As we go to press we very deeply regret to announce the death of Mr. H. J. Allen-Turner. Mr. Turner was closely associated with the Society from its inception and was a member of committee and vicepresident for many years. When the Natural History Society started the first Nairobi Museum in 1911 Allen-Turner prepared the initial exhibits, and from then on he was intimately associated with the work of the Society and of the three successive Museums. Mr. Allen-Turner
first came to Kenya in 1908 as chief taxidermist to the Smithsonian Institution Expedition led by Colonel, later President, Theodore Rooseveldt. He is deeply mourned by a widow and four children. A detailed obituary will appear in our next Journal.
February, 1954. OBITUARY H. J. ALLEN TURNER 111 Although Allen Turner only joined the permanent staff of the Coryndon Museum in 1941,he had been associated with the organisation of Museum Services in Nairobi from the very beginning.
The first Museum in Kenya was a small building - now pulled down - which stood near the present Kingsway Police Station. It was built for the East African Natural History Society in 1911, and was very small. Turner, who had only been in the country a few years prepared many of the first exhibits. From then on Turner collected for the Museum in all branches of its work, and again and again prepared exhibit specimens. When- the second Museum, which is now the C.LD. Headquarters, was built, he again co-operated in the preparation of the new Museum for opening, and added many more exhibits to it, while keeping so much in the background that few people reaij6ed the extent of his work.
When the Coryndon Memorial Museum building was put up and the Society transferred its collections there in 1929and gave up its other building, Turner again played a big part in arranging the exhibits, and added to them on very numerous occasions, from that time onwards.
As a field collector Turner was outstanding. His powers of observation and his knowledge of so many branches of Natural History so extensive, that again and again he was able to collect specimens new to science, which might otherwise have passed unnoticed for many more years. To him was due the discovery of the rare water porcupine in Nyanza Province, to him the honour of finding birds and insects new to science, to him we owe the discovery of not a few important prehistoric sites. In botany tooalthough not a botanist-he was always on the lookout for new and rare plants, and found not a few that had previously escaped notice.
As a museum technician Turner was especially skilled in plaster casting and his reproductions of fish and reptiles is unsurpassed. He also was excellent at making models from photographs and drawings, and his handmade models of the first Coelocanthe and of various extinct fossil fishes have been, before now, mistaken for casts, when in fact they were merely created from photographs.
With his passing Kenya has lost a man who did more for the advancement of its Natural History than any single other person. L. S. B. LEAKEY.
On November 27th 1953 Henry J. Allen Turner passed away at the age of 77 years. Allen, as everybody knew him, was a dearly beloved character known throughout the Colony, and also to many naturalists outside 112 Obituaries. VOL. XXII Kenya. His general field knowledge was considerable, as he had collected for most of the great museums all over the world.
Turner came to the Colony in 1909 as a taxidermist to Messrs. Newland and Tarleton, the Safari outfitters, in order to take charge of the trophies of the Roosevelt expedition which was led by the late Colonel Roosevelt and his son, Kermit Roosevelt. When Mr. Edmund Heller stayed on Turner accompanied him as collector and taxidermist, and the great collection of\East African specimens now in the Smithsonian Museum, Washington, owes a tremendous lot to his care and skill. For many years Turner collected for many of the big museums, and he was renowned for the beautiful condition in which his specimens were despatched.
It is not generally known that for several years he ran a nursery garden on the Kinangop, and introduced into Kenya many of the bulbs, flowering shrubs and fruit trees which we now take as a matter of course.
His association with the Natural History Society dates back to its inception; he was intimately bound up with its development and was one of its most loyal supporters. When the embryo'tflUseum started in 1911,Turner prepared the birds and mammals which formed the nucleus of the present collections of the Coryndon Museum. He saw and actively participatEd in the move to the original drill hall; then to the present Coryndon Memorial Museum; and finally in the crowning glory of the new extensions. It was a great day when he saw these halls opened to the public by His Excellency the Governor; and I know how deep were his feelings that he should live to see his hopes so worthily fulfilled. I remember that after the crowd had gone that evening, he and I were quietly walking through the new Churchill Hall and he turned to me and said : "You and I never expected to see this day, but we have and I am content" : - a tribute to his beloved Museum.
Turner's real love was fishes, and his work in modelling these creatures was supreme. For those who follow him he has left the exhibits in the Churchill Hall as a lasting tribute to his artistic skill. To my mind, much of his work in modelling lizards - and particularly frogs - cannot be equalled anywhere else in the world.
