Dodo egg fight ends up in court!
Family members of world-famous naturalist Dr Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer are battling the East London Museum for custody of what is believed to be the world’s only Dodo egg, writes Adrienne Carlisle.
The egg had been in her family for over a century before Courtenay-Latimer, who was the first curator of the East London Museum, agreed to it being housed at the museum some 65 years ago.
But now her niece, Deidre Buchholtz, who inherited her entire estate, and Buchholtz’s son, Dr Michael Buchholtz, are asking the Grahamstown High Court to order the museum to return egg to them.
Courtenay-Latimer, who was most famous for her discovery of the pre-historic Coelacanth fish caught off the East London coast in 1938, died in May 2004 aged 97.
According to published articles in the court papers, when Courtenay-Latimer took over as curator of the museum in the 1950s, it had very few artefacts of any interest.
She brought with her all her books, her mother’s collection of “old native beadwork”, old jewellery, “old fashioned” dress, pieces of china, and of course the Dodo egg for display at the museum.
Letters attached to the court documents reveal that when she left the museum in 1971, she requested the board to allow her to withdraw some items from her collection, but not the egg. The rest, she wrote, “I leave to the museum”.
In April 1973 she again wrote a letter to the board in terms of which she declared that the Courtenay-Latimer material in the museum would “remain the property of the museum in perpetuity except in the event of the said museum falling under the control of any administration other than that of the Cape Province” in which case it would “revert to the Courtenay-Latimer family”.
In 1996, she again wrote to the museum notifying it that since the museum was no longer under the control of the Cape Province, the family intended withdrawing some more of the Courtenay-Latimer antique collection.
However, she advised that the egg could remain in the museum providing that she received written confirmation that it would never be sold or tampered with for any research purposes without the written consent of a responsible member of the Courtenay-Latimer family.
A number of letters than passed between Courtenay-Latimer and the museum culminating in an agreement signed in 1999 in terms of which it was confirmed that the egg was her property but would remain in the custodianship of the museum on “loan”.
Certain conditions were set out for their custodianship, including that it be kept secure and that it never be sold or submitted to any process detrimental to its continued preservation.
It is this agreement which is at issue in the court papers.
So what is the problem? Well, to find out, see Friday’s print or online edition of the Daily Dispatch for the answer.
25 Comments Already, Leave Yours Too
Heirs should respect the dying wishes of their benefactors, that should be the premise of an examination of this matter. Ms Deidre Buchholtz try and uphold the good name your relative has created for yourself and extended family by letting this matter go. The egg is safe as was requested by your benefactor.
Why shouldn’t this egg stay at the museum? Don’t the family think that by leaving the egg where it is that the community can only benefit? Why are they so afraid of a DNA test being done? Is there something to hide? I know that no one will be allowed to damage the egg in any way by doing the DNA test.
So many questions as to why the family so badly want the egg back. Afterall, this egg is something we, as a community and a country, can only be proud of. The WORLD’S ONLY dodo egg.
Come on guys, stop spoiling the fun for our future generations as well. My aunt knew Mrs Courtenay-Latimer personally and I know she would want it to remain with her beloved museum!
How nuch was she offered for this egg and by which country?
Agreed, Curtly. What on earth would they want with a Dodo egg anyway? Save maybe to sell it off….
I wonder if Mrs Courtenay-Latimer would have made her the heir had she known in advance that she wants to remove the Dodo egg from the Museum that she was so passionate about.
I don’t see any reason why the egg should be removed……..removed to where may I ask? To sell off at a huge profit or to sit in some vault for eternity. I also think that Mrs Courtney-Latimer would have wanted everybody to have the pleasure of seeing it whenever they go on an outing to the museum. Something like this should be protected and shared!
This is eggxactly what I am talking about.What came first the egg or the Dodo.
In this case, the Dodo isn’t putting the egg first….
Are you telling me that this egg is older than those on sale at Pick n Pay ??? Unbelievable !!
Places like the Natural History Museum in London would pay an absolute fortune for such a treasure. Let us hope that the EL Museum does not slide down the slippery slope like the zoo, Marina Glen and the rest of EL. They have already lost the wonderful & historical replica of Eros which was stolen and sold to a scrap metal dealer.
The Egg – you Dodo! 
All this talk of eggs, Eros — it’s getting my feathers ruffled. What plot is being hatched? Who would shell out for such a thing? Should we just bury our heads in the sand and ignore it all? Would the public not chirp if the egg were simply given up? It’s a feather in our museum’s cap to have it on display – it should not be poached without a fight. All of us should scramble to support them, because they will definitely drop down the pecking order if it goes, and end up with … yes, egg on their faces.
OPSTOKER seems to have come out of his shell and flown the nest this morning. Full of yolks !!
You don’t get it buddy… Eros = the god of love, Eggs = fertility, East London = all f***** up.
You see everything revolves around s£x.
Freud was right !!!!!
[...] 1. My absolute favourite story of the week comes from the dusty nether regions of the East London museum, where the world’s only known dodo egg is the subject of a court dispute with the family of the famous Marjorie Courtney-Latimer. There’s mulitple twists and turns to the tale but basically it comes down to the family of Courtney-Latimer, who was the curator of the museum for decades and put it on the map with the discovery in the 1930s of the coelecanth, wanting the dodo egg back as they say it was only loaned to the museum by Marg. Read this fascinating story here at the Daily Dispatch. [...]
VEE
Are you calling me a Dodo
Okay, some people are starting to sound so corney now, they are going to grow feathers. The way they cluck around like old birds. Didn’t you realise that this type of humour went the way of the dodo? Anyone would think you were being henpecked! Still, keep it up!
Gavin Taylor
Take the egg away and put a red beach ball!
Gavin, it’s a beautiful early-summer day on Nahoon Beach; the Springboks are the best rugby team in the world; the Currie Cup final is tomorrow – the beer will be cold, the swimming pool warm and the lamb chops (two each) tasty; our stock market has outperformed the US and Britain massively over the past five years; our houses have appreciated by more than anywhere else in the world; and the barmy army will have come and gobe before you can say, “Neo-Nazi”. I wouldn’t swop places with you for all the ear-muffs in England.
OPSTOKER…eggshellent !!! I’m enjoying a typical English autumn day of cold, rain, mud & wind. Meant to be on leave but now have to go and work up a ladder again. BUT, when I get home the pub will beckon, the fire will be warm and a few glasses of the finest dark ale will make me king of my little world.
LARRA, stick that beachball up your black hole of Calcutta !!!
Bye guys !!
Hey Larry!What’s up? you asked a clever question….I answered! Clever use of words huh! Mmmm! now just gotta find the perfect clever use of words for the Caption competition.
@ Opstoker…….what Currie Cup final are you watching tomorrow?
Family members are confused, someone please tel the poor gilrs it’s an Dodo egg and not a D!ldo egg.
Please don’t flag me;)
HAHAHAHAHAHA! you are a scream Curtly! I am not the only one with a fast draw today I see.
I have recently won a court case against the War Museum in Jhb. They refused to return an item loaned to them, claiming ‘prescription’. I am interested in following the story of the Dodo egg and the legal arguments in order to assess the mindset of the museum fraternity. Will Ms Carlisle please contact me to compare notes. Thanks
Looks like an ostrich egg to me. Probably is!
Onsite Now
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