The Campbell Collections, under curatorship of the University of Natal, is housed in the former Campbell family house called Muckleneuk. The house is located on the high ridge at the back of Durban central in a suburb known as The Berea.

The house and over a hectare of gardens were established by Sir Marshall Campbell in 1914, after his death, three years later, his family continued to live there for half a century. It was taken over, and maintained since, by the University in 1965. The Collections are reputed to include, in historical terms, some of the most valuable Africana in South Africa. The Collections can be viewed by appointment only.

The Mashu Museum of Ethnology
The Museum, named in honour of Sir Marshall Campbell, consists of many examples of the material culture of African people in the late 1800's and early 1900's, including the San or Bushmen, of Southern Africa. The artifacts are complemented by numerous paintings, prints and photographs and also by the many works on ethnology in the Killie Campbell Africana Library. The collection includes pictorial representations of African styles of dress in the form of more than 250 paintings by Barbara Tyrell (1912-). Social life and customs are also reflected by the work of several Zulu artists including Jabulani Ntuli (1898-), Gerard Benghu (1910-) and S.M.T. Mnguni (1885-1956).

The William Campbell Furniture Museum
Muckleneuk is still furnished much as it was when the Campbell family lived there. Many items of furniture in the museum are of interest because of their former owners. It includes a chair, which belonged to the American missionary Daniel Lindley (1801 - 1880) - the first ordained minister among the Voortrekkers in Natal. Lindley founded the Inanda Seminary for Zulu girls, which has deposited his bible in the museum on permanent loan. You can see a stool carved by Dinuzulu, a Zulu king, whilst he was detained on the island of St. Helena. Other interesting items include a teak dressing table mirror used by Mary Livingstone (1821-62), wife of the missionary David Livingstone (1813-73); an Italian suit of armour; a bottle of Constantia wine, dated 1791; and an Edison phonograph player.

The Killie Campbell Africana Library
The Library is home to many works of extreme rarity and value. Amongst these is the Proceedings....at the Cape of Good Hope, in a criminal process for libel...against Laurence Halloran, published in 1811. Another rare item is Volume 1 of The Cape cyclopedia (1835), a religious publication which included a short account of George Schmidt (1709-1785), the first Moravian missionary in South Africa who worked amongst the Khoikhoi or Hottentots. The Zulu War of 1879 is well represented, not only by relics from the battlefield of Isandhlwana and the regimental colour of the Edendale Native Horse, but also by such books as The Zulu War, 1879, reprinted from the Natal Mercury (1879) and the rare The Zulu Army, and Zulu headmen (1879). The library is rich in illustrative material for, besides the extensive graphic collection, there are many photographs dealing with Natal and Zululand.

One of the largest and most important manuscript collection in the Killie Campbell Africana Library is that relating to John William Colenso (1814-1883) and his determined and able family. Colenso, who was a controversial Bishop of the Church of England in Natal, not only had a talent for mathematics, but was a noted biblical scholar and an outstanding figure in Zulu linguistic and literary work. He was a prolific writer and among his many works in the Library is a rare item commenting on Frere's policy. It is a massive tome with marginal notes in the Bishop's own handwriting.

(source: most of the above information comes from the Campbell Collections website -quoted or adapted-, for more information from that site follow the link provided below)