Happy Valley set
Encyclopedia
The Happy Valley set was a group of privileged British colonials living in the Happy Valley region of the Wanjohi Valley,
near the Aberdare mountain range
, in the colonies of Kenya
and Uganda
during the 1920s - 1940s. The elite social group became notorious for stories of drug use and promiscuous sexual encounters.
The area around Naivasha, Kenya
was one of the first to be settled by white people and one of the hunting grounds of the hedonistic Happy Valley set.
The colonial town of Nyeri, Kenya
, to the east of the Aberdare Range, was the center of Happy Valley settlers.
The white community in Kenya in the pre-WWII period was divided into two distinct factions: settlers, on the one side, and colonial officials and tradesmen, on the other. Among both groups there was a dominance of upper-middle-class and upper-class British citizens, but the two groups often disagreed on issues ranging from land allocation to how to deal with the natives.
Typically, the officials and tradesmen looked on the Happy Valley set with disdain and embarrassment. The height of the Happy Valley set's influence was in the late 1920s. The recession sparked by the 1929 Wall Street stock market crash greatly decreased the number of new arrivals to Kenya and the influx of capital. Nevertheless, by 1939 Kenya had a white community of 21,000 people.
Some of the members (described below) of the Happy Valley set were:
Hugh Cholmondeley
(Lord Delamere), Sir Jock Delves Broughton, Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll
, Lady Idina Sackville
, Alice de Janzé
(cousin of J. Ogden Armour
), Frédéric de Janzé, Lady Diana Delves Broughton, Gilbert Colville, Hugh Dickenson, Jack Soames, Nina Soames, Lady June Carberry (mother of Juanita Carberry), Dickie Pembroke, and Julian Lezzard. Author Karen Blixen
(Isak Dinesen) had also been a friend of Josslyn Hay.
The lifestyle finally became untenable as the Mau Mau Uprising
progressed during the 1950s.
In recent years, descendants of the Happy Valley set have been appearing in the news, particularly the legal troubles of Thomas P. G. Cholmondeley, the great-grandson of the famous Lord Delamere
.
, east of the Great Rift Valley
. The area around Naivasha, Kenya
was one of the first to be settled by white people and one of the hunting grounds of the hedonistic Happy Valley set. The area also includes Thomson's Falls
.
Some members of the Happy Valley set lived in Gilgil
, Kenya
, just north of Lake Naivasha
.
The colonial town of Nyeri, Kenya
, to the east of the Aberdare Range, was the center of Happy Valley settlers, the group of British aristocrats and adventurers who later became infamous for decadent lifestyles and exploits in the 1930s and 1940s. The town has had the atmosphere of a sleepy English village, an impression fostered by the cool air and morning mists.
Outside Nyeri is the Outspan Hotel, a colonial landmark which became a place of pilgrimage for the world's Scouts. A small cottage on the hotel grounds was the final home of Baden-Powell
and his wife, founder of the scouting movement, and he is buried outside Nyeri. The cottage has a small museum dedicated to Baden-Powell's life and memory.
, which dramatised the trial of Sir 'Jock' Delves Broughton
for the murder of the 22nd Earl of Erroll
; and The Happy Valley
, Juanita Carberry's account of her adolescence and later involvement with the Delves Broughton case. A biography of Idina Sackville
, The Bolter, by Frances Osborne
includes stories of the origins of the Happy Valley set and features many of its key characters. Sackville was married to Lord Erroll for several years, and they had a child together.
Although there is no actual definition of what constitutes a member of the Happy Valley set, it is generally agreed by writers that it refers to white colonials located in or around the area of the Wanjohi Valley, who were infamous during the 1920s-1940s period for a number of scandals, usually revolving around infidelity and drug/alcohol abuse. Some of the most notable members of that clique are the following:
("moo-Tay-gah"), the pink stucco gathering-place for Nairobi's white elite, and then climb up to retrieve them. He died in 1931. At the outbreak of WWI, Delamere was placed in charge of Intelligence on the Maasai border, monitoring the movements of German units in present day Tanzania
.
's British Union of Fascists
and, on his return to Kenya a year later, became president of the Convention of Associations. In 1939, on the outbreak of World War II
, Lord Erroll became a captain
in the Kenya Regiment
and accepted the post of Military Secretary
for East Africa
in 1940.
In 1939, Erroll's wife died from the effects of consuming a concoction of alcohol
, morphine
and heroin. In late 1940, Lord Erroll met Diana, Lady Delves Broughton, the new and much younger wife of Sir Jock Delves Broughton, Bt.
