SE - A.C. Hoey - July 1907

Best - The first European to reach the Hoey's Bridge area. Sold his farm to the Duke of Manchester. He had been defeated by an altitude of 7000 ft. and was looking for somewhere to retire more amenable to his blood pressure.

Midday Sun - (1933) - 'I had been fascinated by the plateau's story ever since I first heard Cecil Hoey, one of the early settlers who reached EA about the same time as Delamere, gave his account of how, when he was sitting one day on top of a rock called Sergoit watching 3 lions at play, he saw on the horizon a long white streak which at first he thought was smoke. Then it became too definite a shape for smoke and it looked more like a river, though he knew this could not be. Gradually it grew closer, and he was able to make out through his binoculars a long line of ox-drawn wagons, their covered tops showing as a dusty white. This was the trek of the Boers to the Uasin Gishu in 1908.' .........… '

Only one man did not rejoice. That was Cecil Hoey, sitting on his rock observing their advance. 'I went back to camp that night', he later recorded, 'a very sad man, realising that the countless herds of game must now give way to make room for western civilization.'' ..... '

Cecil Hoey had come to EA at the turn of the century. He was a burly man, rather slow of speech, with a quiet humour and strong fixed opinions. Times were to change more quickly than his power to adjust to such changes. Some years later, when a new generation of educated Africans had emerged, he and his wife invited me to stay on his farm on the plateau. Then I received a message cancelling the invitation. I had offended against a code he was not prepared to renounce; I had lunched with an African at a Nairobi hotel. To do this was still liable to offend some, though not all, of the older generation of white people. The African in question was Tom Mboya, one of the first of the new breed, .............. So, regretfully, I never saw Cecil Hoey again to hear more of his recollections - he was a good raconteur. He ended his days on the Coast and, after a lifetime spent in up-country Africa, left instructions in his will that he was to be buried at sea.'                                    

Nellie - 1947 - 'On Sunday we had quite an Old Kenya day. Lunch with Cecil Hoey in the new house he has built at the foot of the Cherangani hills, having sold their lovely place to the Duke of Manchester. All over the Uasin Gishu plateau now are signposts 'Manchester' - gives the plateau quite an industrial tang.'

KFA - In 1910 he started to grow coffee, but wheat  and maize were the general crops. ...... In 1914 felled a tree to get supplies across the Nzoia river - wagons had previously crossed by drift - this became known as Hoey's Bridge. ...........

KFA - Leading member of syndicate who set up the Blue Rock Flour Mills in Eldoret in the mid 20s.

Eldoret - Employed O.C. Arnesen and his partner Whitehead to build 3 houses for him (one a "hunting box" for his father-in-law, Mr Wright).

Eldoret - known to his friends as 'A.C.', first came on a shooting trip in 1904. Hoey's Bridge is named after him; he got that far and could proceed no further so he felled two trees to make a temporary bridge which then had no name and became the first Hoey's Bridge. He and his brother were big game hunters and took out wealthy families from England and elsewhere on safari. The two brothers married the two Miss Wrights. A.C. was for a time the local member of Legco. .... he did a tremendous amount to open up the Plateau. He was buried at sea from his own yacht at his request and the Governor attended. ........….  

Eldoret - Article about the early days in the Eldoret district (pp. 25 - 27)

Rainsford - one of the best safari guides - took Rainsford on his safari

Nicholson Memoirs - Winter hunting lodges had been built in 1906 north of the Uasin Gishu Plateau at Natwana by Claude Wright's father, at Maji Mzuri by Will and Cecil Hoey, white hunters, and at Cobus Glen for Lord Cork. Cecil Hoey felled trees for his porters to cross the Nzoia - this was known as Hoey's Drift and later when a bridge was built the trading centre was named Hoey's Bridge. In 1913 the Director of Agriculture asked Cecil Hoey to do a safari with him to examine the country north of the Nzoia river lying between Mt. Elgon and the Cherangani Hills with a view to opening up the area for European settlement - he named it the Trans Nzoia. It was uninhabited except for a few Wanderobo. .….

