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[a] (also known as Pan's Zoological and Botanical Gardens) at Hill Top House – Jill's family home in Ashover, Derbyshire.[6][5][7][8][9] The zoo opened at Easter 1955, and had approximately 250 animals including the bear used in the TV advertisements for 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]
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 zoology, and gave up to 400 talks per year to schools across the country.[24] He had an interest in cryptozoology and 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]
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]
^ abcd"KEELING, Clinton Harry 1932–". Contemporary Authors. Gale. 9–12: 451. 1974.
^ abcdMartell, Edward, ed. (1971). "KEELING, Clinton Harry". The Author's & Writer's Who's Who. Burke's Peerage. 6: 447.
^ abPeaker, 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.
^ abBradley, Richard (2018). Secret Chesterfield. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. ISBN9781445662619.
^"The Aquarist and Pondkeeper". The Aquarist and Pondkeeper. 34–35: 19. 1969.
^Schomberg, Geoffrey (1970). The Penguin guide to British zoos. Harmondsworth: Penguin. p. 24. ISBN9780140461541.
^Keeling, C. H. (1975). Cavies : (guinea pigs). London: Foyles Handbooks. ISBN0707106133.
^Keeling, C. H. (1984). Where the Lion Trod: a study of forgotten zoological gardens. Clam Publications.
^Keeling, C. H. (1985). Where the Crane Danced: more about zoological gardens of the past. Clam Publications.
^Keeling, C. H. (1989). Where the zebu grazed: a further study and discussion on forgotten animal collections, how they were run, and the people who ran them. Clam Publications. ISBN9780953158881.
^Keeling, C. H. (1991). Where the Elephant Walked. Clam Publications.
^Keeling, C. H. (2016). Ligers, tigons and other hybrid mammals : a summation and critical appraisal of mammalian hybrids. Southampton: The Bartlett Society. ISBN9780953158850.
^"BBC Wildlife". BBC Wildlife. BBC Publications. 4–5: 483. 1986.
^ abKeeling, Jeremy (2010). "1: Pan's Garden". Jeremy and Amy. London: Short Books. ISBN9781907595318.