Clinton Keeling

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Clinton Keeling
Years active1954–2007
Known forFounder of The Bartlett Society, proprietor of Ashover Zoological Garden
Spouse
Jill Shaw
(m. 1953, divorced)
Children4

Clinton Harry Keeling

Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, Keeling founded the Bartlett Society in 1984 to study historical methods of keeping wild animals.[1]

Biography

Clinton Harry Keeling[2] was born to Arthur and Alice Louise Keeling (née Lent) in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, on 3 January 1932.[3][4] In 1954, Keeling and his wife Jill founded Ashover Zoological Garden

Sugar Puffs.[9] One year the bear escaped from its captivity, and was recaptured after being seen by a nearby agricultural worker.[9]

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a series of books published by Foyles, including Unusual Pets (1959),[10] Cavies (1961),[11] and Mice and Rats (1961).[4] He followed these with a series of Meet the... books published by Harrap throughout the 1960s.[4]

Pan's Garden closed in 1971.[9]

Between 1984 and 2003, Keeling

self-published a series of books on long-closed zoos, with titles such as Where the Lion Trod (1984),[12] Where the Crane Danced (1985),[13] Where the Zebu Grazed (1989),[14] Where the Elephant Walked (1991),[15] Where the Macaw Preened (1993),[16] Where the Penguin Plunged (1995).[17] Where the Leopard Lazed (1999),[18] Where the Peacock Screamed (2002),[19] and Where the Camel Strode (2003).[19] A tenth volume, Where the Coati Climbed, was not published.[20] He also wrote multiple books on the Belle Vue Zoological Gardens in Manchester,[21][22][23] Dudley Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Knowsley Safari Park, London Zoo, and Whipsnade Zoo.[20]

On 27 October 1984, Keeling founded the Bartlett Society (named after the 19th-century zoologist Abraham Dee Bartlett) to study historical methods of keeping wild animals.[1]

Keeling was a travelling lecturer on

hybrid animals, and his book Ligers, Tigons and Other Hybrid Mammals[25] was published posthumously in 2016.[20] He guest-wrote for publications including BBC Wildlife.[26]

Personal life

Keeling married Jill Annette Shaw, an English teacher at St George's School, Ascot,[4] on 24 August 1953.[3] They had four children – sons Anthony and Jeremy and daughters Diana and Phoebe.[3] Jeremy, who co-founded Monkey World,[6] described the family as "dysfunctional" and how his parents' naivety caused an "ambivalent approach to safety" at Pan's Garden.[27] He wrote how his father was "a working class man with delusions of grandeur", and that his fondness for books was matched only by his "absence of practical aptitude".[27] Clinton and Jill's marriage was not a loving one, and Clinton was reportedly amused by Jeremy's distress when Jill was caught having an affair.[28] Clinton later left Jill for a "rich divorcée".[28]

In the 1970s, Keeling was described politically as "ex-

agnostic.[3] He lived in Shalford, Surrey[29] and died in 2007.[16][30]

Publications

The Bartlett Society credits Keeling with 54 publications:[20]

