MR. CHURCHILL AT THE ZOO - An original press photograph of Winston S. Churchill feeding Digger, his albino kangaroo, at the London Zoo on 10 September 1947

London: Keystone Press Agency, 10 September 1947. Photograph. This original press photograph captures Winston S. Churchill feeding Digger, the albino kangaroo gifted to him, at the London Zoo on 10 September 1947.

The gelatin silver print on matte photo paper measures 8 x 10 inches (20.3 x 25.4 cm). Condition is very good. The paper is clean and the image clear, with only light wear to the edges and corners and some cockling to the right edge. The verso features a copyright stamp reading “KEYSTONE Press Agency Ltd.” and a typed caption titled “MR., CHURCHILL AT THE ZOO.” and dated “10.9.47.” The caption reads “MR. WINSTON CHURCHILL this afternoon visited the London Zoo, where he saw “Digger”, the albino kangaroo presented to him by the Stock Owners’ Association of South Australia. KEYSTONE PHOTO SHOWS. MR. CHURCHILL seen feeding carrots to “Digger his kangaroo at the Zoo this afternoon.” The caption terminates with a Keystone identification number.

Despite Churchill’s contribution to Allied victory, he faced frustration of his postwar plans when his wartime government fell to Labour in the General Election on 26 July 1945. Nevertheless, in the years between his premierships Churchill was bestowed with innumerable honors, awards, and gifts; this photograph captures one of the most unusual of the latter.

Churchill carried through his life an English affinity for members of the animal kingdom. In addition to his well-documented, lifelong love of horses, Churchill kept a variety of animals at Chartwell including fish, pigs, swans, and a collection of live butterflies. During the war he was well aware of propagandistic uses of animals for national morale such as his photo-op with Rota, the lion that had been gifted to him, and his attention to sustaining the Barbary macaques on Gibraltar.

In 1947 the Stock Owners’ Association of South Australia gifted the wartime Prime Minister with the only albino kangaroo in Europe. Named Digger, the kangaroo was publicly presented to Churchill at a press event at the London Zoo held on 10 September at which this image was captured. Churchill was naturally delighted by Digger, and even hoped to have the kangaroo live for a time in the Chartwell orchard. Such plans were not to be, however, as Digger had poor health and was put down by his caretakers in February 1949. Churchill was reportedly grieved at the loss and hoped to have a burial in Westminster Abbey. Digger would not have such an exalted internment; he was cremated by the zoo and his head was kept for scientific research. After his death Churchill wrote to the Agent General and Trade Commissioner of South Australia that Digger had died “after giving a great deal of pleasure, as a great curiosity, to thousands of visitors to London Zoo.” (Brendon, Churchill’s Menagerie)

During the first half of the twentieth century, photojournalism grew as a practice, fundamentally changing the way the public interacted with current events. Newspapers assembled expansive archives, with physical copies of all photographs published or deemed useful for potential future use, their versos typically marked with ink stamps and notes providing provenance and captions. Today these photographs exist as repositories of historical memory, technological artifacts, and often striking pieces of vernacular art.