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Name: LAMBERT, Harold Ernest OBE
Birth Date: 4 Sep 1893 Hillingdon
Death Date: 28 May 1967 Nairobi
First Date: 1919
Profession: Joined the Administration and was at Kiambu in 1933. Appointed a DC in 1919.
Area: Thika, Kiambu, Kericho, 1925 Digo, 1930 Embu, 1922 Nakuru
Married: In Barrow upon Soar, Leics. 1925 Grace Beatrice Firr b. 1885 Barrow upon Soar, d. 15 Apr 1972 Nairobi
Book Reference: Nellie, Staff 39, KGC, Tignor, KAD, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, Red 22, O&C, Cashmore, Dominion, Witchmen, Foster, Beck, Gazette
War Service: Gloucestershire Regt.
School: Queens' College Cambridge 1912-14 (H.E. Lambert)
General Information:
War service: Harold E. Lambert had volunteered in the Territorial Force Reserve, where he was trained and became a lieutenant. In March 1915, he was appointed 2nd Lt in the Gloucestershire Regiment which shipped out across the Channel to Boulonge in mid-November 1915.
Gazette 29 Dec 1967 probate
Joint Chairman of Kericho Golf Club in 1938.
Red 22 - H.E. Lambert, ADC, Secretariat, Nairobi
Cashmore - H.E. Lambert, posted to the Teita Hills in the late 1920s, was urged by his PC to smother the hills with carnations which might be sold to the Mombasa housewives. Lambert compromised with cabbages, which travelled better and offered more hope of financial success for the African growers.
Dominion - District Officer - 1930
Witchmen - Became DC at Meru in 1933 - Lambert came to Kenya just before World War 1, spending his military service in pursuit of the brilliant German East African general, Hermann von Lettow [sic]. The experience committed him completely to life in Africa, and he eagerly accepted an opportunity to join the Kenya colonial service in 1918. During the 1920s he served in several posts from the Gikuyu regions to the Swahili coast. During this period he demonstrated an astonishing capacity to absorb African languages; he could understand all but the most esoteric conversations within a few months after his arrival in a region. A shy man, he proved only rarely willing to speak back or enter into conversations. Nonetheless, his linguistic capacity opened up a window through which he could gaze with fascination at the complexities of African life. In consequence he became the very prototype of administrator-anthropologist, striving to understand the inner workings of each tribe to which he was assigned. In 1929, Lambert was made district commissioner of Embu, ………….. [more]
Nairobi Club - Honorary Life Member
Gazette - 12/11/1919 - Register of Voters - Nairobi, North Area - Harold Ernest Lambert - Asst. District Commissioner, Kenia House, Parklands
Gazette - 5/4/1922 - Appointments - Harold Ernest Lambert to be Asst. District Commissioner, North Kavirondo District wef 31/3/1922
Tignor 1929 DC at Embu.
KAD 1922 - Asst. District and Resident Commissioner
Gazette 24 Nov 1967 probate
One of Nellie Grant's neighbours at Thika
Frankl, P.J. L. (1999) H. E. Lambert (1893-1967): Swahili Scholar of Eminence together with a Bibliography of His Published Work). Journal of African Cultural Studies , Vol. 12, No. 1 (Jun., 1999), pp.47-53
Frankl, P.J. L. (1999) H. E. Lambert (1893-1967): Swahili Scholar of Eminence together with a Bibliography of His Published Work). Journal of African Cultural Studies , Vol. 12, No. 1 (Jun., 1999), pp.47-53
Harald Prins (son of A.H.J. Prins) Lambert corresponded with Prins when he was studying the coastal tribes (as well as providing the government with intelligence) - Lambert's letter to Prins 3 Nov 1950: 'As to the selection of a tribe for special study I should recommend the Giriama rather than the Pare...Tanganyika is much better off than Kenya for anthropologists, and we in Kenya do want our special Nyika (particularly Giriama and Duruma) studied before it is too late.'