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Name: EUSTACE, Robert William Barrington Robertson- DSO, MLC (Major)

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Birth Date: 11.1.1870 Ottawa

Death Date: 18.9.1935 Nairobi

First Date: 1904

Profession: Appointed Asst. District Superintendent of Police 10 Mar 1904, E. A. Protectorate

Area: Mombasa, Nairobi, Kikuyu, EAHB 1906 Kiambu

Married: Unmarried

Book Reference: Joelson, Debrett, Dominion, Burke, Leader 14, KAD, Gillett, HBEA, Cuckoo, Police, EAHB 1905, KAD, Hut, Playne, Drumkey, Red 12, 19, 22 and 25 and 31, Advertiser, EAHB 1906, Barnes, North, EAHB 1907, Leader14, mini-SITREP XXXIII, DSO

School: Shrewsbury School

General Information:

Cuckoo - On formation of BEA Police filled one of the senior vacancies. He had served with the Canadians in the Boer War and recently arrived in Nairobi from S. Africa. After retiring on pension in 1923, Major Robertson-Eustace made his home in Mombasa and served continuously as Member for the Coast in Legco.  
Police - Early in May 1904, Sir Charles Eliot invited Capt. R.W.B. Eustace to an interview at Government House. Eustace was a Captain in the 4th (Militia) Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment; had served with the Canadian Mounted Rifles and Army Service Corps during the SA War; and came to EA early in 1904. He had no previous Police experience. Before leaving SA for Mombasa, Eustace had applied to the Foreign Office for an Administrative appointment in EA. Sir Charles informed him that he had been appointed an Asst. Collector (later Asst. DC), but, on the score of age, would be transferred to the Police as an Asst. District Superintendent with seniority dating from May 1st 1904. For a short time he served at Nairobi under Ewart, and, as no quarters were available, he lived temporarily in a tent on the site now occupied by part of the Norfolk Hotel. In the middle of May he was posted to Kiambu in charge of the District Police. .... The DC was J.O.W. Hope and the Asst. DC Rupert W. Hemsted. ....... Until 1906, Hope, Hemsted and Eustace lived in mud-and-wattle huts with thatched roofs, and then brick and iron houses were erected for them. Eustace recorded that the "African Police at the boma in 1904 were an extraordinarily ragged lot, almost untrained, and had little in the way of uniforms. In fact, when the new Commissioner, Sir Donald Stewart, visited the boma shortly after his arrival in the country, I bought them all white trousers (pantaloon type) and they looked quite smart on parade." That state of affairs was equally true of the Police everywhere in the Protectorate for several more years. But things changed gradually for the better. ............. Capt. Eustace was stationed at Mombasa when war was declared. He was appointed Asst. Provost Marshal on Mombasa Island and Asst. Military Landing Officer at Kilindini. In Feb. 1916, he was appointed a Post Commandant, Lines of Communications, with the local rank of Major and graded as a Deputy Asst. Adjutant General. Later he was made Senior Commandant, Lines of Communications; mentioned in Despatches and in 1917 awarded the DSO for those services. From July 1918, until May 1923, he was in command of the Police at Mombasa and was for six months an acting Asst. Commissioner. Eustace retired as a Superintendent in May 1923, and made his home at the Coast. On succeeding to an estate in Britain, he had changed his surname to Robertson-Eustace. Shortly after leaving the Force on retirement, he was elected to Legco as member for the Coast and held this seat without a break for just over 12 years. He died, aged 65, at a Nursing Home in Nairobi on September 18th 1935.
Playne -  Assistant District Superintendent in 1909
Drumkey 1909 - Police - Assistant District Supdt.
Advertiser - 28/8/1908 - Capt. Eustace, ADSP left for Mombasa to superintend the hanging of the 4 men who murdered Mr London
EAHB 1906 - Captain Reserve of Officers and late 4th Battalion South Stafford Regt.; served in S. African War with Canadian Mounted Rifles and Army Service Corps; medal and 6 clasps; Assistant District Superintendent of Police, EAP May 10th 1904. Nairobi Forest Road Cemetery - Robert William Barrington Eustace, British, age 65, died 18/9/35
mini-SITREP XXXIII - Legion of Frontiersmen - 1935 - Capt. R.W.B.R. Eustace DSO was appointed "Organising Officer". It is not known if this was an internal appointment within the Kenya Command, or whether Eustace was appointed by Imperial HQ in London to reorganise things in Kenya.
DSO - Capt. R. of O. and S.B., Unatt. List from 1904; formerly Capt. 4th Batt. S. Staffs Reg.; retired with rank of Major after European War; served S. African War with Can. M.R. and A.S.C.; Queens medal with 6 clasps; appointed to E.A. Police 1904; served European War in British and German East Africa 1914-18; 1914 Star.
HBEA 1912 has Capt. R.W.B. Robertson Eustace, Superintendent of Police, Mombasa.
EAHB 1905 - Capt. S.W.B. Eustace - Asst. Dist. Supdt. of Police, Nairobi
Throughout EA Campaign served on General Staff, retiring as Major with DSO
Asst. Superintendent of Police. For many years he was stationed at Mombasa & was member of LegCo for Mombasa. Very interested in gardening and growing of sisal and coconuts. 'East Africa' - 1934 - Director of Boustead & Clarke Ltd.
Joined 1st Battalion, S. Staffordshire Regt. & later went farming in Canada. On outbreak of SA War he took a commission in Canadian Mounted Rifles, then left SA for EA.
Debrett - Major (retired), a MLC and a Sup. of Police, Kenya Colony; S. African War 1899-1902 (Queen's medal with 5 clasps), European War 1914-18 with E. African Forces (despatches, DSO) 
KAD 1922 - Superintendent of Police, Mombasa
Playne - Captain Robertson-Eustace was born in Ottawa, Canada, on January 11, 1870, and educated at Shrewsbury School. He came to EA in April, 1904, and the following month was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Police - the post he holds at present. Captain Robertson-Eustace was formerly in the 4th battalion, S. Staffordshire Regiment. He served in the SA War with the 1st battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles, and with the Army Service Corps, and was awarded the Queen's medal and 7 clasps. After the War he was Asst. Inspector of Transport (Repatriation Dept.) for the Eastern Transvaal, and later Superintendent in the Repatriation Dept.
Red 22 - President, Nairobi Club
Dominion - 1930 - European Elected member of Legco
Burke - second son of Robert Jameson Eustace - of Robertstown, Co. Kildare, late Maj Reserve of Officers, formerly 4th Battery S. Staffs Regt., Superintendent of Police, Kenya Colony 1904-21, served in SA War 1900-02 and in Great War 1914-18 Member of Legislative Council for Kenya Colony
Red Book 1912 - Police Dept. - Superintendent
Red Book 1919 - Superintendent of Police
Red Book 1919 - Immigration Dept. - Principal Immigration Officer - Capt. R.W.B. Robertson-Eustace DSO
Barnes Nairobi Forest Road cemetery
President of Mombasa Club 1919, 1922
 

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