Red Book 1912 - G. Klapprott - Kyambu

SE - W. Klapploth [sic] - Sept 1908

SE - W. Klapprott - Feb 1909

Land - 1911 - J. Walsh and W. Klapprott - Grazing and agricultural, 5846 acres - Kinangop - 14/11/10 - Leasehold under Occupation Licence for 2 to 99 years from 1/4/11 - Registered 2/8/11

Gazette - 7/4/15 - Liable for Jury service, Uasin Gishu Plateau - W. Klapprott, Farm No. 32

mini-Sitrep XXXII - at first meeting of Eldoret Elected Council on 8 April 1930 - W. Klapprott

Red Book 1912 - W. Klapprott - Kyambu

Gazette 5/4/2938 - Honorary Game Warden

Gazette - 29/10/1919 - Register of Voters - Plateau South - W. Klapprott - Farmer

Red 25 - Hon. Secretary & Treasurer, Southern Uasin Gishu Farmers' Association.

Arrived – 17 May 1907 at Mombasa

KFR - Josephine Sandhu - My Grandfather Wilhelm Klapprott came from Hanover, Germany. Went to South Africa where he met his wife, a widow of French Mauritian background. My father was born in South Africa. My father was Hermann. Rudolph married Edith a nurse. By coincidence Hermann also married a nurse named Edith. My Grandfather Wilhelm was the photographer who took most of the old family photos.

Gazette 6 Dec 1938 Uasin Gishu Voters Roll
Nick Klapprott writes: Wilhelm Klapprott arrived at Mombasa, Kenya on 17 May 1907, exactly thirty-nine years before the date of his death at “Marievale” on the Uasin Gishu Plateau. The family arrived by ship from Durban, South Africa. Prior to embarkation, the family had a small farm at Richmond, Natal. Wilhelm held the firm belief that Kenya would be good livestock farming country, and therefore purchased a small farm at Kiambu, which is where the first family farm in Kenya was. As he had little knowledge of livestock and how to manage such an enterprise, he joined the Veterinary Department based at Kabete, whilst maintaining and developing the property at Kiambu. The object of the exercise was to obtain first hand knowledge of local stock diseases and the treatment thereof.

Wilhelm did duty for the Government as a Stock Inspector whilst at Kabete, until 1911/12, when it was decided that the Maasai, would have to be moved from the Kinangop to make way for European Settlement in the area. He was instrumental in overseeing this job, and the Maasai were relocated towards Narok. Wilhelm had, in the meantime sold the Kiambu property and had leased land on the Kinangop. However, he found the climate in the area far too cold for his liking, and instead, opted to move to Leseru near Soy where he purchased land (1912).

Once again, he was dissatisfied with his move, saying that the mosquitoes were going to carry him away, as he had several bouts of malaria. In 1913, he purchased the farm “Marievale” at Plateau, from where the family started a dairy enterprise, supplying milk directly to customers in Eldoret. This venture gathered momentum, but was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War, during which Wilhelm was interned in a camp in Eldoret.  However, the circumstances of his internment were questionable, as an altercation with the DC in Eldoret had led to his arrest. It would seem that Wilhelm had called in at what was then the Central Lounge in town, prior to heading back to the farm after doing his delivery round. The DC and his friends were also having a beer there, and asked Wilhelm if they could state their views on the Kaiser. Wilhelm agreed, and there followed a long diatribe against the Kaiser and all he stood for. Wilhelm remained silent during this but when they asked what he had to say about the matter, he went into the billiard room which was next door to the bar, took a piece of chalk, and wrote “Deutschland Uber Alles” across the billiard table! Within forty-eight hours, he was locked up. However, the DC, being a gentleman, explained to the authorities how the matter had come about, and he was subsequently released, but he was detained for a fair length of time.

During the succeeding years, the milk supply business expanded to the point where it was deemed necessary to find another farm so as to be able to increase the herd size. His son Hermann, then bought farm 707 at Kipkabus in 1927 and  named it “Koi- legai”. Wilhelm never had any ownership stake in this property, it belonging to Hermann who was responsible for developing the property.  However, in later years after the dissolution of “Klapprott Bros.”, as the business was known, following the untimely death of Betty [Elizabeth, his daughter], “Koi-legai” became the family farm, with the dairy enterprise at Marievale being brought to an end. However, there is a family cemetery at “Koi-legai” where Wilhelm, his wife Marie Malcy, Betty and Louis Folkard [his wife's child by her first marriage] are buried.