Lord Erroll and Lady Delves Broughton soon became lovers. Their romance was a very public one and they intended to elope. Delves Broughton reportedly gave his blessings. However, in January 1941, Erroll was found shot dead in his car in an intersection outside Nairobi. Although Delves Broughton was charged, he was tried and acquitted of the murder. Numerous books and articles have been written on the murder mystery and various theories have been argued; however, the murder remains officially unsolved.
and cousin of poet Vita Sackville-West
, Myra Idina Sackville (1893 – 1955), she scandalized society when she divorced her first husband, Euan Wallace
, losing the right to see her two sons, who were later killed while serving their country during World War II. Idina abandoned her second husband, Captain Charles Gordon, for her lover, Joss Hay, the future Earl of Erroll, eight years her junior. Together, they moved to Kenya in 1924 and essentially pioneered the decadent lifestyle of the Happy Valley set. Idina became notorious for hosting wild parties, which included spouse-swapping and drug use. Stories were also told of how she often welcomed her guests in a bathtub made of green onyx and then proceeded to dress before them. After she and Erroll divorced, she married twice more. She died in 1955.
and Buffalo
, New York
, daughter of an alcoholic felt manufacturer and niece to magnate J. Ogden Armour
. She lived in Paris since the early 1920s, together with her husband, Count Frédéric de Janzé. The couple first met Joss Hay, Earl of Erroll and his wife, Idina, when the latter two lived in Paris in the early 1920s. After the Hays moved to the Wanjohi Valley in Kenya, they invited the de Janzés for lion hunting, in 1925 and 1926. The de Janzés lived in a house next to the Hays for several months. Alice had an affair with Lord Erroll and later with Raymond de Trafford. When the de Janzés returned to Paris, Alice abandoned her husband for Raymond.
Alice made international headlines in 1927, when she shot Raymond in a Paris railway station and then shot herself. It was later revealed she did this on account of her anguish, after Raymond told her he couldn't marry her. They were both hospitalized but survived; Alice was tried by a Paris court and got away with a four-dollar fine. When she returned to Kenya in 1928, she was forced by the government to leave the country as an undesirable alien. In 1932, she and Raymond married in France, but split almost immediately and later divorced. Alice later returned to the Happy Valley in Kenya. Depressive, alcoholic and addicted to morphine, she remained in Kenya until she committed suicide by shooting herself in 1941. Prior to her death, Alice had been considered as a suspect for the murder of Lord Erroll. A story was told of how she smeared his dead body with her vaginal fluids when she visited him at the morgue.
, Comte (Count) Frédéric de Janzé was also famous in France for his career as a racing driver. Following an invitation from their friends, Joss and Idina Hay, he and his wife, Alice, first travelled to the Wanjohi Valley, Kenya, in 1925 and spent months there, hunting lions. Frédéric had an affair with Idina, while Alice was having an affair with Joss. Frédéric wrote a memoir, Vertical Land, in which he gives his impressions of several of the notable personalities of the Happy Valley set. He returned with Alice to Happy Valley in 1926, during which time Alice tried to elope with her new lover, Raymond de Trafford. The de Janzés divorced in 1927, in the aftermath of Alice's shooting scandal. Frédéric died in 1933, of sepsis
, aged 37.
and Vanderbilt families. Kiki and her second husband, Jeromy "Gerry" Preston (1897 – 1934) first moved to Kenya in 1926, after being offered land on the shores of Lake Naivasha by a friend. Kiki and her husband excelled as big game hunters. Kiki was also notorious for her drug use, especially her addiction to cocaine and heroin, and was one of the best clients of the chief drug dealer of the colony, Frank Greswolde Williams. She was nicknamed "the girl with the silver syringe", due to her habit of always carrying her syringe into her bag and publicly shooting drugs, without regard for onlookers. Whenever she was out of supplies, she would send an aeroplane to pick up new ones. Kiki also had numerous affairs with men, including Prince George, Duke of Kent
, whom she introduced to drugs, much to the dismay of the British royal family, which forbade them from seeing each other. Kiki is often alleged to have borne a child out of wedlock from her affair with Prince George, who later became publishing executive Michael Canfield, adopted son of Cass Canfield
.
Following her husband's death, Kiki gradually abandoned the farm and returned to United States. Her son, Ethan, was killed in the Normandy Landings. Kiki committed suicide in 1946, jumping out of the window of her apartment at the Stanhope Hotel
, in New York City
.