  • Unusual Pets (1958)
  • Cavies (1961)
  • Mice and Rats as Pets (1961)
  • Baby Animals (1962)
  • Meet the Mammals (1962)
  • Meet the Reptiles (1964)
  • Meet the Birds (1968)
  • Keeling's Ark (1970)
  • Odd Animals (1976)
  • Under the Sea (1978)
  • The Life and Death of Belle Vue (1983)
  • Where the Lion Trod (1984)
  • Where the Crane Danced (1985)
  • The Ashover Zoological Garden (1986)
  • A Beginner's Guide to Keeping Frogs and Lizards (1986)
  • Dwarf Hamsters (1987)
  • They All Came Into the Ark (1988)
  • New Look at Animals (1989)
  • They Live at the Castle (1989)
  • Where the Zebu Grazed (1989)
  • Belle Vue Bygones (1990)
  • Whipsnade's War (1990)
  • In the Beginning (1991)
  • Where the Elephant Walked (1991)
  • A Short History of British Reptile Keeping (1992)
  • Here, There and Regent's Park (1992)
  • The Fragments That Remain (1992)
  • What's in a Name? (1993)
  • Where the Macaw Preened (1993)
  • One Man and His Animals (1994)
  • Where the Penguin Plunged (1995)
  • Wonderful Year (1995)
  • The Chessington Story (1996)
  • Remember Belle Vue (1997)
  • The Bristol Book (1998)
  • Sir Peter's Way (1999)
  • Where the Leopard Lazed (1999)
  • The Marvel by the Mersey (2000)
  • Year of Janus (2000)
  • Bits about Birds (2001)
  • E Tenebris (2001)
  • Skyscrapers and Sealions (2002)
  • Where the Peacock Screamed (2002)
  • Little Acorns Grow (2003)
  • Where the Camel Strode (2003)
  • Chessington Notebook (2005)
  • Lubetkin's Legacy (2006)
  • Ligers, Tigons and Other Hybrid Mammals (2016)
  • A New Look at Animals[b]
  • Not Gorillas Again![b]
  • A Young Person's Guide to Animal Names[b]
  • The Changing Land[b]
  • 101 Questions Answered about Animals[b]
  • Shopping Safari[b]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Keeling reportedly disliked the abbreviation "zoo"[5]
  2. ^ a b c d e f The Bartlett Society does not give a publication date

References

  1. ^ a b "The Bartlett Society". www.zoohistory.co.uk. The Bartlett Society.
  2. .
  3. ^ a b c d "KEELING, Clinton Harry 1932–". Contemporary Authors. 9–12. Gale: 451. 1974.
  4. ^ a b c d Martell, Edward, ed. (1971). "KEELING, Clinton Harry". The Author's & Writer's Who's Who. 6. Burke's Peerage: 447.
  5. ^ a b Peaker, Malcolm (11 May 2015). "Unusual Pets by Clinton Keeling". Reptiles, Amphibians and Birds: A Historical Perspective of their Care in Captivity. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  6. ^ .
  7. ^ "The Aquarist and Pondkeeper". The Aquarist and Pondkeeper. 34–35: 19. 1969.
  8. .
  9. ^ a b c d "MDR14961 - Hill Top House, Ashover - Derbyshire Historic Environment Record". her.derbyshire.gov.uk. Derbyshire Historic Environment Record. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  10. ^ Keeling, C. H. (1958). Unusual Pets. Foyles.
  11. .
  12. ^ Keeling, C. H. (1984). Where the Lion Trod: a study of forgotten zoological gardens. Clam Publications.
  13. ^ Keeling, C. H. (1985). Where the Crane Danced: more about zoological gardens of the past. Clam Publications.
  14. .
  15. ^ Keeling, C. H. (1991). Where the Elephant Walked. Clam Publications.
  16. ^ a b Peaker, Malcolm (3 May 2019). "Zoology Jottings: Where the Lion Trod. C.H. Keeling. Zoo history - a new re-publication of the 1984 book, edited by John Adams for the Bartlett Society". Zoology Jottings. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  17. ^ Keeling, C. H. (1995). Where the Penguin Plunged. Clam Publications.
  18. ^ Keeling, C. H. (1999). Where the Leopard Lazed. Clam Publications.
  19. ^ a b Shuker, Karl (16 July 2020). "MY REVIEW OF: WHERE THE LION TROD, BY C.H. KEELING". Good Reads. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  20. ^ a b c d "Publications by Society members". www.zoohistory.co.uk. Bartlett Society. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  21. ^ Keeling, C. H. (1983). The Life and Death of Belle Vue. Clam Publications.
  22. ^ Keeling, C. H. (1990). Belle Vue bygones: a farewell to the Manchester zoological garden. Clam Publications.
  23. ^ Keeling, C. H. (1997). Remember Belle Vue. Clam Publications.
  24. ^ Jones, David (22 February 2020). "NOSTALGIA: Zoological garden plan for busy Glossop park". Quest Media Network. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  25. .
  26. ^ "BBC Wildlife". BBC Wildlife. 4–5. BBC Publications: 483. 1986.
  27. ^ .
  28. ^ a b Jardine, Christine (15 July 2010). "Jeremy Keeling: the monkey man's dark secret". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  29. .
  30. .