NORTHCOLE'S URHOBO COLLECTION
About the Collections
Northcote Whitridge Thomas (1868-1936) was the first trained anthropologist to be appointed to the post of ‘Government Anthropologist’ by the British Colonial Office. This appointment was an early experiment in the use of the emerging discipline of anthropology as a tool in colonial governance in the British colonial context. Unlike a subsequent generation of government anthropologists, who were members of the Colonial Service trained in anthropology, Thomas was not a colonial administrator. Rather he was engaged on a tour-by-tour basis to gather anthropological data – including information about local ‘customs and laws’ – that would be disseminated to colonial administrators and policy makers with a view to refining practices of ‘indirect rule’. In this capacity, Thomas conducted a series of anthropological surveys in Southern Nigeria and Sierra Leone between 1909 and 1915. During these tours, each between 12 and 15 months in duration, Thomas travelled extensively in the regions in which he was engaged, gathering information that he would write up in his reports, taking photographs, making sound recordings, and collecting artefacts as well as botanical specimens. Thomas was also permitted to conduct research of a more ‘scientific’ nature, so long as this did not interfere with his official responsibilities. Thus, in addition to a series of multi-volume official reports, published between 1910 and 1916, Thomas also wrote a large number of academic articles and the manuscript of an ethnographic monograph. His collections are currently stored at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge.
Source: Prof. Paul Basu
Audio & Publications
Thomas' field trip to Urhobo land was in 1909. He did his collections in Sapele, Ajeyube, Effurun, Agbassa, Kokori, Okpara, Iyede, Okwoloho, Ovun, Emosoga and Ughelli. Below is the list of the audio recordings collected during the field trip:
- Emosoga Story (187)- Ref: P.114)
- Emosoga Story (198) -Ref: P.114)
- Sapele Story (270)
- Sapele Story (271)
- Efurun song (272a)
- Okwoloho story (272b)
- Ajeyube song (273)
- Ajeyube Song (274)
- Ajeyubs Song (275)
- Ajeyube Song (276)
- Ugheli Song (277b)
- Ovu—Ugeli Song (278) -Ref: P.128
- Ugeli Record (279)
- Iyede Song & Story (280)
- Iyede Songs (281)
- Iyede Record (282)- Ref: P.126
- Agbasa songs
- Agbasa Songs
- Kokori Songs (285)
- Okpara Songs (286)
- Ovu Song (287)
- Ovu Song (288)
Below are the publications from the collections
- Thomas, Northcote Whitridge. 1910. Anthropological report on the Edo-speaking peoples of Nigeria. Part 1: Law and custom. London: Harrison & Sons. PDF
- Thomas, Northcote Whitridge. 1910. Anthropological report on the Edo-speaking peoples of Nigeria. Part 2. Linguistics. London: Harrison & Sons.
- Thomas, Northcote Whitridge. 1910. The Edo-speaking peoples of Nigeria. Journal of the African Society 10(37): 1-15.