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Name: DYKES, Andrew

Birth Date: 29 Mar 1894 Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire

Death Date: 23 Aug 1979 Alnwick

First Date: 1920

Profession: Farmer

Area: Melwa, Rumuruti, Hut 1927 Butchery Farm Rumuruti, Thomson's Falls

Married: In Edinburgh 24 July 1924 Hester Fleming Alison b. 29 Mar 1901 Edinburgh, d. 27 Feb 1997 Edinburgh

Children: John Alison (5 May 1931 Edinburgh-27.11.2015 Queensland); Alison Mary (Parker) (1933); Andrew Alison 'Tano' (28 Feb 1937 Nairobi-26 Feb 1975, fire on farm); Thomas Alison (1928); Margaret 'Meg' Marian (1925); Maren (1944)

Book Reference: KAD, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, Wed, Thurston, Red 22, Pioneers, Tom Lawrence, Barnes, SS, Alison Parker, A.G.D. White, Rob Ryan, Childhood

General Information:

Thurston - CO 533, 400/1 - 1930 - A. Dykes: request for extra grant of land refused
Pioneers - Thomson's Falls - 1930s Andrew Dykes opened a butchery
Tom Lawrence - Probationary Member - East African Professional Hunters' Association
Barnes - Thomson's Falls Cemetery - Andrew Alison Dykes 1937-1975, 3rd son of Andrew Dykes, Rumuruti
Soldier Settlement Scheme after WW1 - Class B - Pte. A. Dykes, Dowlaw, Coldingham - Farm 531 - Representative, Mr W. Stirling, Nairobi  
A.G.D. White - Bert {H.A.D. White} had a troublesome relationship with both the administration and his neighbours at Rumuruti. The latter feuded over grazing; Gerry Edwards took him to court, and Andrew Dykes was frightened of him. Until Bert died Andrew always carried a 'rungu' (cudgel) with him in case Bert had a crack at him.
Rob Ryan - 6/2/04 - John Dykes was deported after Uhuru for running over and killing someone who was stealing his cattle and I last heard of him running a caravan park in Brisbane.
Childhood - The Dykes Family Saga - Melwa Farm - The farm we were brought up on is situated between Thomson's Falls and Rumuruti, north of the Aberdare Range and east of the Rift Valley - Laikipia District. The land was sold by the British colonial government to 'soldier settlers' after the First World War; 4-5000 acre blocks were drawn by lot in London in 1919. Our father Andrew Dykes, his brother-in-law James Scott, his cousins William and John Stirling, and a London lawyer drew 5 contiguous blocks, and eventually our father bought them out and consolidated his holding (19000 acres). He called it Melwa, taking the native name of the tributary of the Ngare Narok River, which ran through it. The Ngare Narok itself formed one boundary of the consolidated block. ………… Most of the land is above 6000 feet above sea level, suitable for ranching. Dad used to say you might get a crop of maize about once in 3 years. He left his father and brother on a mixed farm in Scotland, and vowed on leaving that he would never plant another crop seed - and he never did! He ranched cattle and did saome dairying for cheesemaking instead. He built a little house of cedar off-cuts for his bride, and married Hester Alison in Edinburgh in 1924. She never said much about coming to Africa as a young bride from a middle class urban home in Scotland, but it must have been quite a contrast! They arrived in Nairobi and stayed with the Scotts at Burnbrae - Uncle Jim and Auntie Jeannie to us, and John Stirling motored them to the farm in his Model T Ford. Auntie Jeannie was Dad's sister, and the Scott children were like siblings to us.
Women in Kenya - Hesta Dykes - She was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1903, her father being Headmaster of George Watson's School. She married Andrew Dykes, another Scot, who took her out to Kenya to a wild and remote part with few roads and even fewer neighbours. They started their married life in a small wooden house built from their own forest. Andrew's idea of celebrating their first anniversary was to take Hesta three miles through the bush along a rough track on the back of his motorcycle (a very rough trip to find a site for their vegetable …. Nearest civilization was the railway station 25 miles away at Thomson's Falls serviced by a goods cum passenger train pulled by  a wood burning engine. There was great excitement when a second train per week was put on the railway timetable. ………. [more] Hester and Andrew had 6 children, 3 of each. To her credit she increased their natural intelligence by educating them herself to a high standard before it was possible for them to go to school. Now 2 of the offspring are in Scotland, 2 are in Australia, 1 in England and all doing credit to their ancestry. One son called Tanu (Swahili for 5) because he was the 5th child, died in a tragic forest fire near their farm. Poor Hesta received a terrible shock when she came home from the Thomson's Falls Hospital where she had taken a badly bruised African. Tanu was lying dead on the lawn as a result of the fire.
Hut - Boran cattle
Gazette - 26/9/1923 - Voters Register - Kenya Province - Andrew Dykes, Settler PO Rumuruti

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