2 minute read
Heritage Collection
The Shaw & Hunter Trophy
The Shaw & Hunter Trophy (the Professional Hunters’ ‘Oscar’) was awarded for the most outstanding game trophy taken by a client, and was the most prestigious annual accolade that could be earned by a member of the erstwhile East African Professional Hunters’ Association. It was competed for avidly.
Advertisement
Made of hollow-cast Sterling silver, the Shaw & Hunter Trophy was donated to the East African Professional Hunters’ Association by Messrs Shaw and Hunter, Gunsmiths & Safari Oufitters of Nairobi (which after Independence became Kenya Bunduki and is still in existence today.)
Shaw was the gunsmith, and he partnered with Hilda Hunter, the wife of ‘J.A.’ the famous, appropriately named Scottish Professional Hunter who arrived in Kenya (BEA) in 1902.
The first PH to receive the Shaw & Hunter Trophy was Miles Turner in 1955 for a Lesser Kudu, and the last person to win it was Lionel Hartley for a Hartebeest in 1976, the last full season before Professional hunting closed in Kenya.
The Shaw & Hunter Trophy is modeled on one of the most famous Professional Hunters - Syd Downey, of Ker & Downey fame - who was one of only two hunters to win the trophy twice - the other was Derek Dunn.
Syd Downey after winning the Shaw & Hunter Trophy that was modeled on him.
In its 22 years, more than half the winners of the legendary trophy were MCC Members.
The trophy was recently bequeathed to the Club by the late Margaret Downey, Syd’s only daughter, and can be seen in the Heritage display cabinet in the Main Reception.
by Aldo Manos
Aldo Manos recently launched his bi-lingual booklet highlighting the contribution made by Italian PoWs in WWII, to the building of modern Kenya.
When the Italian army surrendered in Somalia in November 1941, 50,000 Italian soldiers were rounded up and transported to Kenya where they were put into Prisoner of War camps.
Aldo’s book revives the memory of the Italian PoWs’ contribution to the building of modern Kenya, and demonstrates the great and varied abilities and skills, which have always distinguished the Italian people and the nation.
The PoWs can be credited for building chapels, schools, monuments, roads, bridges, the first brick kiln in Kenya, irrigation channels, dams, houses and and even for creating the first symphony orchestra in sub-Saharan Africa (using hand-made instruments), which still performs today.
This is a delightful booklet that brings to life the character and skills of the indomitable Italian PoWs, undaunted by their imprisonment and celebrates the rich legacy they left behind.
Aldo is pictured here with MCC Heritage Collection Chairman Tom Lawrence at thelaunch of his book “Early Italian Contributions to the Building of Modern Kenya”.
Behind them is a wooden panel carved by an Italian Prisoner of War during his internment in WWII. It is copied from the drawing on a packet of Skipper cigarettes, which were popular at the time.
