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Name: SORSBIE, Malin CBE, K.St.J., FRGC, Sir
Nee: son of Rev William Francis Sorsbie
Birth Date: 25 May 1906 Hartley Wintney
Death Date: 29 Oct 1988 Westminster
First Date: 1947
Profession: Imperial Airways, BOAC, Gen. manager EA Airways 1947-56
Area: Nairobi
Married: In Chelsea 1945 Elizabeth Melmoth McNeice b. 1907, killed in air accident on Kilimanjaro 1955; 2. In Westminster 1955 Constantine Eugenie Johnston b. 28 Dec 1910 New York, d. 15 Apr 1988 Westminster (prev. m. John Alden Beach 1903-1953 and later m. John K. O'Meara b. 1910)
Children: none
Author: 'Dragonfly', 'Brandy for Breakfast', web
Book Reference: Markham, Who's Who, Campling
School: Brighton College and Manitoba University
General Information:
Who's Who - Royal Canadian Mounted Police 1926-29; RAF 1930-35; Imperial Airways 1936-39; BOAC 1940-47; EA Airways (Gen. Manager) 1947-56; Life Fellow RGS, K.St.J.
Campling - The Sherbrooke-Walkers stayed on at The Outspan which they ran with growing success until they sold it, together with Treetops, in 1961 to Sir Malin Sorsbie, who had spent a lifetime flying with the RAF and Imperial Airways. After the war, Sorsbie was BOAC manager for the Middle East area, but left to become the General Manager of East African Airways in May 1947. Sorsbie sold The Outspan to Block Hotels in 1966
Pilot - took Beryl Markham for a flight in an RAF Vickers VI at an aerial day to celebrate the opening of Njoro Airfield. Gen Manager EA Airways. RAF 1930-35
Telegraph - 7/11/1988 - Obituary - Sir Malin Sorsbie who has died aged 82 was a former 'Mountie' who flew with the RAF, Imperial Airways and the Britis Overseas Airways Corporation and helped to establish the Empire Air Routes in Africa. .….….….
After the war he managed East African Airways and, remaining in Kenya, established game parks and safari lodges, including Treetops, the famous wildlife watering hole from which Princess Elizabeth was recalled on the death of her father, King George VI, in 1952.
Malin Sorsbie was born in 1906 the son of a West country vicar and educated at Brighton College and Manitoba University. In 1926 he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police .….….…..
After the War his energetic and forceful style of leadership assured the successful development of East African Airways. Sympathetic to the aspirations of Kenya and its peoples, Sorsbie established a strong friendship with its leader, Jomo Kenyatta.….….…..
{More on second wife's money and gifts to Kenya}
On his visits to London, Sorsbie resided in a suite at Claridges. He was appointed OBE in 1942, CBE in 1956 and knighted in 1965.