, Raymond Vincent de Trafford (1900 – 1971) was a British nobleman from an old Irish aristocratic family. A gambler, womaniser and alcoholic, de Trafford was a notable presence in the Happy Valley set during the 1920s, and had numerous lovers, including Alice de Janze and Kiki Preston. He once attempted to seduce Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
, but was repelled. De Trafford was once reported to be so drunk, he set some houses of Kenyans on fire one night.
De Trafford was threatened by his family to be disinherited if he were to marry Alice de Janze. In 1927, after discovering the truth, Alice shot him and then shot herself, while in a train station in Paris. Raymond survived and later tried to defend Alice in her trial. In 1932, he married Alice, but almost immediately deserted her (allegedly, because he feared her) and moved to Australia. In 1939, he hit and killed a man with his car while under the influence, and spent three years in prison for manslaughter. A year later, he filed for bankruptcy.
However, Erroll was murdered in January 1941. Broughton was considered a major suspect. He was arrested by the police and tried for the murder of Erroll. Due to lack of evidence and to ballistic considerations, he was acquitted. Juanita Carberry, stepdaughter of Baron John Carberry, maintains that Broughton confessed the murder to her shortly after his acquittal. Diana quickly divorced Broughton. He returned to England, where he committed suicide by barbiturate overdose in 1942.
Erroll was discovered murdered in his car in January 1941. Broughton was charged with his murder but was acquitted in the trial. Diana stood up for her husband, but after the trial accused him of being the murderer and abandoned him. She has been speculated by writers to have either covered for Broughton, worked as his accomplice in the murder or been the murderer herself. Other writers have also claimed that she was promiscuous, a closeted lesbian and that she shot three of her lovers on various occasions.
Following her divorce from Broughton, she married Gilbert Colville in 1943, one of the wealthiest and most powerful landowners in Kenya. Years later, Diana married the 4th Baron Delamere and increased her land fortune. By the time of Delamere's death, she was possibly the most powerful white woman in Africa, dubbed the "White Queen of Africa".
Leone, Cav. Galton-Fenzi
He was the founder of the Royal East African Automobile Association, REAAA, in 1919, and Honorary Secretary until his death on May 15th., 1937. He was the first man to drive from Nairobi to Mombasa in January, 1926 in a Riley. There is a monument to this effect on Kenyatta Avenue.
In 1923, Galton Fenzi started negotiating for loan cars so that they could be tested under East African conditions. He received several vehicles, notably among them a Riley 12/50 from the Riley Motor Car Co. Ltd. of Coventry, which was used by Fenzi and Captain Gethin to pioneer a route from Nairobi to Mombasa in January 1926, a distance of 300 miles. He also pioneered the Nairobi - Dar-es-Salaam to Malawi route, and the Nairobi-Khartoum route.
The EA Standard of 1924 quotes: ‘Galton Fenzi is always doing things, and he does them so quickly the public has no time to recover its breath!’.
:Category:Settlers of Kenya
near the Aberdare mountain range
Aberdare Range
The Aberdare Range is a 160 km long mountain range of upland, north of Kenya's capital Nairobi with an average elevation of . It is located in west central Kenya, northeast of Naivasha and Gilgil and just south of the Equator...
, in the colonies of Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
and Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
during the 1920s - 1940s. The elite social group became notorious for stories of drug use and promiscuous sexual encounters.
The area around Naivasha, Kenya
Naivasha
Naivasha is a market town in Rift Valley Province, Kenya, lying north west of Nairobi. It is located on the shore of Lake Naivasha and along the Nairobi - Nakuru highway and Uganda Railway.Naivasha is part of the Nakuru District...
was one of the first to be settled by white people and one of the hunting grounds of the hedonistic Happy Valley set.
The colonial town of Nyeri, Kenya
Nyeri
Nyeri is a town in situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya Kenya, which was the administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province...
, to the east of the Aberdare Range, was the center of Happy Valley settlers.
The white community in Kenya in the pre-WWII period was divided into two distinct factions: settlers, on the one side, and colonial officials and tradesmen, on the other. Among both groups there was a dominance of upper-middle-class and upper-class British citizens, but the two groups often disagreed on issues ranging from land allocation to how to deal with the natives.