Claude Wright's sisters, Gladys and Gwen, married Cecil and Will Hoey, the White Hunters who arranged their winter holidays in Kenya. Gladys Hoey stayed in the Trans Nzoia for the rest of her life and died at their farm 'Sageru' in 1969. Cecil Hoey lived at Maji Mzuri and after WW1 he went in for growing flax which was wanted for parachute harnesses.    Letter from Mrs Ingrid Gray - 'Col. A.C. Hoey was another character who used to tell marvellous stories about his early adventures in EA. He once went on a safari from Nairobi to Djibouti. The party were warned that the natives in one area were hostile so before leaving UK they asked the firework department at - I think it must have been Harrods - to make them up 3 large fireworks. They continued to carry at least one of these things with them even when their bearers started to desert. They ended up in a very nasty position, alone and with hostile natives preparing to attack. They then decided to try the firework. Col. Hoey said he had never seen such a show. It seemed to go on bursting for ever, with myriads of different coloured stars. When it finally expired there were no Africans left for miles. The expedition mules had also decamped but at least the party reached their destination in safety.'         Lorimer - Mr Hoey is one of the most famous of all the white hunters of BEA ...... he began his career by bringing up tinned food and other edibles to sell to the early settlers and hunters on the Plateau. Later on he built himself a hut, and made himself extremely useful to the settlers in many ways, and gradually he began to take travellers out on shooting expeditions. Eventually he became famous as a white hunter. Today he owns 60,000 acres.

Red 25 - Vice-President, Uasin Gishu Gymkhana Club, Eldoret

Curtis - p. 96 - Uasin Gishu - '..... A few adventurous white settlers - three Van Breda brothers from South Africa, F.A. Arnoldi, Cecil Hoey and Paul Chapman were among them - began simple farming operations, far from markets or permanent settlements, in the first years of the century

Playne - Coming to BEA in 1905 from S. Africa for the purpose of shooting Mr Hoey made several big trips, one of which was to the German border and the Uasin Gishu, where he was among the first to cover that ground. Whilst travelling there Mr Hoey has seen  ... lions and 20 elephants killed in 18 months, and elephants in large herds have been noted daily. On one trip, in company with another sportsman, 3 elephants were bagged in half an hour, one of which had tusks weighing 131 lbs. and another 128 lbs. On another occasion, with another gentleman, 10 lions were bagged in a month. At that time - 1908 - the above-mentioned area was undoubtedly the finest shooting-ground in EA .........  Mr Hoey is now personally conducting shooting parties, and can be communicated with direct at Nairobi or through Messrs Newland, Tarlton & Co. Ltd. and the Boma Trading Co. Ltd., of Nairobi. It is needless to mention that a gentleman of Mr Hoey's experience is much sought after by the various sportsmen visiting BEA. Many of the excellent photographs illustrating the Fauna section of this book were taken by Mr Hoey, to whom thanks are due.

East Africa & Rhodesia - 1/3/56 - Obituary

Year Book - 1953 - Steward of the Jockey Club of Kenya

Land - A.C. Hoey leased 5463 acres at Uasin Gishu later sub-divided

Trans Nzoia Scrap Book - Mrs A.C. Hoey, who worked the EAWL embroidery panel for the Trans Nzoia, came to the Plateau in 1913 with her father by ox wagon, the only form of transport available in those days. Her future husband, Cecil, had reached the Nzoia River in 1904 on one of his hunting safarais; there was no bridge so he felled trees to make a crossing, and many years later when a bridge was built, it and the trading centre which grew up nearby were called after him. In 1920 the DC, Mr Champion, who was still administering the District from a site near Hoey's Bridge now known as the "Old Boma", asked Mr & Mrs Hoey to help him choose his new headquarters in the Trans Nzoia, and thus the future township of Kitale was brought to life, it having hitherto been merely a square on the map.

Cecil Hoey was a well-known breeder of race horses, and though it is still a great many years ago since he farmed in the Nzoia Valley, and paid his contract harvesters at their request in matches, yet Gladys Hoey still lives on another farm not far from the Nzoia River.

EA Stud Book 1954 - Brood Mares - Thoroughbred - Breeders - Lt.Col. A.C. Hoey (1932)

EA Stud Book 1954 - Brood Mares - Thoroughbred - Breeders - Mrs A.C. Hoey (1936)

EA Stud Book 1954 - Thoroughbred Stallions - Lt.Col. A.C. Hoey, Hoeys Bridge

EA Stud Book 1954 - Cattle - Guernseys - A.C. Hoey, Hoeys Bridge

Into Africa - A.C. Hoey's publicity was so successful that he had been recommended to Roosevelt by 1909. On one hunt reported in the Standard in 1908, he shot 10 lions and 2 elephants, but this was apparently professional and not 'white' hunting; no client was mentioned. According to Tony Dyer, he turned his time entirely to farming after the war.

