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Name: BREWER, Ronald Harry Turnour-
Birth Date: 20 Nov 1910 Brentford
Death Date: 14 Apr 1933 Nairobi
Last Date: 1933
Area: Nairobi
Married: In Nairobi 13 Apr 1933 Marjorie Smith b. 1908 Lambeth, d. 1968 Woolwich (sister of James Stuart Smith)
Book Reference: Barnes
General Information:
Nairobi Forest Road cemetery - Ronald Turnour Brewer, British, age 23, died 14/4/33
Western Morning News 18 Apr 1933 Four days ago Mr and Mrs H. Smith, of Queen's Gate, London, received a cable, signed Marjorie, which read, 'If you receive foolish telegram about me, don't believe it. I'm writing.' On Saturday the following cable, which had been sent on Thursday, was received: 'Married today name Tournour Brewer. Very happy. Writing airmail. Marjorie'. Mr Smith stated that his daughter Marjorie went abroad in January last year to pay a visit to her brother, Mr James Stewart Smith, and his wife who is a daughter of the Governor of Kenya. 'We have seen it stated in the papers that she had married someone named Ronald Tournour Brewer', said Mr Smith, 'and while she was on a visit to friends he was found shot dead in his hotel, but beyond the cable we have had no news.'V29 Apr 1933 • Govt House, Nairobi, Kenya (suicide)
Inquest 3 May 1933 James Stuart Smith, verdict suicide in Government House of unsound mind, following the wedding of his sister Marjorie to Ronald Turnour Brewer on 13 April 1933 after which Brewer committed suicide on the 14 April 1933.
EAS 25 Apr 1933 Inquest into death of Ronald Turnourr Brewer age 23 who was found shot dead in a bedroom at Torr’s hotel on Good Friday evening. Brewer was married in Nairobi the day before his death but in order to avoid giving further pain her name was not disclosed. A doctor was called who found a pistol in Brewer’s right hand and a bullet wound two inches in front of and one inch above the opening of the right ear and another wound immediately behind the opening of the left ear which was the point of exit of the bullet. The evidence suggested the wound had been self inflicted and that the shot was fired when the pistol was held close to the head. The cause of death was haemorrhage and death must have been instantaneous. In Brewer’s right hand was a letter signed Marjorie, two torn bits of two different photographs and a bunch of flowers. On the third finger of the left hand was a platinum wedding ring and a signet ring. There were several letters addressed to various people found on a stool. Brewer’s passport showed he was born on 20 November 1910 and arrived in Kenya on 12 June 1932. Brewer had arrived in the hotel the previous Wednesday and signed R Turnour Brewer but the word Sir was written in the Register sometimes subsequently. The manager of Torrs hotel said Brewer had told him the day before that he had just been married. He later talked to him and said Brewer seemed rather worried. Explained his wife left him immediately after the marriage and that he was very distressed about it. I told him, said the manager, that the lady was a Catholic and that she did not consider herself married until the ceremony had been performed in her own Catholic Church and that she had gone away into the country until until things could be arranged to her satisfaction. I told him I thought he had unduly rushed the ceremony and that if he waited quietly for a few days things would probably right themselves. He told me his right to the title had been questioned and he was very resentful that inquiries had been made about his antecedents. He told me his grandfather had been in the Indian Army and had a title and that at the beginning of the war the British government had taken the title away from him owing to his being of enemy nationality. He was German. The grandfather died and an uncle used the title and although the uncle was in the civil service the use of the title had not been questioned. Uncle died and Brewer adopted the title. He said he had traveled in Labrador and asked me to find him a post on the day he was married. He wanted to get some work out here and said he would do anything. He told me he had made some money In Canada and lost it. The first witness after the lunch adjournment was a Nairobi girl whom the deceased had met a few days before his death and whom he married at the DC’s office in Nairobi the day before the tragedy. She was very distressed and at times burst into tears. She first met Brewer on 8th April when she was introduced to him by a friend. She saw him each day subsequently and he asked her if she would consider him seriously if he got a job. You have got to get a job fast, she said. Then in the evening he became more serious and suggested getting married the next day. She did not regard the proposal seriously. At 1:15 AM on Thursday he took her back to the flat which he was sharing and said he had been to the DC’s office and got the licence. She said the whole thing was ridiculous and he said oh you were trying to back out. The next morning she went to her flat to change and then in the company with her sister in law and Mrs McConnell she went to the DC’s office where she was married about noon. The party returned to Torrs and had lunch. Then she and her husband went to the post office to send off cables and then she went to an appointment with her hairdresser’s. She then left him said she would see him at the hotel after she had done some shopping. That was the last time she saw him. She went to stay with friends until matters could be arranged. She wanted to be married in a Catholic Church before she lived with her husband. George Frederick McConnell who had known Brewer about two months said that Brewer told him that if his wife did not meet him at as suggested at 4:00 o’clock on Friday afternoon he would take the first boat or airplane to England with a view to giving her grounds for divorce. A witness visited him at 4:35 on Good Friday afternoon in his room and told him it had been a very hasty marriage and that his wife still wanted time. Brewer gave the witness the marriage certificate and his wife’s signet ring to be returned to her. He producde two photographs of the wedding and tore them into pieces. Seemed very upset when the witness left him at 5:15. He said it was all his fault and that he would go home as soon as he could.
