The colonial history of Kendal Museum's World Wildlife Gallery

How did the specimens in the World Wildlife Gallery find their way to Kendal? What are their stories? And what does the gallery reveal about the connection between Kendal and the rest of the world?

Join Joe Rigby, former Kendal resident and now Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Chester, to explore these questions through a focus on one of the primary donors to, and benefactors of, the museum in the 20th century, Colonel Edgard Garston Harrison, of High Hundhowe, near Staveley.

Harrison paid for the construction of the World Wildlife Gallery in 1939, on condition that this be used to display his collection of mounted taxidermy animal heads, or 'hunting trophies,' to the public. Harrison shot the majority of these animals whilst serving as a soldier in the British colonial army in eastern Africa. Uncovering the story of Harrison's donations has revealed longstanding, but as yet unacknowledged, connections between Kendal and the Nandi community in western Kenya, who continue to be affected by the legacy left by Harrison and British colonialism.

Event Details:

Date: Saturday October 3rd, 1:00 - 2:00PM

Venue: Kendal Museum

Price: £10 General Admission, £6 for under 16s/students

PLEASE NOTE: Unfortunately the venue is accessible only via a staircase, so is not suitable for wheelchair users. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Description supplied by the event organiser.