Remembering the Snake Park

The old picture this week features a long time feature of Durban’s beachfront, the Fitzsimons Snake Park. It was probably shot in the 1950s and was posted in the Facebook Group Durban Down Memory Lane.

The park is a tribute to outstanding naturist and herpetologist Frederick William Fitzsimons, and his sons Vivian Frederick Maynard FitzSimons (1901-1975) who became director of the Transvaal Museum in 1947 and had a particular interest in South African reptiles. His other son, Desmond Charles FitzSimons, established the Durban Snake Park on the city’s Golden Mile.

Frederick was born in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in 1870, and came to Pietermaritzburg with his family in 1877. A very young Fitzsimons was appointed curator of the Pietermaritzburg Museum in 1897 from where he transferred to the Natal Government Museum. In 1906 he moved to the Port Elizabeth Museum as director. In 1918 he founded Africa's first snake-park there, which was also the world's second.

Frederick Fitzsimons published The Snakes of South Africa, their venom and the treatment of snake bites in 1910. One of his other books, Snakes (1932) was so in demand it was translated into German. His contribution in scientific journals and reports on the experiments he carried out resulted in a first-aid serum treatment. It was the first complete first-aid remedy from South Africa, patented in the late 1940s.

He is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of lizard, Tetradactylus fitzsimonsi.

He died in 1951.

Desmond Fitzsimons wrote an article  “Happy Home for 10 000 Snakes” which was published in the 1950 edition of the Empire Youth Annual which shows his original Snake Park was located in Doonside near Amanzimtoti. This was the forerunner of the Fitzsimons Snake Park in the Lower Marine Parade that sadly closed down in 2008 to make way for a beachfront upgrade for the 2010 World Cup.

On the Facebook post a number of Durbanites shared their memories.

Noel Currie paid tribute to the Fitzsimons family. “While the park is now closed, it was a well-known tourist attraction and a significant center for snake research and venom extraction in Durban,” he writes

Godfrey Baillie-Searle noted that he used to sell snakes to the snake park, while Nicky Knight remembers seeing a snake swallow a frog. “It always stuck in my mind as a five year old. Got photos of it somewhere.”

Jo Tyler appreciated their advice: “When my pet brown house snake laid eggs, I didn't have a clue what to do. I rushed to the snake park for help. They told me what to do and about 60 days later I was the proud (grand)mother to five healthy hatchlings.”