Papers of Marion, Lady Chesham

Correspondence with: Derek Bryceson, mainly 1955-62; Robin Johnston, chairman of the Tanganyikan branch of the Capricorn Africa Society, and its successor, the Tanganyikan National Society; Government officials on political and constitutional matters; Members of the Legislative Council, 1959; Julius Nyerere 1961-65; papers and correspondence concerning the Community Development Trust Fund and its American sponsors; Judith, Countess of Listowel; concerning the 1958 election campaign and the Tanganyikan Government confidential report on the first elections.
Constituency correspondence 1959-60; Tanganyika Elected Members Organisation papers; correspondence about Lady Chesham's nomination in the 1965 and 1970 elections; papers from the Tanganyikan Commonwealth Parliamentary Association's visit to England in 1961; official invitations etc. to Independence celebrations, December 1961; letter and memorandum re Union of Tanganyikan Women; correspondence concerning the attempted army mutiny in January 1964; appointment diaries and notebooks 1958-63. Newspaper cuttings and photographs. Julius Nyerere's notebook on British history with entries made in 1951 while a student at Edinburgh University.

Marion Donoghue was born in Philadelphia (USA), the daughter of Daniel Charles Donoghue in April 1903. She married her third husband, John Compton Cavendish, 4th Baron Chesham, in 1938.
Lord Chesham had recently bought the Southern Highlands estate in Iringa (Tanzania) with the intention of encouraging English immigration to counter the effect of the increasing German settlement of Tanganyika. After a delay caused by the war (during which she served with the Auxiliary Territorial Service and the American Red Cross), the Cheshams started farming at Rungemba and attempted to sub-let portions of the estate in 1946, but the land was unsuitable for large-scale settlement and the venture was never really successful. Lady Chesham helped to manage the estate and became active in community affairs. She was made chairwoman of the Iringa branch of the Tanganyika Council of Women. Lord Chesham died in 1952.
By 1955 Lady Chesham had become a leading local spokesman for the Capricorn Africa Society; but after various disagreements with CAS leaders, she stood as an independent candidate in the 1959 election. She and Derek Bryceson were the European candidates most closely aligned with TANU, the African nationalist party led by Julius Nyerere, and with whose support she was elected. Her friendship with Nyerere dated from that time and she served as an important intermediary between him and Government officials.
In 1961, after lobbying successfully in London against a proposed cut in development aid to Tanganyika, she became a Tanganyikan citizen. She then conceived the idea of a funding agency to collect money overseas and channel it into small scale rural development in Tanganyika. Lady Chesham became executive director of the Community Development Trust Fund in 1961, and held the post until 1971. She was a member of the Tanganyika Legislative Council from 1958 to 1962 and of the National Assembly from 1962 until the union of that country with Zanzibar in 1964. She retired in 1972.
Lady Chesham died in Guildford, England, on 6 September 1973.

When the papers were first listed in the 1970s, the catalogue noted that "the papers have been slightly rearranged from their
original disorder."

Records are open to the public, subject to the overriding provisions of relevant legislation, including data protection laws.

The records were deposited with the Borthwick Institute as part of a collection formed by the Centre for Southern African Studies Documentation Project (1974-1976) at the University of York. Funded by the Leverhulme Trust Fund the Documentation Project was established to build up a collection of primary source material on southern Africa.

Marion Donoghue was born in Philadelphia (USA), the daughter of Daniel Charles Donoghue in April 1903. She married her third husband, John Compton Cavendish, 4th Baron Chesham, in 1938.
Lord Chesham had recently bought the Southern Highlands estate in Iringa (Tanzania) with the intention of encouraging English immigration to counter the effect of the increasing German settlement of Tanganyika. After a delay caused by the war (during which she served with the Auxiliary Territorial Service and the American Red Cross), the Cheshams started farming at Rungemba and attempted to sub-let portions of the estate in 1946, but the land was unsuitable for large-scale settlement and the venture was never really successful. Lady Chesham helped to manage the estate and became active in community affairs. She was made chairwoman of the Iringa branch of the Tanganyika Council of Women. Lord Chesham died in 1952.
By 1955 Lady Chesham had become a leading local spokesman for the Capricorn Africa Society; but after various disagreements with CAS leaders, she stood as an independent candidate in the 1959 election. She and Derek Bryceson were the European candidates most closely aligned with TANU, the African nationalist party led by Julius Nyerere, and with whose support she was elected. Her friendship with Nyerere dated from that time and she served as an important intermediary between him and Government officials.
In 1961, after lobbying successfully in London against a proposed cut in development aid to Tanganyika, she became a Tanganyikan citizen. She then conceived the idea of a funding agency to collect money overseas and channel it into small scale rural development in Tanganyika. Lady Chesham became executive director of the Community Development Trust Fund in 1961, and held the post until 1971. She was a member of the Tanganyika Legislative Council from 1958 to 1962 and of the National Assembly from 1962 until the union of that country with Zanzibar in 1964. She retired in 1972.
Lady Chesham died in Guildford, England, on 6 September 1973.

A typescript finding aid, to file level, is available for consultation in the searchroom of the Borthwick Institute.

Originally listed by Alistair Ross in 'A Guide to the Tanganyikan Papers of Marion Lady Chesham' (University of York, 1975). Retro-converted June 2020.

A reprographics service is available to researchers subject to the access restrictions outlined above. Copying will not be undertaken if there is any risk of damage to the document. Copies are supplied in accordance with the Borthwick Institute for Archives' terms and conditions for the supply of copies, and under provisions of any relevant copyright legislation. Permission to reproduce images of documents in the custody of the Borthwick Institute must be sought.

The papers were collected and saved by Marion Chesham herself. It seems likely that at one time she intended to write an autobiography based on them. On her death she left them to her son. The family subsequently placed the papers with the Centre for Southern African Studies.

Further accruals are not expected.

The National Archives of Tanzania also contain references to Lady Chesham (TNA 157/C5/38/1 and TNA SMP 36481 III)

Published

GB 193