Hendrick Petrus - Kenya Regiment 4296

Boet de Bruin - Very little is known about his adult life in South Africa before going to Kenya. However he did work as a typesetter for a newspaper in Craddock and possibly in Belfast. ……… Theunis Petrus [brother] immigrated to Kenya with H.P. after T.P. married aunt Ellie. He told the story of buying bread in every part that they stopped and transferred the gold coins into the fresh loaf to smuggle into Kenya. There H.P. had several jobs, such as constructing roads in the Thika area where he met a man called Bill Retief who remained a lifelong friend. He also took overseas clients out on safari, shooting elephants where they were creating problems round Mount Kenya. It was in this period that he met our mother, Louisa Susanna Cathrina Greyling. Grandpa, Abraham Carel Greyling, had gone to Kenya in the early 1920s with his whole family. There were 4 Greyling girls Louisa, Hester, Aletta and Ena. There were also 6 sons of which Hottie, the eldest, was the closest to the de Bruin family. ………. The safari business, which entailed being away for 3 months at a time, was obviously not a suitable arrangement for the newly married couple and H.P. looked for a more stable occupation. He found it with Colonel Murray on Marania Estates on the NW slopes of Mount Kenya. While they were staying there Hendrik, Abraham and I were born. Hendrik on 19 November 1926, Abraham in 1928 and I [Boet] on 6 August 1930 (I think my date was an inspired guess as it was never registered). Abraham died in infancy of what was thought then as pneumonia but both Anna and Johanna (a nurse) said it was more likely meningitis. In 1933 H.P. left Marania Estates and bought a plot in Nanyuki. Colonel Murray had given him merino sheep, presumably as a bonus or in lieu of salary. ….. He and his brother-in-law Hottie also did blacksmith work for other people. He had also acquired a 3 ton International truck and was doing local transport. The 1930s were depression years and finding jobs became more difficult. After the birth of Hester and Louisa, Mrs de Bruin died of a streptococci infection which made life very difficult for Hendrik. The children were farmed out to friends - Louisa went to Theunis and Elsie, Hester and Boet went to Uncle Hans and Aunt Jessie Botha, and Hester later went to the Arnoldi family as a playmate for their dau Jessie. Suster van Landsberg gave mother's milk, put in a bottle on horseback for Louisa. In 1935 the plot of land in Nanyuki was sold and Hendrik bought a tract of land of 2500 acres at Ol Kalou ….. Built a mud and wattle house …….. Hendrik put up a sawmill and supplied timber to Nairobi for the construction industry. An Indian saw doctor ran the mill and he did the transport to Ol Kalou station to rail the timber to Nairobi. In the Second World War we had Italian prisoners of war and these were some of the most talented craftsmen and technicians who left a legacy of furniture and mechanical mementos. The carpenter Antonio made the furniture, Salvatore was a blacksmith and Sclaffoni was a mechanic. They used to entertain us when they have supper in our house by singing. Salvatore played a mandolin and Antonio had a baritone voice. They introduced us to opera mainly Rossini and Verdi. They introduced us to macaroni, a dish we had not had before and which they made themselves. The farm in 1949 experienced the biggest wheat crop in its history. 9000x200 pound bags were produced. The farm was sold for £50,000 at independence Boet, who had been looking after it, left for South Africa. The house became the headquarters for the Settlement Board and most of the furniture they took over for the manager. I visited the farm in 1993. The house was dilapidated, all the surrounding trees destroyed and the Kikuyu settlers had deforested the land, resulting in the loss of colobus monkeys. A sad end to a lifetime of hard work.

Nakuru North cemetery - Hendrik Petros De Bruin, born 29/12/1898, died 23/9/1960

Gazette 6 Dec 1938 Aberdare Voters List