Typically, the officials and tradesmen looked on the Happy Valley set with disdain and embarrassment. The height of the Happy Valley set's influence was in the late 1920s. The recession sparked by the 1929 Wall Street stock market crash greatly decreased the number of new arrivals to Kenya and the influx of capital. Nevertheless, by 1939 Kenya had a white community of 21,000 people.
Some of the members (described below) of the Happy Valley set were:
Hugh Cholmondeley
Hugh Cholmondeley, 3rd Baron Delamere
Hugh Cholmondeley, 3rd Baron Delamere KCMG , styled The Honourable from birth until 1887, was a British peer. He was one of the first and most influential British settlers in Kenya....
(Lord Delamere), Sir Jock Delves Broughton, Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll
Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll
Josslyn Victor Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll and 5th Baron Kilmarnock was a British peer, famed for the unsolved case surrounding his murder and the sensation it caused during wartime Britain.-Early life:Hay was the eldest son of the diplomat Victor Hay, Lord Kilmarnock and his wife...
, Lady Idina Sackville
Idina Sackville
Lady Myra Idina Sackville was a British aristocrat and member of the infamous Happy Valley set. Her deviant behaviour and promiscuous lifestyle scandalised upper class society.-Life and marriages:...
, Alice de Janzé
Alice de Janzé
Alice de Janzé, née Silverthorne , also known as Alice de Trafford and holder of the noble title Comtesse de Janzé for a few years, was an American heiress who spent years in Kenya, as a member of the Happy Valley set of colonials...
(cousin of J. Ogden Armour
J. Ogden Armour
Jonathan Ogden Armour was an American meatpacking magnate in Chicago, and owner and president of Armour and Company. During his tenure as president, Armour & Co...
), Frédéric de Janzé, Lady Diana Delves Broughton, Gilbert Colville, Hugh Dickenson, Jack Soames, Nina Soames, Lady June Carberry (mother of Juanita Carberry), Dickie Pembroke, and Julian Lezzard. Author Karen Blixen
Karen Blixen
Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke , , née Karen Christenze Dinesen, was a Danish author also known by her pen name Isak Dinesen. She also wrote under the pen names Osceola and Pierre Andrézel...
(Isak Dinesen) had also been a friend of Josslyn Hay.
The lifestyle finally became untenable as the Mau Mau Uprising
Mau Mau Uprising
The Mau Mau Uprising was a military conflict that took place in Kenya between 1952 and 1960...
progressed during the 1950s.
In recent years, descendants of the Happy Valley set have been appearing in the news, particularly the legal troubles of Thomas P. G. Cholmondeley, the great-grandson of the famous Lord Delamere
Hugh Cholmondeley, 3rd Baron Delamere
Hugh Cholmondeley, 3rd Baron Delamere KCMG , styled The Honourable from birth until 1887, was a British peer. He was one of the first and most influential British settlers in Kenya....
.
Location
The Wanjohi Valley is near Aberdare National ParkAberdare National Park
- External links :* * * *...
, east of the Great Rift Valley
Great Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately in length, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa...
. The area around Naivasha, Kenya
Naivasha
Naivasha is a market town in Rift Valley Province, Kenya, lying north west of Nairobi. It is located on the shore of Lake Naivasha and along the Nairobi - Nakuru highway and Uganda Railway.Naivasha is part of the Nakuru District...
was one of the first to be settled by white people and one of the hunting grounds of the hedonistic Happy Valley set. The area also includes Thomson's Falls
Thomson's Falls
Thomson's Falls is a 74 m scenic waterfall on the Ewaso Narok river, which drains from the Aberdare Mountain Range. It is situated near the town Nyahururu in central Kenya, at 2,360 m elevation. 1883 Joseph Thomson was the first European to reach Thomson Falls, and named them for his father...
.
Some members of the Happy Valley set lived in Gilgil
Gilgil
Gilgil, Kenya is a town in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. The town is located between Naivasha and Nakuru and along the Nairobi - Nakuru highway. Gilgil has a population of 18,805 . Gilgil is also the centre of the Gilgil division in Nakuru District.- History :During the 1920s - 1940s, some...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, just north of Lake Naivasha
Lake Naivasha
Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, lying north west of Nairobi, outside the town of Naivasha. It is part of the Great Rift Valley. The name derives from the local Maasai name Nai'posha, meaning "rough water" because of the sudden storms which can arise...
.
The colonial town of Nyeri, Kenya
Nyeri
Nyeri is a town in situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya Kenya, which was the administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province...
