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Name: CARNEGIE, Robert Francis, Hon. (Major)

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Nee: 3rd son of 9th Earl of Southesk

Birth Date: 6 May 1869 Edinburgh

Death Date: 13 May 1947 Ngobit

First Date: 1905

Last Date: 1947

Profession: Professional soldier. Was in the siege of Ladysmith. Settled and farmed at Gilgil

Area: Ngobit, Laikipia, P.O.Gilgil, SE - Kericho Oct. 1907, HBEA 1912 - Lumbwa, 1908 Guaso Nyero, 1922 Ndaragwa, Turbo

Married: 26 Nov 1913 Violet Mabel Fraser b. 12 Mar 1892 France, d. 2 Dec 1985 Eastbourne

Children: David James (4 July 1915 Nairobi-1994); Robert Murray (3 July 1917-1954); John Fraser (4 Sep 1922 Ngobit-2017)

Book Reference: Gillett, SE, HBEA, Debrett, Jordan, Cranworth, Cara, Hoey, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, Drumkey, Land, Red 22, Stud, Gazette, Burke, Eton, EAHB 1907, Leader14, Red Book 1912, Eton Obs, Red 19

War Service: Gordon Highlanders 1890-1905. Was on Active service in SA war & BEA from 1914-16

School: Eton 1882-86

General Information:

Gazette 6 Dec 1938 Aberdare Voters List
SE - Maj. Hon. R. Carnegie - Kericho - Oct 1907
Debrett - formerly Captain and Brevet Major Gordon Highlanders 1890-1905; Capt. Reserve of Officers; served in SA 1899-1901, present at siege of Ladysmith (despatches twice, Brevet Major) and in EA Protectorate 1914-16  
Jordan - ..... [Kisii] ... I met Major R.F. Carnegie up there who had just given up his commission in the Gordon Highlanders and who wanted to take up farming. I said I would find land for him if he would buy cattle for me once he was settled. And we drank to that and I went land-hunting. I found him some land, sold some ivory for cattle, sold the cattle to him and was having another celebration drink with him when the DC from Kericho came in with an escort of police. He said he had been attacked while collecting taxes. DC's men were always being attacked while collecting taxes, and this one was no happier than most were at the experience. ..…..                                                            
Cranworth - his caricatures were a constant source of joy and he still remains an enthusiastic and constant Colonist.
Cara - 1914 - Mrs Carnegie has an incubator, but oil is so expensive out here she can't use it .....…..    
Letter from David Nicholson - Hon. R. Carnegie's diaries were sent to the Kenya Archives
Letter from John Carnegie - ..... was in the siege of Ladysmith and was promoted to Major after a daring operation among the enemy lines to rescue one of his people who'd been captured while on a patrol. In 1905 he left the Army and bought land in the Masai Mara and grew wheat. He also hunted and operated a transport business with waggons. He bought small plots in various places and experimented with various crops and creatures (including ostriches). He lived also in Nyando near Lumbwa station. When my mother came out in 1913 she lived in a mud hut with a tin roof and looked forward to the new stone house that my father had planned. But the war came and put an end to that. He told me that he'd planted the first tea bush in Kenya, but probably some animal ate it while he was back in the Army, chasing Von Vorbeck all over Tanzania. He got dysentery very badly (he'd had it in S. Africa before and it was difficult to cure in those days) My mother was evacuated to Nairobi like a lot of other farmer's wives. About this time the Government was moving the Laikipia Masai down to join their chums in the Mara and so my father's land was given to them and he was promised land in Laikipia instead. But the Masai refused to budge at the last minute and so my mother stayed in her mud hut until she was moved to Nairobi. In 1916 they were sent to Scotland, where my father had a job in the Army HQ in Aberdeen as he was still very frail. In 1919 he left the Army and they went out again to Kenya and were told that they could at last go to the land in Laikipia. That is where we lived until the farm was sold to an African land-buying company long after Independence. ..... My father's health was very bad right up to 1938 when he had a fearful head operation in Edinburgh which cleared up the poisons caused by the dysentery but left him rather weakened. He kept the farm books very well, but couldn't ride or shoot any more except in a moderate un-energetic way.
Land - R.F. Carnegie leased 17376 acres at Ol' Bolossat
Land - 1909 - R.F. Carnegie - Grazing and agricultural, 5000 acres, Kipsondi River, Lumbwa, 28-11-05, Registered 3-6-09 Land - 1909 - R.F. Carnegie - 30 acres, Kericho, 14-3-06, Registered 3-6-09
EA Stud Book 1954 - Brood Mares - Thoroughbred - Breeders - Maj. The Hon. R.F. Carnegie (1930)
EA Stud Book 1954 - Arabian Stallions - Owners - Major the Hon. R.F. Carnegie, Ngobit
Land - 1910 - Major the Hon. R.F. Carnegie - Buildings, 5.15 acres - Eldama Ravine - 2/2/06 - Leasehold for 25 years from 1/7/06 - Registered 13/7/10
Land - 1910 - Major the Hon. R.F. Carnegie - Buldings, 10 acres - Kericho - 19/7/09 - Leasehold for 25 years from 1/1/10 - Registered 20/7/10
Land - 1911 - R.F. Carnegie - Agriculture, 320 acres - Kericho - 24/9/10 - Freehold - Registered 6/11/11
Land - 1911 - R.F. Carnegie - Buildings, 39 acres - Kericho - 24/9/10 - Leasehold for 99 years from 1/11/08 - Registered 6/11/11
Gazette - 26/8/1914 - Appt. - Captain and Brevet Major the Honourable R.F. Carnegie, Gordon Highlanders, to be Commandant, Volunteer Forces, East Africa Regiment, to date August 6th 1914
Burke - Capt and Brevet Major 2nd Bn Gordon Highlanders Boer War 1899-1901 (wounded twice, despatches twice, brevet, medal four clasps), Br. E. Africa Protectorate Forces 1914-15
EAHB 1907 - Kericho
Hut - In 1908 CWIW Haywood sold cattle to Maj the Hon Robert Carnegie who had purchased 18,000 acres in the Kericho area, after being ejected from the Loitas to make way for the Maasai, having already done 6 months' development there. He also had a dairy farm in the Lumbwa area adjacent to the Nyando river. The Kericho venture he called Hillhead in the Kipelat Valley. He and Lady Violet had 2 sons, John and Bobbie and they moved to a farm in Ngobit.
Red Book 1912 - R.F. Carnegie - Kericho
Red Book 1912 - Member of the Land Board
Gazette 5/4/2938 - Honorary Game Warden
Gazette - 29/10/1919 - Register of Voters - Kenya Area - Major R.F. Carnegie - Settler, Ngobit, PO Rumuruti and R.F. Carnegie - Married woman, Ngobit, PO Rumuruti
Red Book 1919 - Major the Hon R L Carnegie - Settler - Nyando, Lumbwa
Hoey - Held sheep dog trials at Ngobit.
Hut - Lost eye Boer War, Angora Goats
Gazette - 26/9/1923 - Voters Register - Kenya Province - Major the Hon. Robert Francis Carnegie, Settler Ngobit Laikipia and the Hon Mrs Violet Mabel Carnegie, Married woman Ngobit

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