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Name: CORNELL, Charles Albert 'Daddy' (Lieut.)

Birth Date: 22 June 1887 Ipswich

Death Date: 3 March 1964 Witu, killed by the Shifta

First Date: 1921

Profession: Bachelor DC at Lamu in 1937 when E. Huxley visited. Appointed a DC in 1921. On leave pending retirement in 1953

Area: Lamu, 1922 Kitui, 1930 Kipini

Married: No

Book Reference: Midday Sun, Staff 39, Staff 53, KAD, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, Colonial, Red 22, Dominion, Chandler, Foster, Gazette, Trench Men who Ruled Kenya

War Service: Military service 1914-19, Capt.

School: Barrister-at-law, Gray's Inn

General Information:

Midday Sun - 'The DC was another of Lamu's bachelors. Daddy Cornell - I never heard his other name - was more or less a fixture, and knew his district, which included the archipelago and part of the mainland, inside out. He dwelt in an old Arab house and, when on the island, was sprucely clad in a white suit with collar and tie. He was reserved in manner, perhaps shy, a misogynist by reputation and a disgruntled man. His grievance went back to the Powys murder case when he had been DC in charge of the Samburu. The young men were defiant of authority, following their triumph celebrated in the 'song of the vultures.' Half a dozen of these youths, coming before him to answer for some minor offence, displayed an insolence which provoked him into awarding them, on the spot, ten strokes of the cane. The legal code allowed this punishment, but only after a proper trial and confirmation of sentence. Cornell knew that the Samburu were in an explosive frame of mind, and that if they got away with defying administrative officers as well as murdering Europeans, there might be serious trouble. Public opinion had not, at the time, turned against corporal punishment, still practised in almost every British school. But he had sinned. He was reprimanded by the Governor and posted to another district, and knew that his prospects of promotion had been snuffed out for good. ......... The narrow streets were perfectly clean, and this, it seemed, was due to Daddy Cornell. He was more of a martinet than a lotus-eater. ............ He came to a sad end. He retired to a small farm near Witu on the mainland. Word came to him that a gang of armed raiders was intending to attack Witu during the night. Unarmed, he went out to warn the villagers. The raiders intercepted him, and shot him dead.
Dominion - District Officer - 1930
Chandler - While DC at Isiolo, Cornell conducted a vicious feud with Trafford, the neighbouring DC at Thomson's Falls. The two actually got into a fist fight at a meeting, angry over a boundary dispute. Cornell also had trouble with Gilbert Colvile, one of the richest ranchers in Kenya. Colvile was campaigning hard in the 1930s to establish that Theodore Powys had been murdered by the Samburu. Cornell apparently believed the official version, that Powys was killed by a lion. He managed to shanghai one of Colvile's star witnesses, a Samburu warrior named Lekada, to Isiolo, where he had the man severely beaten. For punishment Cornell was sent to Moyale, where he spent several years before being transferred to Lamu ……………. Cornell was a bachelor and an imaculate dresser, always seen in a white suit and tie. He retired to a farm near Witu and died a heroic death. Learning one night that Somali 'Shifta' were going to raid the village at dawn, Cornell set out for Witu to warn the inhabitants. For some reason he went unarmed. The 'Shifta' caught and murdered him. …… {more}
Gazette 23/3/1921 - Arrived on 1st Appointment - Asst. District Commissioner - 11/3/1921
KAD 1922 - Administration Cadet, Kitui.
Red 25 - Asst. DC, Meru.
Colonial - Asst. DC 1921; DC 1924
Gazette 17 Nov 1964 probate
Trench 'The Men Who Ruled Kenya' It is difficult to see how a DC and DO found enough to do. But 'Daddy' Cornell, who regarded Lamu as a sort of eventide home, found that even two or three hours' work a day was an intolerable burden. He therefore ordained that all petitions, complaints, etc., must be submitted in writing. He then had made four official stamps: Shauri la Liwali (the Liwali's business), Shauri la Mungu (God's business) and Shauri lako (your business). With these he was able to get through his work in much less time.
Thomas Allfree, Bluff: Tall, thin and aesthetically greying, [Cornell] was carefully dressed in a light cream suit and tie. He never wore the government's regulation uniform....He never, even after a few drinks, appeared happy; he seldom smiled and never laughed. He was a quiet, retiring, kind, dignified, highly educated and aesthetic man who was apparently without friends except for Henri Burnier [sic, correct sp. Bournier], who dined with him once a week, when in Lamu....harbouring a contemptuous dislike of the Government...He never visited his district. At week-ends his immaculate launch would move him to the mainland where he kept his car. Then he drove another 75 miles to the old ex-sultanate of Witu...He eventually did retire there and started a farm in a mild way, seldom leaving Witu.'

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