Land 1909 - A.C. Hoey - Grazing and agricultural, 4090 acres - Uasin Gishu - 17/8/08 - Leasehold under Occupation Licence from 5 to 99 years from 1/3/09 - Registered 18/8/09

Land 1909 - A.C. Hoey - Buildings, &c., 5 acres - E. Ravine - 13/3/06 - Leasehold for 25 years from 1/6/09 - Registered 14/2/10

Land - 1911 - A.C. Hoey - Building plots, 7500 sq.ft and 7500 sq.ft - Londiani - 20/4/10 - Leasehold for 99 years from 1/6/10 - Registered 22/5/11

Land - 1911 - A.C. Hoey - Grazing and agricultural, 4100 acres (Farm No. 168) - Uasin Gishu - 11/4/11 - Leasehold under Occupation Licence for 2 to 99 years from 1/5/11 - Registered 24/8/11

Land - 1911 - A.C. Hoey - Grazing and agricultural, 4150 acres (Farm No. 164) - Uasin Gishu - Leasehold under Occupation Licence for 5 to 99 years from 1/12/10 - Registered 31/8/11

Advertiser - 21/8/1908 - Nakuru - E. Hoey the well known hunter arrived here with Mr S. Timmis. They had a good bag, elephant tusks over 100lbs.

1934 - Director of Kenya Consolidated Goldfields Ltd holding large claims at Kakamega, Gori River and Lolgorien

Gazette - 7/4/15 - Liable for Jury service, Uasin Gishu Plateau - A.C. Hoey, Farm No. 180

Racing - Owner of 'Virginia' - 1929

Racing - Owner of 'Billy' - 1929

Racing - Owner of 'Ras Tafari' by 'Prince Pride' - 'Berbera' - 1929

Racing - Owner of 'Phantom' - 1930 - Mrs A.C. Hoey

Nicholls - Another culprit was Cecil Hoey who poached ivory around Mt Elgon, shooting without a licence. To elude the game allowance of only 2 elephants a year, he smoked the tusks until they looked old and claimed he had found them lying about in the wilderness. It was a lucrative business for the profit from 2 tons of ivory (42 dead elephants) could set a man up for life.

SKP - 1938 - Society of Kenya Pioneers - over 30 years in Colony - arrived Aug 1904 - Eldoret

Mombasa Mbaraki cemetery - Col. Arthur Cecil Hoey, died 11 Feb 1956 age 73, European Hospital, Anurysm, Buried at Sea

Chandler - Born in England, Hoey explored the Uasin Gishu Plateau in 1904. He established a farm in the bush, with the Wanderobo as his neighbours. He was one of the first professional white hunters, working for Newland and Tarlton and, later, Safariland. In 1908 Hoey and Bill Judd guided the American writer and preacher W.S. Rainsford on a long safari that ended with Judd's gunbearer being badly mauled by a wounded lion. Hoey had a reputation as a 'lion man', being involved in early experiments in hunting lion on horseback and killing many others on foot. ……… For a lion man, he was a pretty good elephant hunter too, taking one bull with tusks of 131 and 128 pounds per side.

Richardson 1925 - Eldoret - "… I promptly had a coincidence, for a Mrs Hoey called, with her brother, one Wright and his wife from England. She is married to Mr C. Hoey a son of the late range Warden at Bisley. Mr C. Hoey turned up later and we had a chat about Bisley where he had often shot. His brother William won the Silver Medal in 1920."

Red Book 1912 - Member of the Land Board

London Gazette - 23 Feb 1917 - granted temporary rank for service with the Forces in East Africa - as Captain

Gazette 5/4/1938 - Honorary Game Warden

Gazette - 29/10/1919 - Register of Voters - Plateau South - Arthur Cecil Hoey, Settler, Eldoret

Macmillan 1930 - Mr A. C. Hoey, sole principal of the firm of A.C. Hoey & Co. Mr Hoey arrived in East Africa in 1905 for the purpose of big game hunting, in which he continued for 7 years. Thereafter he took up farming and is one of the most successful settlers in Kenya

Cuckoo - mentions as coming up from S. Africa. Partner of Denys Finch-Hatton in a farm beyond Eldoret. Best Man to Mansfield Markham when he married Beryl.

