Permanent Way - 'Shortly after Portal's journey [1893] a road was cut across the Taru Plain at his personal expense. It had not been completed at the time of his death in June 1893, but his heirs assumed financial responsibility for completing the task. To-day a station of the East African Railways and Harbours, on the verge of the Taru Plain, is known as 'Mackinnon Road', and there has been established a great military store. ............. A statue was erected to his memory in Mombasa. The erection of this bronze statue was greeted by the natives with satisfaction and surprise that Sir William's colour seemed to have been very similar to their own.!

Sorrenson - The Company made only two large grants of land - the blocks of land granted to Mackinnon along the 'Mackinnon Road' between Mombasa and Kibwezi and the 100 square miles of land granted to the EA Scottish Industrial Mission at Kibwezi 150 miles from the coast. The mission was founded by Mackinnon, who believed in the dual role of commerce and Christianity, but its efforts among the scattered Kamba were just as unrewarding as the commercial activities of Mackinnon's Company. In 1898 the mission abandoned Kibwezi in favour of a site in Kikuyu country.

IBEA - Director of Imperial British East Africa Company - died 22nd June 1893

Chandler - Harry Johnston wrote about MacKinnon in his 'Story of my Life' (1923). He described the wealthy Scot as a small, neat man "with an aquiline nose, side whiskers, a pouting mouth, and a strutting way of walking and holding himself." MacKinnon lived with his wife and her sister in a Spartan and very religious household. Daily services were held, presided over by a resident Minister but without the help of an organ, which was considered sinful. Johnston was fond of the sister, Miss Helen Fraser, who was "quite a nice-looking, amenable woman, but in terror of her sister and her sister's husband." On Saturday nights Lady MacKinnon would lock up the estate library and confiscate all the non-religious reading material in the house to prevent sin on the Sabbath. She once caught Johnston reading a secular magazine on a Sunday: "She hesitated and gulped, but decided to say nothing and let me go to my doom."