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Name: FAWCUS, David Derwent James 'Bo'

Nee: bro of Arthur Edward Flynn and Reginald Alfred Flynn, son of William Paul James Fawcus

Birth Date: 1883 Chiswick

Death Date: 29.11.1942 Nairobi

First Date: 1905

Last Date: 1942

Profession: Farmed at Solai, coffee planter, hunter

Area: Solai, Njoro 1930, Olabanaita, Ol Kalou, Nairobi, 1930 Nakuru, 1922 Nakuru, Hut - Kishobo Njoro

Married: In Ilkley 28 June 1912 Dorothy Blake Johnson b. 6 Mar 1885 Bradford, d. 12 Oct 1985 Bury St Edmunds

Children: Nigel Derwent Frank (12.8.1913 Nairobi-2002 Horsham, m. Joan Barry at Naivasha); John Harold (11 June 1915 Njoro-29 Aug 1997 Salisbury)

Book Reference: Gillett, HBEA, Golf, EAWL, Frampton, KAD, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, Playne, Drumkey, Red 22, Barnes, EAHB 1907, SKP, Leader14, Rift Valley, Red Book 1912, Red 19

School: Bedford Modern School

General Information:

Well known golfer at Njoro in 30's.
Source - Mrs Lois Ashwanden and John Harold Fawcus  
Letter from John Fawcus - from the time he arrived in Kenya in 1905 until he died in 1942 he spent no more than 13 months in all away from Kenya. He was allotted a block of Hindlip and Fawcus's estate where the Njoro river changes it's easterly course to a southerly one to drain into Lake Nakuru; this was called Shura farm where I was born. He married Dorothy Blake Johnson, a solicitor's daughter from Yorkshire in 1912, and took her back to Kenya. Considering her upbringing she took to the pioneer's life remarkably well, and I certainly never heard her complain about the primitive conditions. In 1919 Shura produced a good crop of flax, and when harvested the price was still at the wartime level of £500 a ton, so, feeling very prosperous he took the family to England for a visit, and bought a Cubit car. But while in England the price of flax dropped to £50 a ton, so he was broke, and took the family back to Kenya, where he sold Shura and bought a completely undeveloped farm in Solai to grow coffee: he also bought a small plot at Njoro as a healthier place for the family, while he worked at Mulugi (the Solai farm), and came back to the small Njoro farm, Kilima Rongai, at week-ends.
Horses played quite a big part in his life. Before the first world war he owned, trained and rode at the Nairobi and Nakuru races, and was a founder member of the Jockey Club of Kenya. After the war he became Handicapper to the Jockey Club, a post he held until his death  in 1942. For this work he was paid the princely sum of £100 a year plus his travelling. He also played polo at Njoro and achieved a handicap of 2. Before the war he took out an occasional safari as White Hunter, and when really short of cash went out and shot an elephant; with ivory at £1 a lb. a good tusker (100lb a side) put him in funds for a year. Mulugi (the coffee farm) never really did much good; several drought years in the 20s and 30s, and the price of coffee usually between £30 and £50 a ton in London, so to help out he started a roast and ground business, using the lower quality beans and supplying shops at -/90 cents a lb. and hotels and private individuals at Sh. 1/- a lb. This business thrived, and at its best round about 100 lb. plus was taken into Nakuru and despatched each week.
Although farmers in Solai (with the exception of Frank Baillie who had private means) were far from prosperous, many of them had tennis courts and most weeks during dry weather there would be 2 tennis parties often followed by bridge parties after dark. ........ The first vehicle I can remember my father having was a Red Indian motor cycle and sidecar; but I also remember him saying that he had the first car in the Nakuru district - perhaps this was prior to the M/C and sold as an economy after the flax collapse. The next one was an Overland with 'Tourer' body and canvas hood. After that Chevrolet box bodies were the favoured make. The last two of these ran on Power kerosene with a Claudel carburettor, and a small tank of petrol for starting. The early cars had no windscreen wipers at all, and then one had a hand operated wiper, and after that they were operated by vacuum from the carburettor, so slowed down or stopped when the accelerator was pushed down.
The early box bodies were just that - a square box behind the front seat, angle iron supports for the roof at the rear corners, and the front of the roof supported over the windscreen. Later models had built in boxes for tools, spare fuel and chains etc. on each side.
Playne - Kishobo Farm was taken up. It belongs to the Hindlip and Fawcus Estates Ltd. of which Lord Hindlip and Mr W.J.P. Fawcus were the joint founders. The farm, which extends to 27,000 acres is managed by Mr Derwent Fawcus. It reaches from Njoro Station to Nakuru Station, with 7 miles of frontage on the Nakuru Lake, and the railway borders most parts on the north side. There is a comfortable dwelling-house about 2 miles from Njoro Station, while stables have been built of wood and iron, with cement floors and there are also a number of sheds built with cedar slabs and iron roofs. ........... There is a wattle plantation at Nakuru, of which Mr R. Fawcus is manager.
Nairobi Forest Road Cemetery - David Derwent James Fawcus, British, age 59, died 29/11/42
SKP - 1938 - Society of Kenya Pioneers - over 30 years in Colony - arrived Jan 1906 - Solai
Rift Valley - Member of the Rift Valley Sports Club - Jan 1929 - Elected - 1909 - D.D.J. Fawcus
Red Book 1912 - D. Fawcus - Naivasha
Gazette 5/4/1938 - Honorary Game Warden
Gazette - 3/12/1919 - Register of Voters - Rift Valley Area - D.D.J. Fawcus - Farmer - Nakuru and Dorothy Blake Fawcus - Married - Nakuru
Red Book 1919 - East Africa Turf Club - Nairobi - Steward
HBEA 1912 - Njoro. Handicapper to Jockey Club of Kenya for 20 years

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