Imported 1st Rolls Royce into Kenya and drove one of first Model T Fords. 

SE - Chas Udall - Aug 1909

Member of Nbi. Municipal Council for many years. Mayor of Nbi. on four occasions, first in 1924 when he received the Duke & Duchess of York when they opened the City Park. Created Alderman in 1946. Freeman on his 80th birthday in 1955 In 1927 he established and became Director of the Kenya Marble Quarries. Inaugurator and first Pres. Nbi Rotary Club, he was actively associated with everything pertaining to welfare of Kenya. Keen sportsman. Joined Electric Light Co. in 1908. Later bought it and then floated EAP&L on London Stock Exchange. Mayor of Nairobi 4 times. Owned Kenya Marble Quarries at Kajiado. Source - Sue Bridgstock

Debrett - an Alderman of Nairobi  

KAD 1922 - Deputy Chairman, Nairobi Municipal Council

Playne - The Nairobi Electric Power and Lighting Company Ltd. - '....... The current was first put through to Nairobi in January 1908, and a regular supply of light and power may be said to have commenced from May 1908. ......... The Company has its registered office at No. 11, Queen Victoria St., London ......... Mr R.C. Bayldon is the resident Managing Director at Nairobi, with Mr C. Udall, AMIEE as Chief Engineer, and Mr J.E. Bedding is in charge of the Ruera generating station.

Macmillan - 1930 - …. Such a capable and enterprising gentleman as Mr Chas. Udall, to whom the Colony is largely indebted for its splendid electrical facilities. Mr Udall has been throughout his career accustomed to solving difficult economic problems as well as those pertaining to electricity. He was for a long period with the British Westinghouse Electric Company, and acted for many years as Engineer in charge of their electric plant operations. During the construction period of the Metropolitan Railway he was with Messrs. Dick, Kerr and Co. Ltd.; and thereafter went to Kenya Colony in 1908 for the purpose of initiating and developing electricity in the colony under the auspices of the Nairobi Electric Power and Lighting Co. Ltd. …..

Mayor of Nairobi in 1924

Drumkey 1909 - Nairobi Electric Power & Lighting Co., Limited - Resident Engineer and Manager

Barnes - Charles Udall was born in Maryport, Cumberland, in 1875, the son of a sawyer. He arrived in Kenya in 1908 at the age of 33 with his wife and family. He was a man with a sense of humour. His daughter Grace recalled how he became so frustrated with the size of the potholes in Government Road that one night he and several friends went out and planted the holes with banana trees, cabbages and sugar cane. Apparently this had the desired effect and the road was repaired shortly afterwards. It is not known if this was before or after he became Mayor of Nairobi. He had a number of recorded connections with Ruiru. An engineer by profession his daughter recalled him cycling to Ruiru when there were problems with the electricity generating station.

Land in Ruiru was registered in his wife's name, part of which was provided for the Lodge building and also his brother Robert was in business in Ruiru. In 1913 he was Master of Lodge Scotia No. 1008 SC, and in 1924 was made Master of Lodge Orient No. 3703 EC. By 1931 Charles Udall was the proprietor of Kenya Marble Quarries Co. whose business was the manufacturing of lime, marble products and Monumental Masons! In May 1931 he resigned from Donyo Sabuk and was made an honorary member in July of the same year. His last two recorded visits to the Lodge were in March 1961, the fortieth anniversary of the consecration of the Lodge and his installation as first Master and one year later in March 1962, which was to be his last visit. His death was reported in the Lodge in January 1966.

EAS - March 31st 1950 - Alderman Charles Udall - Mayor - 1924, 1929, 1942, 1943 When Alderman Charles Udall, four times Mayor of Nairobi, received a telegram in 1908 advising him that the post of chief engineer and manager of the Nairobi Electric Power and Lighting Company was vacant, it took him two days to find Nairobi on the map. He left England for the unknown - but even in those early days when the best way to get from the Norfolk Hotel to his house near Ainsworth bridge was to walk bare-footed, he had a vision, one which has never faded, of Nairobi as a city. "Father" of the Municipal Council - he was Mayor in 1924 when His Majesty King George VI (then Duke of York) visited Kenya and opened City Park; in 1929, when the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Gloucester came out to this country, and again in 1942 and 1943 - many of his prognostications have proved true. Shortly after his arrival in Nairobi - from 1904-1907 he had superintended the electrical equipment of the power station and eight sub-stations for the electrification of the Metropolitan Railway in London - he reported that in his opinion the would grow into a large city and that electric power installations were insufficient to keep pace with development.

