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Name: LE BRETON, Elisabeth Christel Rochfort 'Peter', Mrs

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Nee: dau of Aubyn Bernard Rochfort Trevor-Battye

Birth Date: 22 Sep1904 Chilbolton, Hampshire

Death Date: 28 Jan 1994 Winchester

First Date: 1927

Last Date: 1969

Profession: Farmer's wife

Area: 'Kimwondo', Endebess, Kitale

Married: In Petersfield 27 Sep 1927 Francis Hemery Le Breton (1889-1973)

Children: David Francis Battye (2 Mar 1931 Kensington-2023 Westerham, Kent); Elisabeth Daffodil (6 Apr 1934, m. in 1956 Harry W. Richmond); Robin John Graham (1941)

Book Reference: Jambo 1/94, Nicholson Memoirs, EAWL, Trans Nzoia Scrap Book, O&C, Pioneers, Burke

School: Sherborne; Lady Margaret Hall Oxford 1924-27

General Information:

Gazette 6 Dec 1938 Trans Nzoia Voters List
Jambo - "Peter" (so called by her own wish from her youngest years to be a boy; J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan was first performed in the year of her birth) lived the best 42 of her nearly 90 years in the Trans Nzoia, mostly on the scenic farm she and her soldier-settler husband Frank established on Mt. Elgon above Endebess. There she raised her three children and became deeply committed to the land and people, playing a gradually increasingly influential part in community life. She was EAWL DVP for several years and contributed to the creation of the Trans Nzoia tapestry panel and other District records. She was Choir Mistress and occasional organist at St. Luke's Church, Kitale; a prominent exhibitor at horticultural shows; and a stalwart helper at fetes where, being an avid and eclectic reader she dominated the bookstalls.
The typical but unsophisticated settler's home she created, with its spacious garden, all designed to take advantage of the spectacular views across to the Suk and Cherangani Hills, was a very special achievement. There for 6 years when Frank was away in the War, while looking after the simple farm, she also ran - with only one helper - a small boarding school for up to 10 young children from the district (and some from nearby Uganda). Her pupils have all affirmed that those were happy and stimulating days and most kept in touch with her for years afterwards. Two of them were at her funeral.
She loved the occasional simple safari, and became increasingly knowledgeable about all aspects of the natural world around her.
Born in Chilbolton, Hants, her father being a Victorian adventurous explorer and naturalist, she went to Sherborne School and Oxford before marrying Frank in 1927. She soon gave her heart to Kenya, becoming a citizen at the time of Independence and it was her personal tragedy to feel obliged to leave in 1969 when the farm was bought out under the now or never terms of the African Development Corporation. They went to the Algarve, where Frank in his 80th year bought a plot of land, and they started anew and built another house.
After Frank's death in 1973 and the political upheavals in Portugal at that time she came back in 1975 to England where she bought a house in the village where she was born.  There she gradually established a new network of friends and activities, including being once again the church organist and choir mistress, as well as becoming a focus for the growing family of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was buried next to her mother in Chilbolton Churchyard on 9th February 1994.
Nicholson - Jane [Nicholson] went for two years to a little school run by Mrs Le Breton on Mount Elgon.
Trans Nzoia Scrap Book - Article "Life on the Mountain" by Peter Le Breton - …… So when, after leaving Oxford in 1927 the opportunity came, it was perhaps not surprising that I took it. I came straight to a Soldier Settler farm in the Trans Nzoia and have been in the district ever since as bride, mother and grandmother.
Nicholls - Elizabeth ('Peter') Le Breton was called upon to play the piano to accompany silent films.
She  wrote 'The Up-Country Child' - hints on health, education and other matters of interest to those bringing up their children in East Africa. Her son David says (2014) - "My mother wished that she had never written this booklet and let my father print it as a companion to his 'Up-Country Swahili' which was an undoubted success. There were bits that were out-dated and inappropriate in the 1950s.
 

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