Dr. Margaret Roach ‘Killie’ Campbell, collector of Africana, dies in Durban

Margaret Roach "Killie" Campbell was born in Mount Edgecombe, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) on 9 September 1881. She was educated at St. Anne's Diocesan College in Natal and St. Leonard's School in Scotland, where she is said to have developed a profound interest in history. Campbell was well known for her private collection of Africana, which is made up of items specific to Natal and the Zulu people. She collected manuscripts, books, photographs and maps over her lifetime, and encouraged both settlers and Zulu families to write their family stories, in order to preserve local history. The house that she grew up in, in Berea, Durban, was called "Muckleneuk" and was built in 1914 by her father, Sir Marshall Campbell, a sugar magnate. She lived in the house her entire life, and today it is home to the Campbell Collections of the University of Natal (now known as the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her collection of historical artefacts has allowed for much research, and she was awarded honorary degrees from the University of Natal and the University of the Witwatersrand for her valuable contribution to historical preservation. She died in Durban on 27 September 1965, and her collection was donated posthumously to the university.