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Name: LAFONE, Michael William
Nee: son of Major Edgar Mortimer Lafone
Birth Date: 24 Mar 1900 Feltham, Middx.
Death Date: 16 Aug 1966 St Marylebone, London
First Date: 1923
Last Date: 1942
Profession: Farmer and womaniser
Area: 1925 Suguroi, 1930 Naro Moru, Gilgil
Married: 1. In Nairobi 26 Jan 1928 (div. 1831) Lady Florence Elizabeth Alice Byng b. 12 Feb 1897 Chelsea, d. 14 Jan 1987 Elstree; 2. In Westminster 2 July 1936 (div. 1946) Dorothy Vivienne Scott b. 17 Oct 1913 Lucerne, d. 28 Nov 2005 St Albans (later m. Charles H.D. Simmonds); 3. 1947 Mrs Frederica Fitzgerald née Clarke
Children: 1. Julian Michael Edward Byng (20 Oct 1928-2011) assumed surname Byng in lieu of his patronymic by deed poll, Cherry Lavinia (Lee) (1938) 2. Cherry Lavinia b. 21 Feb 1938 Kensington, d. 2019)
Book Reference: Mischief, Debrett, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, Darling, Racing, Burke, Who's Who, Rift Valley, Web
War Service: Capt. KAR, 15/19th Hussars 1918-23, served in WW2
School: Eton and RMC Sandhurst
General Information:
Debrett - Lady Florence Elizabeth Alice Byng, b. 1897; resumed the surname of Byng in lieu of that of Lafone by deed poll (enrolled at College of Arms), 1952.
Darling - Erica Clarke, daughter of Mopani Clarke [a pioneer in Zambia] married first Sir William Fitzgerald in the early 30s …….. She married a card-sharper and general trickster called Michael Lafone, who would have been deported had she not beaten the authorities by giving him one of her farms and thereby establishing a landownership qualification. She has just got rid of Lafone at much expense and is left now with little more than old Mopani Clarke's largest ranch. Now, having married Ronnie [Lt. Col. Ronald Critchley, DSO, MC], she is having to keep him .
Racing - Owner of 'Oasis' by 'Prince Pride' - 'Berbera' - 1929
Rift Valley - Dec 1928 - 'Cannot a few suitable stools be placed before the bar counter and also a foot rail.'
Rift Valley - Member of the Rift Valley Sports Club - Jan 1929 - Elected - 21 Jul 1923 - Capt. M. Lafone
Web - Straits Times 5-12-1931 - "The Bobbin Club in Regent Street is one of the favorite resorts of the moment. This club has lately come under the management of Mr Michael Lafone an Oxford undergraduate recently returned from Kenya Colony. Under his aegis it has become a popular rendezvous for simple meals after the theatre - meals in which bacon and eggs and sausages and chips play the principal part. An additional attraction is Mr Anthony Vivian's new dance band which often comes on from the Ritz. People are not obliged to dress and on the night that I was there several members who had been electioneering came in after a hard day's work in the tweeds and pullovers they had worn during the day."
Mischief - a fierce womaniser with an eyeglass, who was briefly and disastrously married in Kenya to Elizabeth Byng, daughter of the Earl of Strafford.
Red 25 - Settler
Gazette - 5/8/1925 - Voters Register - Kenya Province - Michael Lafone, Farmer PO Naro Moru
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