History

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Reciprocating Clubs

Club Trophies and Memorabilia

The Selous Memorial
The magnificent bronze model of a buffalo, standing prominently on the table in the main lounge, was presented to the Club in March 1918 in memory of Captain Frederick Courtney Selous DSO, the famous hunter, naturalist, explorer and writer, who was killed in action by a German sniper in German East Africa(Tanganyika, Tanzania) on 4 January 1917.The Bronze was commissioned by the African Big Game Club of America and though Selous had not been a member of Nairobi Club, it was felt that the Club would be a suitable place to house the memorial.

The Tablein the main lounge on which magazines and local newspapers are displayed.
It was acquired in 1940 from a £50 legacy bequeathed to the Club by Major R.B.W. Robertson-Eustace, formerly of the Kenya Police. The bequest was made ‘to mark his long and happy association with the Club’ of which he had served as a Committee member for many years.

The Buffin Bird
The only surviving representation of this remarkable bird stands in the men’s bar, enclosed in a glass case beneath a stone tablet in the men’s bar, listing the founders of the Jubaland Club. It is of such a unique and peculiar character that it deserves a full description of its history and habits, before this are lost to posterity. Its habitat was the Coastal hills around the port of Kismayu. Like the ostrich, it couldn’t fly but had another greater handicap. One leg was shorter than the other according to local ornithologists of the time, to the fact that it always moved in the same direction round and round the hill with the shorter leg being on the upside of the hill.
In spite of its peculiar disability, it was very fleet of foot; any hunter wishing to catch it had to go the other way round to meet it. Only rare visitors to Kismayu, usually high government officials or naval officers set out to try to catch it but were never successful for, as was explained on their return, they must have gone the wrong way round. With such a unique local character resident on the doorstep, the officers of the Jubaland Field Force, unsurprisingly, adopted the Buffin Bird as the crest and emblem when the Jubaland Club was founded in 1907.At the same time, the only specimen of the bird ever known to exist was preserved in stone, which bears the Club motto: ‘no member of this Club shall stand another a drink’.
No records of its transit or arrival appear in the Club files, and the first official reference too the Buffin Bird was in 1925 when it was decided to repair it and put it in a place of honour. Efforts to trace its history were made and, in 1933, a missing portion was found in the PWD (Public Works Department) store in Mombasa. The bird’s motto was appropriately ‘Toujours á la renverse’.

The Mantelpiece Clock
On the mantelpiece in the main lounge stands a splendid old clock. It was bought through subscriptions raised by members in memory of William Alfred Kempe, who had been the then Kenya Colony Treasurer and a long serving Club Committee member. At £100 the clock was a worthy memorial to a great Club man, deeply interested and involved in social and sporting affairs.

Bugle
There’s also a reference to a bugle, supposed to have been captured in Tanga during WW1 (First World War), but there is no clue to its present whereabouts.

Hand Grenade
One war trophy proved disastrous. In August 1925 a hand grenade, kept as a curio by the Secretary on his desk, was being examined by a member of staff when it exploded. Much damage was caused to the unfortunate employee and to the office.

The Club Crest
A suitable crest for the Club was first discussed in April 1921 when the Librarian suggested that the Club should have its own bookplate. From this, the idea for a crest developed and the old crest of the Imperial British East Africa Company as thought to be suitable. Sir John Kirk, the cerebrated explorer and former representative of the Company was consulted.
The history of the crest is summarized on the board by the main staircase, with two Mombasa rupees issued in 1988 inlaid.

Club Colours
The Club colours are closely related to the crest and had been a topic for discussion since the early 1920s. In 1921, Gymkhana recommended that the Club colours be white and green but the Committee considered that green was probably not the best colour under a tropical sun’. The Gymkhana was urged ‘to consider the suggestion of the old crest of the Imperial British East African Company, viz a risen sun in gold’. Finally, in 1922, it was agreed unanimously that the Club colours be ‘dark blue and gold’. At the 1946 AGM, a rule confirmed these colours and there has not been any change since. Some 14 years later a Club flag, embodying the crest, was designed using the official colours.

Caricatures
The Club lacks portraits or pictures of many of its members, except photographs of former presidents and senior members which hang in the Secretary’s office, but a collection of excellent caricatures of former prominent members is displayed in the Men’s Bar. They were drawn by L.M. Dundas who, in 1912 was a Land Ranger in the Land Office. He drew most of them between 1913 and 1914, and others were added by Mrs. Sammy Clayton, known as ‘Sammy’ and died at sea in 1970.It is a pity that the Club does not possess an artist who could add to these. A Club member, Mr W.G. Tanner, has researched and compiled a history of all 25 caricatures.

Cocktail Bar Painting
The splendid oil painting behind the bar in the Cocktail Lounge or Front Bar was the work of Mr. W. McClellan Sim, art master at the then Duke of York (Lenana) School, 1953. In 1977, the painting was cleaned and touched up, ‘despite misgivings ‘by some Committee members, the work was considered a great success. Mr. David Carnegie did the work and gave it a coat of varnish on completion. It was cleaned again in December 1998 and still looks good today.