finding an obituary or death record in Zanzibar

[Bintal]

I am looking for an obituary or death record for Hibbs Jean Talma.

He was born in Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles, on 23 February 1894. He was married to Eva Ildah Madere. At some point he moved to Uganda and then on to Zanzibar, where he died after 1920.

Where can I start to look ?

Any help will be very much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Sylvia

[Kevin, now in Chester]

Zanzibar was a British Protectorate at the time, so assuming the deceased was a British National, a death record just might be included in Colonial Office indexes, which should be available through Find My Past etc.
But the surname Talma (if I have understood the construction of the name correctly) seems to be Dutch, so a death might be recorded in Dutch consular records.
Having visited the beautiful island of Zanzibar, now part of Tanzania, many times, I can't think that any personal records from the Protectorate era would still be held there.
The British Library might hold newspapers from the island for the period of the Protectorate which lasted until 1963.
The Anglo-Zanzibar war which helped confirm the island status as a British Protectorate took place on 27 August 1896 and lasted just 38 minutes and is said to be the shortest war in history.
Good luck with your searches.

[Bintal]

Dear Kevin,

Thank you very much for your reply.

In this case the Talma was born in the Seychelles originally. But I agree that the surname can be Dutch as well, as I am a Dutch Talma myself ! 

I will try my luck with the British Newspapers, since that seems to be my best chance.

Thanks again for your help.

Kind regards,
Sylvia Binch-Talma

[Kevin, now in Chester]

Dear Sylvia,

One or two further thoughts.

The main Anglican Cathedral in Zanzibar, which was built between 1873 and 1880, on the site of the thankfully redundant Slave Market, has a website and someone from the Church just might be prepared to look through their registers for any references to Hibbs and Eva Talma, if that was their religion (it was possibly the only place for Christians to worship in Zanzibar at this time; the island group and coastal parts of Tanganyika/Tanzania are predominantly Muslim).

http://www.zanzibaranglican.or.tz/

There is also a Zanzibar Archive, but again the difficulty might be finding someone to undertake the research on your behalf. But here is a link, that gives some insight.

http://www.zanzibar-travel-guide.com/bradt_guide.asp?bradt=1812

I do not know if Zanzibar had its own English-language newspaper at this time, but events on the island might well have been covered by the East African Standard, which was based in Nairobi.  Here is the link to Wikipedia's coverage of the paper (cut and paste into your browser).  The papers might be held within the British Library's Newspaper Archive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Standard_(Kenya)

Good luck with your searches

Kevin (once of Amstelveen)

[Bintal]

Dear Kevin,

Thanks again for your help and for finding those links: I really appreciate it.

I will have a look at the weekend, to see if I can find more on Hibbs Talma. I've been in contact with one of his descendants, and I am hoping to get a more definite death date for him. That will make it a bit easier to look for him.

How neat you used to live in Amstelveen. I live in the north of the country.

Kind regards,
Sylvia

[Kevin, now in Chester]

Dear Sylvia,

I am sure you have already accessed the following, but just in case...

http://henri.maurel.pagesperso-orange.fr/pool&johnstone_d01.htm

I found the link to this Seychelles database on Cyndi's List. It shows your ancestor as Hips Talma, a good variant.

Best wishes

Kevin

[Bintal]

Dear Kevin,

Yes, I am familiar with this excellent website.
I've already found a lot of Talma on it.

Kind regards,
Sylvia