Gazette - 26/9/1923 - Voters Register - Plateau North - Arthur Cecil Hoey, Farmer PO Hoeys Bridge

Old Africa - 20-1-15 - Christine Nicholls - One of the first white residents in the Trans-Nzoia region was Arthur Cecil Hoey. Who was Hoey? He was born in Wimbledon in 1883 and baptised on 12 October that year, the son of John Hoey and his wife Matilda Jane, née Tront, who came from Dublin. In 1891 the family was living in Knaphill near Woking and Arthur Cecil had an older brother John and a younger brother William Henry. There was also an older brother Alfred Ernest who had left home, and who was later to join Cecil in East Africa in 1905 (he died in Nairobi in 1926), as did the younger brother William (who died at Naivasha in 1960). Their father John was working as a clerk. After education at Farnham Grammar School, Cecil had an adventurous youth. He was apprenticed to a sailing boat and went to sea. When his ship reached South Africa he left it to fight in the Boer War’s closing months. He stayed in South Africa when the war came to an end and learned something about breeding horses. He then embarked for East Africa, where he took up big-game hunting in 1904. He trekked through the Uasin Gishu plateau to the Nzoia River, marvelling at the huge herds of game, and becoming a proficient lion hunter. The American writer W.S. Rainsford sought him out to accompany him on a year’s safari to the Sergoit river. Since ivory hunting brought the greatest profit, Hoey shot many elephants until he had made a sizeable sum.

In 1909 Cecil trekked from Nakuru to Addis Ababa, through unmapped country. The maps he made were given to the Royal Geographical Society, of which Cecil became a member. He also indulged in land dealings in the Plateau region for other potential settlers, setting up an estate agency office in Eldoret. One of his clients was John Frederic Wright, who brought his daughter Gladys to East Africa in 1913. Hoey fell in love, followed the family back to Britain, and married Gladys May Avery Wright at St Paul’s, Frimley, on 23 June 1914. Her family was of independent means, being owners of Wright’s coal tar soap. Cecil took Gladys to East Africa, but their life together was interrupted when the First World War broke out. Cecil joined the East Africa Transport Corps, and was given the rank of temporary lieutenant, and then temporary captain (1917).

After the war Cecil started farming seriously, at first near Sergoit rock, and later in the Cherengani Hills, where he established his farm Kapsirowa (later bought by the Duke of Manchester). There he grew maize and sisal and built up a herd of pure-bred Frieslands. He went into a farm partnership on the Plateau with Denys Finch Hatton. Cecil then moved to Sageru, where his beloved horse Sea Eagle carried him around every morning. He became a Steward of the Kenya Jockey Club, for racing was one of his primary interests. And we find him acting as best man at the wedding of Beryl Clutterbuck, a keen horsewoman, and Mansfield Markham.

In 1916 he was made a member of the War Council in Nairobi. Although not greatly interested in politics, he stood for the Plateau North constituency of the Legislative Council and was returned as a member several times. He was a member of the Kenya Land Commission and also served as chairman of the Game Policy Committee from 1939, where he was instrumental in the establishment of national parks.

When the Second World War broke out Cecil was put in charge of Army Welfare in the East African Command; for his services he was appointed to the OBE. But it is not so much for this that he is known, but for the settlement of Hoey’s Bridge. He built the bridge to drive his ox teams over the Nzoia river, and a settlement grew up around there – it is now a small town and the name changed to Moi’s Bridge after independence. Hoey was a big man physically. Elspeth Huxley described him as a burly man, rather slow of speech, with a quiet humour and strong fixed opinions. He was gregarious, convivial, friendly, bespectacled. The East Africa Natural History Society published two of his works – Lake Rudolph and Some Notes on the Haunts and Habitats of the Elephant on the Guas Ngisho Plateau.

Cecil’s heart trouble forced the Hoeys into retirement at the coast, at Nyali. Cecil had one last trip to England in 1955, and he died from an aortic aneurism at Mombasa European Hospital on 11 February 1956. There is a plaque at Mbaraki cemetery in Mombasa, but Hoey was buried at sea, according to his wishes, the day after he died. He left effects worth £7,815.16s.8d.