of centre.
Good condition.. |
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|
4
|
[View in Calabar]. 207 x 138 mm. A view from a grassy hillside looking down towards the Calabar waterfront and river.
Good condition.. |
|
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5
|
[Market Place, ?Calabar]. 201 x 141 mm. Showing a crowded market scene, probably in Calabar, with traders and customers seated or standing in an open sandy square.
Good condition.. |
|
|
6
|
[Market place, ?Calabar]. 201 x 144 mm. Market scene.
Good condition.. |
|
|
7
|
[?Calabar waterfront]. 204 x 148 mm. A view from a river looking towards wharves and warehouses at the waters edge. Very probably a view of Calabar from the Calabar River.
Good condition.. |
|
|
8
|
[?Calabar waterfront]. 200 x 151 mm. A wharve with commercial premises at the right.
Good condition.. |
|
|
9
|
[General stores, ?Opobo]. 210 x 161 mm. Showing two Europeans and a number of white-coated African assistants standing in a large corrugated-iron store or warehouse. Piled around them are boxes, sacks and barrels of miscellaneous produce, with bottles and cans stored on shelves around the walls. The identification of the location as Opobo is tentative and relies on the fact that the name is written on one of the supporting girders of the building. Opobo, situated 40 miles east-south-east of Port Harcourt at the mouth of the Imo River (also called Opobo River), is also known as Egwanga. The British trading station lay four miles south-south-west across the Opobo River from the original settlement.
Good condition, apart from slight fading at edges.. |
|
|
10
|
[Cocoa warehouse, ?Opobo]. 210 x 161 mm. Showing the scene in a cocoa warehouse. In the foreground, a group of African labourers are seated on full sacks of cocoa while beyond, another group is in the process of filling the bags from the large pile of beans heaped against the wall.
Good condition.. |
|
|
11
|
[Palm oil warehouse, ?Opobo]. 209 x 160 mm. A view looking along a warehouse filled with rows of barrels of palm oil awaiting transportation. With a few African labourers watching the photographer in the foreground.
Good condition, apart from small tear and slight fading at edges.. |
|
|
12
|
[Unidentified building, ?Opobo]. 210 x 163 mm. A view looking down from a hillside on to a large, two-storey, verandahed building, possibly at Opobo.
Fair condition, some tears in print.. |
|
|
13
|
[Unidentified interior, ?Opobo]. 210 x 162 mm. Showing a verandah room laid out with a table and chairs in an unidentified house.
Fair condition, tear on left hand side of print.. |
|
|
14
|
[Unidentified building]. 156 x 113 mm. Showing a verandahed house raised on stilts and enclosed by a small but luxuriant garden. Three unidentified Europeans stand on a path beside a lamp post in the foreground. Location unidentified.
Fair condition, some fading and yellowing.. |
|
|
15
|
[S.S. 'Elmina']. 213 x 167 mm. Showing the S.S. Elmina at anchor in an unidentified harbour.
Poor condition, some fading and large tear in right hand corner.. |
|
|
16
|
[Durbar or regatta at Opobo]. 165 x 118 mm. Mounted on card. Showing a large canoe decorated with flags (one of which reads 'Opobo') and with an unidentified chief standing beneath a large umbrella. The occasion has not been identified. |
|
|
17
|
[Durbar or regatta at Opobo]. 210 x 161 mm. Mounted on card. Similar to Y3043O/16 but a more distant view including several other canoes.
Poor condition, overall fading and yellowing.. |
|
|
18
|
[King Ovonramwen of Benin and wives]. 138 x 201 mm. A full length portrait of King Ovonramwen (also known as Overami) dressed in a resplendently decorated robe and seated in a chair with his two wives (in European clothes) standing beside him. Ovonramwen (d. 1914) presided over the dissolution of the Kingdom of Benin and was by all accounts a bloodthirsty tyrant. With the suppression of the West African slave trade, Benin's power was diminishing, but it still held out against European domination and the country was closed to trade of all kinds. In 1892 Vice Consul Henry Galway managed to persuade Ovonramwen to sign a treaty placing Benin under British protection and promising to suppress the slave trade. It soon became clear however that Ovonramwen had no intention of abiding by the terms of the treaty and in 1896 an unarmed party led by the Acting Consul General Phillips went to visit Ovonramwen. On January 4 1896 the party was ambushed and murdered, only two of the Europeans escaping with their lives. A military expedition was mounted against Benin and the city was taken after a fierce fight on February 18 1897. Inside the city incontrovertible evidence was found of a brutal regime and widespread human sacrifice. The chiefs directly implicated in the murder of Phillips' party were tried and executed and Ovonramwen, who had escaped after the fall of Benin but later surrendered, was exiled to Calabar where he died in 1914. This photograph was probably taken in Calabar towards the end of his life.