, to the east of the Aberdare Range, was the center of Happy Valley settlers, the group of British aristocrats and adventurers who later became infamous for decadent lifestyles and exploits in the 1930s and 1940s. The town has had the atmosphere of a sleepy English village, an impression fostered by the cool air and morning mists.
Outside Nyeri is the Outspan Hotel, a colonial landmark which became a place of pilgrimage for the world's Scouts. A small cottage on the hotel grounds was the final home of Baden-Powell
Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Bt, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB , also known as B-P or Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, and founder of the Scout Movement....
and his wife, founder of the scouting movement, and he is buried outside Nyeri. The cottage has a small museum dedicated to Baden-Powell's life and memory.
Popular culture
The antics of the Happy Valley set were highlighted in books and films such as White MischiefWhite Mischief
White Mischief is a 1987 film dramatising the events of the Happy Valley murder case in Kenya in 1941, when Sir Henry "Jock" Delves Broughton was tried for the murder of Josslyn Hay, Earl of Erroll....
, which dramatised the trial of Sir 'Jock' Delves Broughton
Jock Delves Broughton
Henry John Delves Broughton, 11th Baronet Broughton was a British aristocrat who is chiefly known for standing trial for the murder of Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll...
for the murder of the 22nd Earl of Erroll
Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll
Josslyn Victor Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll and 5th Baron Kilmarnock was a British peer, famed for the unsolved case surrounding his murder and the sensation it caused during wartime Britain.-Early life:Hay was the eldest son of the diplomat Victor Hay, Lord Kilmarnock and his wife...
; and The Happy Valley
The Happy Valley
The Happy Valley is a British television drama, first shown on BBC1 on 6 September 1987 in the Sunday Premiere strand. It was written by David Reid, directed by Richard Devenish, and produced by Cedric Messina...
, Juanita Carberry's account of her adolescence and later involvement with the Delves Broughton case. A biography of Idina Sackville
Idina Sackville
Lady Myra Idina Sackville was a British aristocrat and member of the infamous Happy Valley set. Her deviant behaviour and promiscuous lifestyle scandalised upper class society.-Life and marriages:...
, The Bolter, by Frances Osborne
Frances Osborne
Frances Osborne is a British author. She is the eldest daughter of former and current Conservative Cabinet Minister David Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford and Cary Davina Wallace....
includes stories of the origins of the Happy Valley set and features many of its key characters. Sackville was married to Lord Erroll for several years, and they had a child together.
Notables
Hugh Cholmondeley, 3rd Baron Delamere
One of the first British settlers in Africa, Hugh Cholmondeley, 3rd Baron Delamere (1870 – 1931) is credited with helping form the Happy Valley set. Delamere first travelled to Africa in 1891 for lion hunting and returned yearly to resume the hunt. In 1894, he was mauled by an attacking lion. As a result, he limped for the rest of his life. He is also credited for coining the term "white hunter". In 1896, he moved to Africa and eventually settled to Kenya. In 1906, he acquired a large farm, the "Soysambu" which would eventually rise to 200000 acres (809.4 km²). Delamere is also considered to have contributed significantly to the development of Kenyan agriculture. He quickly became the unofficial leader of the white community in Kenya. He was active in recruiting settlers to East Africa. He deeply admired the culture of the local Maasai and attempted to live like them. The story is often told of Delamere riding his horse into the dining room of Nairobi’s Norfolk Hotel and jumping over the tables. He was also known to knock golf balls onto the roof of the Muthaiga Country ClubMuthaiga Country Club
The Muthaiga Country Club is a club in Nairobi, Kenya. It is located in the suburb of Muthaiga, about 15 minutes drive from the city center.The Muthaiga Country Club opened on New Year's Eve in 1913, and became a gathering place for the elite society of British East Africa, which later became the...
("moo-Tay-gah"), the pink stucco gathering-place for Nairobi's white elite, and then climb up to retrieve them. He died in 1931. At the outbreak of WWI, Delamere was placed in charge of Intelligence on the Maasai border, monitoring the movements of German units in present day Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
.
Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll
An English-born Scottish peer and notorious philanderer, Josslyn Victor Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll (1901 – 1941) abandoned his diplomatic career in England and scandalized society when he eloped with an infamous married woman, Idina Sackville. The couple was married in 1923 and moved to Kenya in 1924. They became the unofficial "king and queen" of Happy Valley and their home, the Clouds mansion became a center of social life, notorious for its orgies. Idina divorced him in 1929, because he was cheating her financially. Hay was already having an affair with married woman Molly Ramsay-Hill. The couple eloped. When Ramsay-Hill's husband found out, he hunted them down and famously horsewhipped Hay on the Nairobi train station. Hay married Molly in 1930. In 1934, Lord Erroll joined Oswald MosleyOswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
's British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
and, on his return to Kenya a year later, became president of the Convention of Associations. In 1939, on the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Lord Erroll became a captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
in the Kenya Regiment
Kenya Regiment
The Kenya Regiment was formed in 1937 and disbanded in May 1963.Volunteers were recalled in about 1950, with European settlers making up the main force. At the end of 1950 a call-up of eighteen-year-olds was introduced as the Mau Mau uprising was beginning...
and accepted the post of Military Secretary
Military Secretary
The Military Secretary is the British Army appointment of which the incumbent is responsible for policy direction on personnel management for members of the British Army. It is a senior British Army appointment, held by an officer holding the rank of Major-General. The Military Secretary's...
for East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
in 1940.
In 1939, Erroll's wife died from the effects of consuming a concoction of alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
, morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
and heroin. In late 1940, Lord Erroll met Diana, Lady Delves Broughton, the new and much younger wife of Sir Jock Delves Broughton, Bt.
Jock Delves Broughton
Henry John Delves Broughton, 11th Baronet Broughton was a British aristocrat who is chiefly known for standing trial for the murder of Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll...
Lord Erroll and Lady Delves Broughton soon became lovers. Their romance was a very public one and they intended to elope. Delves Broughton reportedly gave his blessings. However, in January 1941, Erroll was found shot dead in his car in an intersection outside Nairobi. Although Delves Broughton was charged, he was tried and acquitted of the murder. Numerous books and articles have been written on the murder mystery and various theories have been argued; however, the murder remains officially unsolved.
Lady Idina Sackville
A British aristocrat, daughter of the 8th Earl de la WarrEarl De La Warr
Earl De La Warr is a title created in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1761.In the United States, Thomas West, 3rd baron is often named in history books simply as Lord Delaware. He served as governor of the Jamestown Colony, and the Delaware Bay was named after him...
and cousin of poet Vita Sackville-West
Vita Sackville-West
The Hon Victoria Mary Sackville-West, Lady Nicolson, CH , best known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author, poet and gardener. She won the Hawthornden Prize in 1927 and 1933...
, Myra Idina Sackville (1893 – 1955), she scandalized society when she divorced her first husband, Euan Wallace
Euan Wallace
Captain David Euan Wallace, MC, MP, PC was a British Conservative politician who briefly served as Minister of Transport during World War II...
, losing the right to see her two sons, who were later killed while serving their country during World War II. Idina abandoned her second husband, Captain Charles Gordon, for her lover, Joss Hay, the future Earl of Erroll, eight years her junior. Together, they moved to Kenya in 1924 and essentially pioneered the decadent lifestyle of the Happy Valley set. Idina became notorious for hosting wild parties, which included spouse-swapping and drug use. Stories were also told of how she often welcomed her guests in a bathtub made of green onyx and then proceeded to dress before them. After she and Erroll divorced, she married twice more. She died in 1955.
Countess Alice de Janzé
Born Alice Silverthorne (1899 – 1941), she was a wealthy heiress from ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, daughter of an alcoholic felt manufacturer and niece to magnate J. Ogden Armour
J. Ogden Armour
Jonathan Ogden Armour was an American meatpacking magnate in Chicago, and owner and president of Armour and Company. During his tenure as president, Armour & Co...
. She lived in Paris since the early 1920s, together with her husband, Count Frédéric de Janzé. The couple first met Joss Hay, Earl of Erroll and his wife, Idina, when the latter two lived in Paris in the early 1920s. After the Hays moved to the Wanjohi Valley in Kenya, they invited the de Janzés for lion hunting, in 1925 and 1926. The de Janzés lived in a house next to the Hays for several months. Alice had an affair with Lord Erroll and later with Raymond de Trafford. When the de Janzés returned to Paris, Alice abandoned her husband for Raymond.
Alice made international headlines in 1927, when she shot Raymond in a Paris railway station and then shot herself. It was later revealed she did this on account of her anguish, after Raymond told her he couldn't marry her. They were both hospitalized but survived; Alice was tried by a Paris court and got away with a four-dollar fine. When she returned to Kenya in 1928, she was forced by the government to leave the country as an undesirable alien. In 1932, she and Raymond married in France, but split almost immediately and later divorced. Alice later returned to the Happy Valley in Kenya. Depressive, alcoholic and addicted to morphine, she remained in Kenya until she committed suicide by shooting herself in 1941. Prior to her death, Alice had been considered as a suspect for the murder of Lord Erroll. A story was told of how she smeared his dead body with her vaginal fluids when she visited him at the morgue.