His view was not shared by the majority of inhabitants at that time, but so strong were his convictions that he conducted a safari down the Thika River - early in 1909 - and discovered a waterfall about 16 miles east of Thika, at Undula, on which the present power station stands. In 1911, realising the future potentialiries of this part of Africa, he made an application to the Government of Uganda to harness the Jinja Falls on Lake Victoria. Now, in 1950, work is in progress on the large hydro-electric scheme there. As early as 1921 Alderman Udall anticipated the growing demand for electric power both in Nairobi and Mombasa. He acquired the interests of the Nairobi Electric Power and Lighting Company, which supplies power to the principal towns and districts in the three Territories. When he was Mayor in 1943, he advocated a postwar development scheme for Nairobi costing about £2,000,000. "Nairobi," he said, "can be made the most beautiful and the most healthy city in Africa …. The slums must be got rid of after the war and a scheme of proper housing and sanitation embarked upon that will mean health and happiness to thousands of people who really deserve something much better than the present conditions." The following year he repeated his plea - "Remember, in this Colony, as far as one can see, there is not likely to be any large city other than Nairobi ….."

Nairobi - a great city. This has been Alderman Udall's abiding faith. Forty years ago he gave Nairobi its first 16 miles of street lighting. To him those lights were beacons.

Land - 1911 - Margaret Jane Udall - Buildings, 5 acres - Rewero - 16/7/10 - Leasehold for 99 years from 1/9/10 - Registered 5/6/11

Land - 1911 - Chas. Udall - Buildings, 5 acres - Rewero - 16/7/10 - Leasehold for 99 years from 1/9/10 - Registered 5/6/11

Gazette - 7/4/15 - Liable for Jury service, Nairobi District - C. Udall

Nairobi Forest Road Cemetery - Charles Udall, British, age 90, died 4/1/66 and Louie Ida Udall, British, age 70, died 2/4/57 and Margaret Jane Udall, British, age 73, died 15/7/40

Masonic - The Lodge of the Highlands - consecrated 21 Nov 1949 by Bro. Chas. Udall CBE

Masonic - Orient Chapter SC consecrated 19 Sept 1919 by M.E. Comp A. Rehm as MEZ, M.E. Comp J. Grice as MEH, M.E. Comp Chas. Udall CBE as MEJ

Mills - Muthaiga -  Where were our lads when the call was made And what did Nairobi do? See how our citizens on parade Are waiting to answer you! Then steadily, Railway and Parklands, Steadily Town and Hill, Marching along, twenty score strong, To be even with Kaiser Bill. Not in the Stanley or Norfolk Bars Not on the tennis courts. Not on the links or in motor cars But marching about in shorts. - sung by Charles Udall at a citizen's meeting at the Theatre Royal - 1915

East Africa & Rhodesia - 9 Jun 1955 - Alderman Charles Udall has been elected an honorary Freeman of Nairobi in recognition of his services to the City Council over a period of 35 years. He has been 4 times mayor. The resolution conferring the honorary freedom recorded that it was granted on the occasion of his 80th birthday "in appreciation of his industry exercised in the interests of the citizens of Nairobi since 1908."

Red Book 1912 - C. Udall - Nairobi

Web - Instrumental in founding Nairobi Rotary Club when he was Mayor in 1930 and became the first President

Gazette - 12/11/1919 - Register of Voters - Nairobi, North Area - Charles Udall - Electrical Engineer, 2nd Avenue, Parklands

Gazette 12/4/1922 - Brands Registered during quarter ending 31/3/1922 - Charles Udall, Thika Ranch, PO Chania Bridge - E1U

Gazette 1 Feb 1966 probate