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Name: GILL, Harold Warren
Nee: son of Leonard Aldridge Gill
Birth Date: 1891 East Ham, Essex
Death Date: 31 Mar 1966 Nairobi
First Date: 1917 from S. Africa
Profession: Chemical engineer
Area: Magadi, P.O. Kajiado
Married: Mary 'Molly' Elizabeth Chambers b. 1905 Northumberland (dau of John Alexander Chambers)
Children: Leonard John (20 Dec 1931 Nairobi-13 Mar 2006 Glenwood Springs, Colorado); Elizabeth; Margaret
Book Reference: Joelson, KAD, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, Red 22, EA & Rhodesia, Old Cambrian
School: BSc, FIC
General Information:
Red 22 - Chief Resident Chemist, Lake Magadi
EA & Rhodesia - 28/8/58 - Mr Harold W. Gill has been appointed chairman of the new Dairy Board of Kenya. He has spent the last 40 years in Kenya, initially with the Magadi Soda Company, from the general management of which he retired in 1931. During the last war he was Deputy Timber Controller and later a director of Timsales Ltd., and he is now deputy chairman of the Kenya Building Society.
Joelson - 1928 - General Manager of Magadi Soda Factory Ltd. in EA, who is assisted by a staff of some 30 Europeans.
Red 25 - Resident Chemist, Lake Magadi.
Hut - Safaris Serengeti
Gazette - Voters List 1936 - Nairobi South - Harold Warren Gill, Chemist and Chemical Engineer, Sclaters Rd., Nbi and Mary Gill, married woman, Sclaters Rd., Nbi.
Gazette 20 Sep 1960 he wants probate for Maud Gill who d. 1 Aug 1960 Nairobi
Gazette 26 Apr 1966 probate
Biographical Database of Southern African Science:
Harold Warren Gill, an analytical chemist, was the son of Leonard Aldridge Gill and his wife Maud Warren Gill. He obtained the degree Bachelor of Science (BSc) at Kings College, University of London and became a Fellow of either the Institute of Chemistry (FIC). He came to South Africa in about 1913 to take up a position as lecturer in chemistry at the South African School of Mines and Technology in Johannesburg (forerunner of the University of the Witwatersrand), under Professor J.A. Wilkinson*. On the basis of his degree from the University of London, the University of the Cape of Good Hope admitted him to its BSc degree in 1914. Gill published two papers around this time, "The recovery of iodine from residues" (The Analyst, 1913, Vol. 38, p. 409) and "The solubility of iodine in sodium iodide solutions" (Journal of the Chemical, Metallurgical and Mining Society of South Africa, 1913/4, Vol. 14, pp. 290-292). He became a member of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science in 1916. By 1918 Gill had moved to British East Africa and was the chief residential chemist of the
Magadi Soda Company, at Lake Magadi, south-east of Nairobi. He appears to have remained in Kenya for the rest of his life, later becoming a company director and consultant chemist in Nairobi. He was married to Mary Gill, with whom he had a son and two daughters.
Julie Gill, granddaughter: According to my father, Leonard John Gill, in his books, my grandfather originally had some 400 acres in a tea growing area (Kericho ?), before deciding he was not a farmer and joining Magadi Soda. I would not rely strongly on my father's recollections, but this obituary seems to confirm Hal arrived in Kenya 1917/18. I cannot trace anything on this personally, other than the above. Dad also wrote that his father Hal met his future wife, Mary "Molly" Elizabeth Chambers, when he went to meet the boat to tell her mother, also Mary Chambers, that her husband, John Alexander Chambers, had died while they were en-route to join him. Both my Grandfather and Chambers were working for Magadi Soda. Mary Chambers, the widow, actually had 4 children, Mary Elizabeth, Ada, Nora and John. This seems to be in line with information on your database and I can recall Ada and Nora in family gatherings. Dad wrote that Half joined the British Light Artillery during WW1 and went to fight in what is now Namibia. Later he was sent to fight in Tanganyika in 1917. Again, I can find no confirmation, but that could be why there does not appear to be any 'official' arrival date in Kenya for him.
Harold's parents, Leonard Aldridge Gill and Maud (née Warren) also came to Kenya, where he died on 2 May, 1950. My brother and I remember being terrified of great grandma Maud - a tyrant. My other paternal great grandmother, Mary, was a much nicer individual.
FindaGrave: Harold Warren Gill BIRTH 1891 DEATH 31 Mar 1966 (aged 74–75) Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya BURIAL Lang’ata cemetery Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya. Inscription: In loving memory / of / Harold Warren / Gill / died 31st March 1966 / aged 75