Good condition.. |
|
|
19
|
[?Prince Frederick Sunday Jaja of Opobo and retainers]. 206 x 143 mm. A group photograph showing an African king and his retainers. The central figure, wearing European clothes, a crown and seated on a throne beneath a large umbrella is possibly Chief Frederick Sunday Jaja (1873-1915) son of King Jaja of Opobo. Prince Frederick was educated in London and was in 1888 temporarily exiled with his father in the British West Indies. King Jaja dies in 1891 and was succeeded by his son in 1893. Two other Africans dressed in European clothes are seated beside the central figure, the one on the left possibly being Chief Shoo Peterside (-1923), Chief in Opobo Town. On either side of these figures stand a group of Africans wearing a mixed collection of clothes. A youth seated in the foreground holds an unidentified object made from a pair of horns.
Good condition.. |
|
|
20
|
[Delegation of Nigerian chiefs to London, July 1913]. 143 x 107 mm. Mounted on card. A group portrait showing the deputation of West African chiefs who came to London to petition the Colonial Secretary on the new Land Laws which would come into force with the amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria the following year (1914). The group is seen here on the Terrace of the House of Commons where they were entertained to tea by Mrs. Alice Seymour Wason (centre of group) and her husband in early July. The European figure at the back of the group is possibly John Cathcart Wason (1848-1921), M.P. for Orkney and Shetland (1900-21) although he appears to be a younger man than Wason would have been at this time. The two other European women in the group have not been identified. Some of the chiefs have been identified as: O. Labinjoh (Representative of the Alara of Ara); A. Edun (Egba Government, Secretary to delegation); E. Adebiyi (delegate from Ibadan); Chief Adedeji (Risawe of Ilesha); Chief of Shobogun (Lisa of Kesi, Abeokuta); Demisokun (delegate from Ilesha); Sanusi (Ekerin Balogun of Ibadan); Omobulejo (Odi of Jebuode); Erabase (of Ife); Ajero (Odi of the Oni of Ife).
Good condition, apart from slight yellowing.. |
July 1913 |
|
21
|
[Delegation of Nigerian chiefs to London, July 1913]. 147 x 107 mm. Showing the group of chiefs seen in Y3043O/20 gathered around the tea tables set out on the terrace of the House of Commons. Mrs. Wason stands in the centre of the group.
Poor condition, some yellowing and deep scratches on emulsion.. |
July 1913 |
|
22
|
[Railway line ?near Freetown, Sierra Leone]. 206 x 149 mm. A view looking along a railway track with a large enclosed settlement of neatly spaced circular thatched huts at the right (?possible police or military lines). Exact location unidentified, but presumably near Freetown.
Creator: Lisk-Carew Brothers, photographers.
Good condition.. |
|
|
23
|
[River scene and village, Sierra Leone]. 206 x 150 mm. A view looking across a mudbank and a river towards a large village of thatched huts on the further bank. A wooden bridge crosses a smaller river to the left of the village where a road runs down to a ford. Exact location unidentified.
Creator: Lisk-Carew Brothers, photographers.
Good condition.. |
|
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24
|
[Fishing with 'bimbi' nets, ?Sherbro, Sierra Leone]. 205 x 145 mm.
Creator: Lisk-Carew Brothers, photographers.
Good condition.. |
|
|
25
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[River scene, ?Sherbro, Sierra Leone]. 208 x 146 mm. A view looking along a river towards a steel girder railway bridge. Exact location unidentified.
Creator: Lisk-Carew Brothers, photographers.
Good condition.. |
|
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26
|
[River scene, Sierra Leone]. 209 x 149 mm.
Creator: Lisk-Carew Brothers, photographers.
Good condition.. |
|
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27
|
[Official group, Government House, Freetown, Sierra Leone, circa April 28 1911]. 207 x 146 mm.
Creator: Lisk-Carew Brothers, photographers.
Good condition.. |
28 Apr. 1911 |
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