From early days he sat in at the councils of the Natural History Society, and he was for many years a Vice-President. In the early years he was a great fighter for the preservation of the fauna and flora of the Colony, and never ceased to press forward the need for National Parks, in committee, when on delegations to the Government, or in the Press. His satisfaction was deep when National Parks became a part and parcel of the Colony.
Many a lady visitor to the Museum expressed the opinion that Turner was "a dear", and that word thoroughly expressed his character. He was indeed "a dear"; but he was also a sturdy fighter if ever the future of his Natural History Society, his Museum, or his birds and animals were in danger.
Natural History suffered a great los~ on the death of Mr. H. J. Turner in November last and it is felt that a few personal reminiscences may be of interest to his many friends.
My first acquaintance with Allen .Turner started over 30 years ago. After leaving school I made a trip round Africa with my mother and stayed a considerable time in Nairobi. During that period some time was spent in assisting Dr. van Someren in the development of the first small Museum belonging to the Natural History Society situated near the Norfolk Hotel. One day a large man dressed in riding breeches and leggings with a wide hat and wearing not inconspicuous side whiskers called at the Museum. He asked me if I was interested in beetles. In reply I said that there were few forms of life for which I had a higher regard, and he expressed delight. He then produced several cartridge boxes containing a fine collection of beetles which he had made at Kakamega in 1915 and subsequently when doing war work on Lamu and Manda-"Islands. These insects were in excellent condition and had been very carefully preserved. Allen Turner then said that he would like to give me this collection if I would take an interest in it and have them named and worked out. The collection W2.S later taken by me to London and was returned to this country when I came here permanently to live in 1926. It is now in the Coryndon Museum collection. This was the beginning of our friendship and co-operation in the collection of Coleoptera which lasted until his death.
At that time and for some later years, Allen Turner was employed by Sir John Ramsden and was for some time Manager of the Naivasha Creamery. In 1932when the so-called "Gold rush" occurred at Kakamega, Allen Turner, H. L. Geeson and myself went together to try our luck at this new venture. We duly pegged an area of land on one of the most attractive sights in an area situated on Kuhu Hill overlooking the Yala River. After a great deal of enthusiasm had been expended, our results were very similar to the majority of prospectors. We saw no gold whatever but did not lose a great deal of money. After Geeson and I had returned to Nairobi to our normal occupations, Turner remained at Kakamega but needless to state the only acquisitions made were some very interesting insects new to the Museum collection. A year later the British Museum sent an expedition to collect on certain East African mountains and their first objective was the Aberdare range. We all stayed at Turner's house which w"s situated by the Naivasha Forest Station and we accompanied the expedition during their trip over the mountains. It is an interesting fact that, although most of the members of the expedition were young men in their early twenties, Allen Turner who was then probably in his early sixties always led the way. This was by no means easy going as it rained almost continuously and the ascent of the Aberdare Mountains, although short, is, through the bamboo zone much steeper and much harder going than similar areas at the same altitude on Kenya and Kilimanjaro.
After a year or two Allen Turner was given a job at the East African Pavilion which was opened at the Johannesburg Exhibition. This he enjoyed very much and I am sure added greatly to the interest of visitors by his stories of the early days in East Africa.
A further important expedition which Allen Turner accompanied was one organised by the East African Natural History Society to the Chyulu Hills. Here the expedition stayed for five or six weeks, and conditions were not made more comfortable by the fact that all water had be carried some six or seven miles.
Soon after the last war started in 1939,Allen Turner joined the permanent Staff of the Coryndon Museum as taxidermist and general preparator. Here he remained doing the work he loved until the last illness before his death. His work is well-known to many visitors by the beautiful coloured casts of fishes which are exhibited in the Fish Hall.
Although Turner was a general field naturalist of high standing, in later years his greatest interest was in adding to the collection of insects and he always showed a particular affection for the Coleoptera. Many new species of beetles discovered by him have been named after him and it always gave him particular pleasure to see the large number of insects bearing the name "turneri" in the collection. Although his knowledge of entomology was confined mainly to observation in the field, he had a wonderful eye for a "species" and often when out collecting he would remark on picking up an insect he felt this was something new either to Science or to the collection. He was a true Cockney by birth and was always a genial companion on safari, his unfailing sense of humour and kindly spirit were a continual joy to all those who had the pleasure of being with him on these occasions.
After a long illness he died at the age of 77 and his loss to East African natural history is irreparable. A. F. J. GEDYE.
City Park Cemetery
TURNER-H J Allen
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