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Name: BUXTON, Geoffrey Charles TD

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Nee: son of Geoffrey Fowell Buxton, brother of Rose Cartwright and Joan Ramsden

Birth Date: 4.6.1879 Blofield, Norfolk

Death Date: 8.3.1958 Marylebone, London

First Date: 1906

Profession: Farmed in the Kedong Valley. Capt. Coldstream Guards (Reserve) and Major (Retired) RA (TA)

Area: 'Satima' Wanjohi Valley

Married: In London 9.4.1902 Clara Florence Mary Stapleton b. 1879 Greys Court, Henley on Thames, div. 1914, d. 8 May 1949 Chippenham (she later m. Henry Arthur Mornington Wellesley, 3rd Earl Cowley 1866-1919)

Children: Peter Stapleton (14 Oct 1904-18 Jul 1944, killed in action)

Book Reference: Gillett, Debrett, Jordan, Cranworth, KAD, Tobina Cole, Hut, Playne, Drumkey, Racing, Burke, Eton, Malcolmson, Rift Valley, Red 19

War Service: SA 1900-01 (despatches), WW1 in France, Belgium, Egypt and EA, Coldstream Guards

School: Eton & Trinity College Cambridge

General Information:

Jordan - Geoffrey Buxton was out one morning with a Somali shikari, on the Theika south of Mt. Kenya, and he was lucky to have a Somali with him, for they are loyal and brave men. Buxton was carrying a double-barrelled .577 and its stock, where it had been trampled on by an elephant was bound with tape. His shikari carried a Mauser, and I mention these weapons because they are relevant. They had been away from their camp for 30 minutes when they raised a handsome black-mane, and it loped away from them leisurely, having no quarrel with them. Buxton ran after it, and winded himself as he stumbled, and his breathing was hard, his eyes misted, so that his first shot was a fluke in its success. He hit the lion inside the front shoulder from 50 yards, as it turned to warn him with a roar. The bullet passed through the lion from end to end and dropped it. Buxton should have left it there and it would have been dead within a quarter of an hour, but he was not sure how badly it had been hit and he was afraid to lose it. He came up and fired again, and this time there was no fluke and he missed. The lion rose up and charged. With a channel ranging the length of its body where the bullet had gone, the lion still had the strength to charge. Buxton put a spare shell into the chamber of his gun and as he did so he saw that the last two shots had loosened the stock, so he fired from the hip as the lion leaped, and he missed. As they came together Buxton thrust with the gun as a man might with a spear, forcing the barrel down the throat of the lion, and the animal took it in its jaws as it might a branch. Two claws went into Buxton's forearm, 6 inches above the hand that held the gun. They went in and through to the other side. With his free hand Buxton held the lion's mane, with his other he forced the gun further into the lion's throat. They fell over and the lion clawed with its hind paws as a cat does with a ball, and it slit open Buxton's thighs and calves, and only the gun in the lion's throat kept its jaws from him. The Somali tried to fire the Mauser, but the safety-catch was on, and this he did not know, or did not know enough to release it. He dropped the gun and climbed on the lion's back, hitting it with his fists, gouging at its eyes, until the three of them rolled over and the lion tore its claws from Buxton's arm. He crawled away, and he picked up the Mauser and emptied it into the lion's skull. This was a lion, already dying, and it fought like that. To such men as Buxton the lion was a challenge, the killing of it the fulfilment of some instinctive and savage urge. …
Tobina Cole writes - If you discount the famous missionary at Mombasa Uncle Geoff was the first. He was my mother's eldest brother and was the first person to buy land in the Wanjohi, now christened the Happy Valley. It was called the Happy Valley because it had three permanent rivers disecting it, deep dark rich soil and an excellent rainfall while a few miles away droughts came frequently, bush fires too.
Playne - The Kedong Ostrich Syndicate - The headquarters of this syndicate are at Nairobi; Captain G.C. Buxton is the managing director, with Mr M.A. Harbord as manager. The land consists of 15000 acres, is situated in the Kedong Valley, and is watered by a river. A stone building has been erected for ostriches, stores, and stables. A dwelling-house is to be built of stone later on. Only the breeding-pens are fenced at present. The ostriches will be herded not fenced. The only trouble in the initial stages has been with the wild birds, which take away the tame ones. They come close to the bomas, and have to be driven off. .......... There are plenty of lions, rhino, and other big game, and good bird-shooting can be obtained, so that this property may truly be described as a sportsman's paradise.
Racing - Owner and rider of 'Melton Pie' in Brigade of Guards Cup - 1929
Rift Valley - Member of the Rift Valley Sports Club - Jan 1929 - Elected - 27 Dec 1926 - Maj. G.C. Buxton
Red Book 1919 - Major G C Buxton - Settler - Kinangop, Naivasha
His first farm manager was Frederick Nye Chart.

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