Best - a Kikuyu elder, son of missionary parents, who had been brought up a child of the tribe and spoke the language so well that he often caught himself thinking in Kikuyu. No European could claim to know more about the Kikuyu than Leakey, who was a member of the Mukanda age group, to which many future Mau Mau leaders also belonged. In 1935 he put down his knowledge in a book on Kenya which summed up perfectly the passion felt by both sides in the land dispute.            

 White African - At Cambridge in 1922 achieved a certificate of competence in Kikuyu, given by Dr. J.W. Arthur. .......... Ambition to be a Rugby Blue but kicked on the head and advised to take a year off study and live an open air life. ..... through an old family friend - Mr C.W. Hobley - got onto British Museum of Natural History expedition to Tanganyika with Mr W.E. Cutler ........ In 1926 he went to Kenya on an E.A. Archaeological Expedition with a student called Newsom. Hut - Incubated in debi by Mrs Oulton! SKP - 1938 - Society of Kenya Pioneers - over 30 years in Colony - born Aug 1903 - Limuru

Barnes - Limuru Cemetery - Louis S. B. Leakey, 1903 - 1972,

Mills - Louis Seymour Bazette Leakey was born in Kabete on 7th August 1903, the son of Canon Harry Leakey. He owes his life to midwife, Mrs Kate Oulton who when she delivered a premature baby boy, kept him alive in an empty one gallon debbi, lined with cotton wool. In 1907 the Leakey family produced another son who was named Douglas. In his formative years, Louis grew up, played, and learned to hunt with Africans. He also learned to walk with the distinctive gait of the Kikuyu and speak their language as fluently as English. At 13, after discovering stone tools, he began to develop his lifelong passion for prehistory.

He was educated in Weymouth and studied at St. John's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1926. He discovered several pre-human fossil remains at Olduvai Gorge and Rusinga Island, firmly outlining man's early ancestral tree. ……………[more] As Leakey was a passionate admirer of good-looking, intelligent women, he chose 3 female researchers, later dubbed 'Leakey's Angels', who each went on to become giants in the field of primatology. ……………

In later life, he became the Curator of the Coryndon Museum in Nairobi, where his office was filled with artefacts, books and papers heaped in a chaotic jumble. He received visitors in his habitual dress of blue shirt and khaki trousers, and invariably bush babies would appear from under his collar or a snake would slither out from under the clutter of books and papers on the floor.

On 1st October 1972, Dr. Louis Seymour Bazette Leakey died of a heart attack in London. He was 69. Mary Leakey died on 9th December 1996 at the age of 83.

White African - "I have always considered myself more of a Kikuyu than an Englishman in many ways. I still often think in Kikuyu, dream in Kikuyu .…."

All Saints Church cemetery, Limuru Dr Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey BIRTH 7 Aug 1903 Kabete, Kiambu, Kenya DEATH 1 Oct 1972 (aged 69) London, City of London, Greater London, England BURIAL All Saint's Church  Cemetery Limuru, Kiambu, Kenya. Inscription: Louis S B Leakey / Wakaruigi / Ilyua / 1903 - 1972 / you live on / in the minds you inspired / in the projects you pioneered / in the lives you improved / and created / in the hearts that love you / your influence cannot die.

Justin Overby: Anthropologist. Born to British missionaries in Kenya, he is best known for his exploits in the field of anthropology and his legacy on field research. After completing his studies in Cambridge, his research focused on early human development at Olduvai gorge, a deep chasm near the Ngorongoro crater in northern Tanzania. There he discovered many examples of early man-made stone tools and the fossilized bones of numerous animals. He made several famous discoveries there, including an early primate fossil he named Zinjanthropus (Australopithecus boisei) and fossils of an early hominid, Homo habilis. Modern anthropologists consider these discoveries as important links in the evolutionary theory of human development. In 1968 he established the Leakey foundation, dedicated to providing an understanding of human origins to the public and now serving as the top funder in anthropological research. Many modern researchers claim that his talent in the fostering of protegees Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birutë Galdikas, all three now legendary primatologists, helped shape the methods of modern field research in animal behavior. While on a lecture tour, he suffered a heart attack and passed away at St. Stephen's Hospital in London. His remains were transported back to Kenya, where he was interred next to his parents in Limuru.