Count Frédéric de Janzé
A French nobleman from an old aristocratic family of BrittanyBrittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, Comte (Count) Frédéric de Janzé was also famous in France for his career as a racing driver. Following an invitation from their friends, Joss and Idina Hay, he and his wife, Alice, first travelled to the Wanjohi Valley, Kenya, in 1925 and spent months there, hunting lions. Frédéric had an affair with Idina, while Alice was having an affair with Joss. Frédéric wrote a memoir, Vertical Land, in which he gives his impressions of several of the notable personalities of the Happy Valley set. He returned with Alice to Happy Valley in 1926, during which time Alice tried to elope with her new lover, Raymond de Trafford. The de Janzés divorced in 1927, in the aftermath of Alice's shooting scandal. Frédéric died in 1933, of sepsis
Sepsis
Sepsis is a potentially deadly medical condition that is characterized by a whole-body inflammatory state and the presence of a known or suspected infection. The body may develop this inflammatory response by the immune system to microbes in the blood, urine, lungs, skin, or other tissues...
, aged 37.
Kiki Preston
Born Alice Gwynne (1898 – 1946), she was an American socialite, relative of the powerful WhitneyWhitney family
The Whitney family is an American family notable for their social prominence, wealth, business enterprises and philanthropy, founded by John Whitney who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635.-Rise to prominence:...
and Vanderbilt families. Kiki and her second husband, Jeromy "Gerry" Preston (1897 – 1934) first moved to Kenya in 1926, after being offered land on the shores of Lake Naivasha by a friend. Kiki and her husband excelled as big game hunters. Kiki was also notorious for her drug use, especially her addiction to cocaine and heroin, and was one of the best clients of the chief drug dealer of the colony, Frank Greswolde Williams. She was nicknamed "the girl with the silver syringe", due to her habit of always carrying her syringe into her bag and publicly shooting drugs, without regard for onlookers. Whenever she was out of supplies, she would send an aeroplane to pick up new ones. Kiki also had numerous affairs with men, including Prince George, Duke of Kent
Prince George, Duke of Kent
Prince George, Duke of Kent was a member of the British Royal Family, the fourth son of George V and Mary of Teck, and younger brother of Edward VIII and George VI...
, whom she introduced to drugs, much to the dismay of the British royal family, which forbade them from seeing each other. Kiki is often alleged to have borne a child out of wedlock from her affair with Prince George, who later became publishing executive Michael Canfield, adopted son of Cass Canfield
Cass Canfield
Augustus Cass Canfield was an American publishing executive who was the longtime president and chairman of Harper & Brothers, later Harper & Row.-Early life:...
.
Following her husband's death, Kiki gradually abandoned the farm and returned to United States. Her son, Ethan, was killed in the Normandy Landings. Kiki committed suicide in 1946, jumping out of the window of her apartment at the Stanhope Hotel
Stanhope Hotel
995 Fifth Avenue is a 16-story co-op condominium building at 995 Fifth Avenue and East 81st Street in New York City, across Fifth Avenue from Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was constructed in 1926 as The Stanhope Apartment Hotel and designed by Rosario Candela...
, in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Raymond de Trafford
Son of Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 3rd BaronetSir Humphrey de Trafford, 3rd Baronet
Sir Humphrey Francis de Trafford was an English landowner and racehorse breeder. He was the son of Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 2nd Baronet and Lady Annette Mary Talbot....
, Raymond Vincent de Trafford (1900 – 1971) was a British nobleman from an old Irish aristocratic family. A gambler, womaniser and alcoholic, de Trafford was a notable presence in the Happy Valley set during the 1920s, and had numerous lovers, including Alice de Janze and Kiki Preston. He once attempted to seduce Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester was a member of the British Royal Family, the wife and then widow of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of George V and Queen Mary.The daughter of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry, Scotland’s largest landowner, her brothers Walter and...
, but was repelled. De Trafford was once reported to be so drunk, he set some houses of Kenyans on fire one night.
