Clinton Keeling

British zoologist

Clinton Keeling

FZS

Born| 3 January 1932

Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, United Kingdom

Died| 2007 (aged 74–75)
Occupation(s)| Zoologist, zookeeper, writer
Years active| 1954–2007
Known for| Founder of The Bartlett Society, proprietor of Ashover Zoological Garden
Spouse|

Jill Shaw

(m. 1953, divorced)​

Children| 4

Clinton Harry Keeling FZS (3 January 1932 – 2007) was a British zoologist, zookeeper, and writer. A Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, Keeling founded the Bartlett Society in 1984 to study historical methods of keeping wild animals.[1]

## Biography[edit]

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]

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 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]

## Personal life[edit]

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

## Publications[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

1. ^ a b "The Bartlett Society". www.zoohistory.co.uk. The Bartlett Society.
2. ^ Clinton, C. H. (1970). Keeling's ark. London: Harrap. ISBN 9780245598319.
3. ^ a b c d "KEELING, Clinton Harry 1932–". Contemporary Authors. Gale. 9–12: 451. 1974.
4. ^ a b c d Martell, Edward, ed. (1971). "KEELING, Clinton Harry". The Author's & Writer's Who's Who. Burke's Peerage. 6: 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. ^ a b Bradley, Richard (2018). Secret Chesterfield. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445662619.
7. ^ "The Aquarist and Pondkeeper". The Aquarist and Pondkeeper. 34–35: 19. 1969.
8. ^ Schomberg, Geoffrey (1970). The Penguin guide to British zoos. Harmondsworth: Penguin. p. 24\. ISBN 9780140461541.
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. ^ Keeling, C. H. (1975). Cavies : (guinea pigs). London: Foyles Handbooks. ISBN 0707106133.
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. ^ 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. ISBN 9780953158881.
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. ^ Keeling, C. H. (2016). Ligers, tigons and other hybrid mammals : a summation and critical appraisal of mammalian hybrids. Southampton: The Bartlett Society. ISBN 9780953158850.
26. ^ "BBC Wildlife". BBC Wildlife. BBC Publications. 4–5: 483. 1986.
27. ^ a b Keeling, Jeremy (2010). "1: Pan's Garden". Jeremy and Amy. London: Short Books. ISBN 9781907595318.
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. ^ Zoo and aquarium history : ancient animal collections to zoological gardens. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press. 2001. ISBN 9781420039245.
30. ^ Itoh, Mayumi (2010). "Zoos in Europe and World War II". Japanese Wartime Zoo Policy. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 121–143. doi:10.1057/9780230117440_7. ISBN 978-1-349-29183-0.

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*[m.]: married