SE - J.B. Ellis - Kyambu - Jul 1907

Playne - Liddington Farm - When Mr J.B. Ellis came to BEA in 1905, he acquired Liddington Farm, and the price, £100 per acre, which he paid for part of the property, was believed to be the highest that had so far been paid in the settlement. The property, 1280 acres in all and situated some 8 miles from Nairobi, includes a permanent spring, a stream of water on the southern boundary, and about 300 acres of timber - mostly EA sandalwood. There are 3 miles of ornamental trees on the boundary-line, a splendid avenue of trees leading up to the homestead, and several well-made roads. The dwelling-house of 9 rooms, one of the finest in the country, is built entirely of stone quarried on the property, while the timber used in its construction, sandal-wood and makanduri (or croton) was also grown on the farm ..........….

Mr Ellis, who came from India, and had not had any previous experience in farming or planting, has no other European help, but employs about 40 natives.

Playne - The 'Nairobi News' - May 1905 - The plant was put up to auction and was purchased by Mr Frank Watkins and by Messrs Newland, Tarlton & Co. who, under the editorship of Mr Newland, brought out the 'Times of East Africa' on the 22nd of July 1905. A company, under the style of the 'Times Printing and Publishing Company,' was then floated, having as directors Mr Frank Watkins (managing director), Lord Delamere, Messrs R. Diespecker, J.B. Ellis, D.O. Roberts, and Douglas Gray.

Drumkey 1909 - Cattle Brand - E7L - Kiambu

Drumkey 1909 - Committee Member, The Colonists' Association of BEA

Kiambu Scrapbook - The house on Kogeria was also built in 1904 by the then owner, Mr John Ellis, who had arrived in Kenya from India. This was probably the first stone house in the district and has the immensely high rooms typical of houses built for Europeans in India at this date. The walls are actually 17 foot high, built to keep the rooms cool, and topped with pressed steel ceilings as at Kiltannon, but because of the height, these were not found to be too hot and have all been preserved. A verandah then ran all round the house, its roof projecting about half way up from the 17 foot walls, the rooms being further lightened by small extra windows appearing above the verandah. These windows are also typical of Indian  houses of the time. Unlike Kiltannon, Kogeria was built locally, by Indian fundis; and as in those days door-handles and locks were impossible to get, all the rooms have double doors fastened by bolts. Because there was no plaster available either, mud was used instead, for the inside walls, which were then distempered. The house had the first built-in kitchen in the district, probably the first in Kenya, but the second owner, Mr Tony Fenwick, removed it to a suitable distance away from the house as was the usual custom at that time. It also had a stone porte-cochere jutting out from the verandah, which still stands. All the roofing was of corrugated iron.

Kiambu Scrapbook - Kogeria, which borders on Camerondale, was originally owned  by a Mr John Ellis, whose son is still in Kenya. He arrived from India in 1904. In 1912 the farm was bought by Mr Tony Fenwick …..

Agricultural Journal 1908 - Brands allotted and registered - J.B. Ellis, Kiambu - Kiambu E7L

Red Book 1912 - J.B. Ellis - Kyambu [twice]

Red Book 1912 - President - Coffee Planters'  Association

Hut - 1904 Kogeria Est. Kiambu 1st stone house. Sold estate to Fenwick

1939 England and Wales Register living in Axbridge with wife and children, as coffee planter, retired