De Trafford was threatened by his family to be disinherited if he were to marry Alice de Janze. In 1927, after discovering the truth, Alice shot him and then shot herself, while in a train station in Paris. Raymond survived and later tried to defend Alice in her trial. In 1932, he married Alice, but almost immediately deserted her (allegedly, because he feared her) and moved to Australia. In 1939, he hit and killed a man with his car while under the influence, and spent three years in prison for manslaughter. A year later, he filed for bankruptcy.
Sir John "Jock" Delves Broughton
A British aristocrat, Sir Henry John "Jock" Delves Broughton (1883 – 1942) moved to Kenya in late 1940, together with his new wife, Diana Caldwell, thirty years his junior. Diana immediately began a very public affair with Joss Hay, Earl of Erroll. Broughton eventually conceded to the idea of Diana deserting him and marrying Erroll, due to a prenuptial agreement they had made, that she could abandon him if she fell in love with another man.However, Erroll was murdered in January 1941. Broughton was considered a major suspect. He was arrested by the police and tried for the murder of Erroll. Due to lack of evidence and to ballistic considerations, he was acquitted. Juanita Carberry, stepdaughter of Baron John Carberry, maintains that Broughton confessed the murder to her shortly after his acquittal. Diana quickly divorced Broughton. He returned to England, where he committed suicide by barbiturate overdose in 1942.
Diana, Lady Delamere
Born Diana Caldwell (1913 – 1987), she moved to the Happy Valley in late 1940, together with her new husband, Sir John "Jock" Delves Broughton. She almost immediately began a very public affair with the unofficial leader of the community, Joss Hay, Earl of Erroll. She planned to divorce Broughton and marry Erroll. Broughton supposedly gave his blessings.Erroll was discovered murdered in his car in January 1941. Broughton was charged with his murder but was acquitted in the trial. Diana stood up for her husband, but after the trial accused him of being the murderer and abandoned him. She has been speculated by writers to have either covered for Broughton, worked as his accomplice in the murder or been the murderer herself. Other writers have also claimed that she was promiscuous, a closeted lesbian and that she shot three of her lovers on various occasions.
Following her divorce from Broughton, she married Gilbert Colville in 1943, one of the wealthiest and most powerful landowners in Kenya. Years later, Diana married the 4th Baron Delamere and increased her land fortune. By the time of Delamere's death, she was possibly the most powerful white woman in Africa, dubbed the "White Queen of Africa".
Leone, Cav. Galton-FenziFenziThe Fenzi Bank and family were key players in both the economical growth of the Italian industrial revolution and the expansion of the north Italian Railways between Florence and Livorno in 18th and 19th century Italy.-The Family:...
He was the founder of the Royal East African Automobile Association, REAAA, in 1919, and Honorary Secretary until his death on May 15th., 1937. He was the first man to drive from Nairobi to Mombasa in January, 1926 in a Riley. There is a monument to this effect on Kenyatta Avenue.In 1923, Galton Fenzi started negotiating for loan cars so that they could be tested under East African conditions. He received several vehicles, notably among them a Riley 12/50 from the Riley Motor Car Co. Ltd. of Coventry, which was used by Fenzi and Captain Gethin to pioneer a route from Nairobi to Mombasa in January 1926, a distance of 300 miles. He also pioneered the Nairobi - Dar-es-Salaam to Malawi route, and the Nairobi-Khartoum route.
The EA Standard of 1924 quotes: ‘Galton Fenzi is always doing things, and he does them so quickly the public has no time to recover its breath!’.
See also
- Mount KenyaMount KenyaMount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian , Nelion and Point Lenana . Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around north-northeast of the capital Nairobi...
- Errol TrzebinskiErrol TrzebinskiErrol Trzebinski is an author of books on prominent individuals in the history of colonial Kenya including Silence Will Speak: A Study of the Life of Denys Finch Hatton and His Relationship With Karen Blixen ; The Kenya Pioneers: The Frontiersmen of an Adopted Land ; The Lives of Beryl Markham: Out...
- Whites in KenyaWhites in KenyaThere is a minor but relatively prominent group of white people in Kenya, mainly descendants of British settlers from the colonial era.-History:...
- Lake Naivasha Country ClubLake Naivasha Country ClubThe Lake Naivasha Country Club is located on the opposite shore of Lake Naivasha from the town of Naivasha, Kenya.Built using old colonial architecture and opened in 1937,...
- site from the period. - NyeriNyeriNyeri is a town in situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya Kenya, which was the administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province...
- town from the period.
:Category:Settlers of Kenya