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Name: TALBOT, Frederick George
Birth Date: 8 May 1862 Mussoorie, India
Death Date: post Apr 1939, probably in Uganda
First Date: 1930
Profession: Goods agent, KUR & H
Area: Nairobi
Married: In Hazaribagh, India 27 June 1893 Mabel Vernon Ridsdale
Children: Hope Moresby (d. 22 Feb 1915 Uganda); Richard; George Blaquiere; Mabel 'Lassie'; Robert Vernon
Book Reference: Red 31, Richard Talbot
General Information:
Gazette 6 May 1935
Noel Clark : "Frederic(k) George Talbot [FGT] and his family moved to British East Africa shortly after the photograph of various members of the Talbot family was taken at Basti, India.FGT quickly established himself as a pioneer tea planter in the Uganda Protectorate, where at his estate at Kakonde in 1916 he was the first to cultivate and manufacture tea on a commercial basis. It is not quite clear, however, whether 1916 saw the first production of tea or the first plantings on a commercial scale. Given that the time between planting of seedlings and first harvest is 3-5 years, for FGT to reach production in 1916 would have possibly required him to acquire the Kakonde Estate prior to 1913, although that is not out of the question as he could easily have visited Uganda and acquired the estate before making a permanent move there. The Kakonde Tea Estate remains in production. It lies at an
elevation of 4,460 feet about 3¾ miles NNW of the town of Mityana, itself some 45 miles by road east of Kampala. It is not known when FGT relinquished his interest in the estate.
FGT and his family may have spent some time in Kampala before moving to Kakonde.
References to the family have been found as follows:
- 20th February 1914 – licence to possess an automatic pistol granted to Mrs. F. G. Talbot, residing in Kampala, Uganda.
- 1915-1917, 1919 – FGT held licences for various motor cycles (HEV also for 1915 and 1916).
- 22nd February 1915 – FGT’s son Hope Moresby Talbot died. He is buried in the graveyard at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Namirembe, Kampala, Uganda.
- 1st July 1915 – FGT’s son Robert Vernon Talbot entered the First World War East African “theatre of war” serving with the East African Supply Corps.
- 3rd May 1918 – FGT was granted Letters of Administration of the estate of HEV. He was described as a “Planter of Mityana.”
- 11th June 1920 – FGT, his wife and their daughter Mabel arrived at the port of London on the Gaika ex Natal. FGT was described as a “planter.” FGT returned to Africa on the Garth Castle from London on 24th November 1920 bound for Mombasa. His wife returned on the Carisbrook Castle from London on 24th November 1921 bound for Mombasa, while daughter Mabel returned in the company of her brother Robert Vernon Talbot on the Usaramo from Southampton on 6th October 1923 also bound for Mombasa.
- 1922 – FGT was listed at the “Kiakonde Estate, Kampala, Uganda.”
- 1925 – FGT planted tea at Entebbe, Uganda.
- August 1927 – FGT was a delegate representing Uganda at the Third East African Unofficial Conference, held in Nairobi, Kenya.
- 1928 – FGT of “Migyana” was elected a Non-Resident Fellow of the Royal Empire Society.
- April 1939 – FGT (P.O., Mityana) was a “new or rejoined member” of The Uganda Society.
No further references to FGT or his wife have been found, except in the death notice for their son George Blacquiere Talbot.66 He was not shown in the full list of members of The Uganda Society published in the July 1939 edition of the Uganda Journal. He was by this time 77 years old, and it is reasonable to assume that he died shortly after April 1939."