by Christine Nicholls | Oct 31, 2019 | Christine Nicholls
Tea and Limuru School What have Kenya tea and Limuru Girls’ School got in common? The answer is Arnold Butler McDonell, the founder of both the Kenyan tea industry and Limuru School. Three McDonell brothers, Ronald, George and Arnold, and their sister Gertrude...
by Shel Arensen | Oct 10, 2019 | Shel Arensen
In our August-September issue (#84) of Old Africa we showed some photos of Mt Ololokwe, which I had climbed with my son Reid and his wife and four of my grandchildren in July. We used those photos as our History Mystery contest. We had an amazing response and we...
by Christine Nicholls | Oct 6, 2019 | Christine Nicholls
Who were Mr Gailey and Mr Roberts? The firm Gailey & Roberts has been known over East Africa for more than a century, but who were Mr Gailey and Mr Roberts? John Hamilton Gailey, born in Edmonton in 1870 and educated at King’s College School in London, and David...
by Christine Nicholls | Sep 12, 2019 | Christine Nicholls
Storekeeper and Newspaper Pioneer Few will remember the Dewdrop Inn at Rumuruti, but the newspaper the Sunday Postwill ring many a bell. One man was responsible for both endeavours: John Sylvanus Rathbone. Clutching a map provided by the Land Office, in 1920 Rathbone...
by Christine Nicholls | Jul 26, 2019 | Christine Nicholls
A Most Unusual Missionary Charles Henry Stokes was far from being your traditional missionary. Irish, excitable, easily swayed, unreliable, passionate, he regarded the making of money as a most important aspect of life. To this end he deviated from his missionary...
by Shel Arensen | Jul 26, 2019 | Shel Arensen
Issue 84 of Old Africa has a story about Martin and Osa Johnson and their first safaris to Kenya to film Africa’s wildlife. This blog gives some of the background on Martin and Osa’s life before coming to Africa. Movie poster from the film Trailing African Wild...
by admin | Jul 8, 2019 | Judy Aldrick
Sharing Northrup’s Millions by Judy Aldrick I always enjoy receiving feedback and discovering new information. It makes writing about East African history all the more worthwhile for me. Imagine my surprise when several years after my book about Sir Northrup...
by Christine Nicholls | Jul 1, 2019 | Christine Nicholls
They were eccentrics and drunkards, adventurers and sober engineers – people who were recruited to run the brand new railway snaking from Mombasa to Lake Victoria before the start of the twentieth century. One such character was Benjamin Eastwood, born in Weymouth on...
by Christine Nicholls | May 31, 2019 | Christine Nicholls
An Enterprising Female Pioneer Who remembers their parents buying their school uniforms from Hudsons Ltd in Nairobi? You probably never wondered who Hudson was. In fact, the name belonged to a very enterprising woman who came to East Africa in August 1899 – Ann...
by Christine Nicholls | May 3, 2019 | Christine Nicholls
Charles Cottar The name Cottar is well known in Kenya, but who was the first Cottar to arrive? An American born in 1874 in Cedar County, Iowa, went to East Africa on an exploratory safari in 1912. This man, Charles Cottar, returned with his father in...
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