Inquest 3 May 1933 James Stuart Smith, verdict suicide in Government House of unsound mind, following the wedding of his sister Marjorie to Ronald Turnour Brewer on 13 April 1933 after which Brewer committed suicide on the 14 April 1933.
EAS 25 Apr 1933 Inquest into death of Ronald Turnourr Brewer age 23 who was found shot dead in a bedroom at Torr’s hotel on Good Friday evening. Brewer was married in Nairobi the day before his death but in order to avoid giving further pain her name was not disclosed. A doctor was called who found a pistol in Brewer’s right hand and a bullet wound two inches in front of and one inch above the opening of the right ear and another wound immediately behind the opening of the left ear which was the point of exit of the bullet. The evidence suggested the wound had been self inflicted and that the shot was fired when the pistol was held close to the head. The cause of death was haemorrhage and death must have been instantaneous. In Brewer’s right hand was a letter signed Marjorie, two torn bits of two different photographs and a bunch of flowers. On the third finger of the left hand was a platinum wedding ring and a signet ring. There were several letters addressed to various people found on a stool. Brewer’s passport showed he was born on 20 November 1910 and arrived in Kenya on 12 June 1932. Brewer had arrived in the hotel the previous Wednesday and signed R Turnour Brewer but the word Sir was written in the Register sometimes subsequently. The manager of Torrs hotel said Brewer had told him the day before that he had just been married. He later talked to him and said Brewer seemed rather worried. Explained his wife left him immediately after the marriage and that he was very distressed about it. I told him, said the manager, that the lady was a Catholic and that she did not consider herself married until the ceremony had been performed in her own Catholic Church and that she had gone away into the country until until things could be arranged to her satisfaction. I told him I thought he had unduly rushed the ceremony and that if he waited quietly for a few days things would probably right themselves. He told me his right to the title had been questioned and he was very resentful that inquiries had been made about his antecedents. He told me his grandfather had been in the Indian Army and had a title and that at the beginning of the war the British government had taken the title away from him owing to his being of enemy nationality. He was German. The grandfather died and an uncle used the title and although the uncle was in the civil service the use of the title had not been questioned. Uncle died and Brewer adopted the title. He said he had traveled in Labrador and asked me to find him a post on the day he was married. He wanted to get some work out here and said he would do anything. He told me he had made some money In Canada and lost it. The first witness after the lunch adjournment was a Nairobi girl whom the deceased had met a few days before his death and whom he married at the DC’s office in Nairobi the day before the tragedy. She was very distressed and at times burst into tears. She first met Brewer on 8th April when she was introduced to him by a friend. She saw him each day subsequently and he asked her if she would consider him seriously if he got a job. You have got to get a job fast, she said. Then in the evening he became more serious and suggested getting married the next day. She did not regard the proposal seriously. At 1:15 AM on Thursday he took her back to the flat which he was sharing and said he had been to the DC’s office and got the licence. She said the whole thing was ridiculous and he said oh you were trying to back out. The next morning she went to her flat to change and then in the company with her sister in law and Mrs McConnell she went to the DC’s office where she was married about noon. The party returned to Torrs and had lunch. Then she and her husband went to the post office to send off cables and then she went to an appointment with her hairdresser’s. She then left him said she would see him at the hotel after she had done some shopping. That was the last time she saw him. She went to stay with friends until matters could be arranged. She wanted to be married in a Catholic Church before she lived with her husband. George Frederick McConnell who had known Brewer about two months said that Brewer told him that if his wife did not meet him at as suggested at 4:00 o’clock on Friday afternoon he would take the first boat or airplane to England with a view to giving her grounds for divorce. A witness visited him at 4:35 on Good Friday afternoon in his room and told him it had been a very hasty marriage and that his wife still wanted time. Brewer gave the witness the marriage certificate and his wife’s signet ring to be returned to her. He producde two photographs of the wedding and tore them into pieces. Seemed very upset when the witness left him at 5:15. He said it was all his fault and that he would go home as soon as he could.