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Name: LEGAT, Arthur Alexander OBE

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Photo Source: McMillan Library; full face EAS 14 Apr 1934

Birth Date: 1875 Inveresk, Musselburgh

Death Date: 16.10.1959 Nairobi

Nationality: British

First Date: 1899 July

Last Date: 1959

Profession: 1st Branch Manager National Bank of India, Entebbe, Principal MO.

Area: Entebbe, Manager Nairobi, retired Nairobi. Hut 1920 A.A. Legat Farm 14 Eldoret, Mombasa 1899

Married: In Entebbe 24.10.1910 Kathleen Eliza Wiggins MBE, b. 1875 Henley, Oxfordshire, d. 31 May 1963 Nairobi (sister of Dr Clare Aveling Wiggins)

Book Reference: Gillett, SE, HBEA, Golf, KAD, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, North, Pioneers, Drumkey, EA & Rhodesia, Red 22, Land, Advertiser, Harmony, Foster, SKP, Masonic, Leader14, Rift Valley, Richardson

School: George Watson's Coll.

General Information:

Stephen Ellis's ledger shows Nat Bank of India Jun. 1908.
Keen golfer and Freemason.
HBEA has Legatt.
KAD 1922 - Committee Member, REAAA, (and Red 25)
Golf - present at first general meeting of Nairobi, later Royal Nairobi, Golf Club in 1910. President of Nairobi Golf Club in 1929.
KAD 1922 - President, Nairobi Chamber of Commerce
Pioneers has A.A. Leggett
EA & Rhodesia - 29/10/59 - Mr Arthur Alexander Legat, OBE, a former superintendent in East Africa for the National Bank of India, and sometime Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of East Africa, has died in Nairobi in his 85th year.
EA & Rhodesia - 5/11/59 - Mr Arthur Alexander Legat, OBE, JP, who has died in Nairobi in his 85th year, had lived in East Africa for 60 years. Throughout that period he was esteemed for his high standards, his willing service in any good cause, his friendliness and ready hospitality and his unshakeable faith in the territories. The son of Robert Legat, a writer to the signet, of Eskpark, Musselburgh, he was educated at George Watson's College, Edinburgh. On leaving school he joined the staff of the National Bank of Scotland, but four years later transferred to the National Bank of India, and in 1899 was sent to Kismayu on the coast of Kenya, then the East Africa Protectorate..
Later he served elsewhere in Kenya and in Uganda, Zanzibar, and Tanganyika, and he eventually became superintendent for the bank in East Africa. During the 1914-18 war he was appointed Financial Adviser to GHQ in East Africa, and for his services he was mentioned in despatches. He retired in 1935.
He was District Grand Master of English Freemasonry in East Africa from 1933 to 1949; president of the Kenya branch of the British Red Cross for five years during the last war and a life member of the British Red Cross Society; and at different times president of the Association of Chambers of Commerce of Eastern Africa, of Nairobi Chamber of Commerce, of Nairobi Golf Club, of the Nairobi branch of the Caledonian Society, and of Nairobi Club.
For a long period he was chairman of the finance committee of the Royal Agricultural Society of Kenya, a steward of the Jockey Club, diocesan treasurer in Kenya of the Church Missionary Society, a trustee of the McMillan Memorial Library in Nairobi, and a member of the executive of the Royal East African Automobile Association, the Kenya Boy Scouts Association and other bodies. He had been a director of Car & General Equipment Co. Ltd., Jardin Ltd., Nakuru Press Ltd., and Ngiga Mining Co. Ltd., all Kenya registrations.
Until recent years, when he had suffered ill-health, his recreations had been golf, gardening, walking, and reading. Mrs Legat, who survives him, was likewise a great lover of flowers, and when they lived at Limuru they had one of the most delightful gardens in Kenya.
Red 22 - President, The Caledonian Society of Kenya Colony
Land - 1909 - A.A. Legat - Agricultural and grazing, 2665 acres, Uasin Gishu, 27-8-08, Registered 22-5-09
Advertiser - 12/3/1909 - Nairobi Golf Club - Bowring Monthly Comp. - A.A. Legat
Member of Lodge Harmony - Joined 4/5/08
Foster - In 1912 he arrived in Kenya from Uganda. In 1919 he farmed at Eldoret, later he moved to Limuru near Rev. Canon Harry Leakey's farm. He was Joint Executor of Leakey's estate together with Beecher. Diocesan Treasurer, Diocese of Mombasa 1944
SKP - 1938 - Society of Kenya Pioneers - over 30 years in Colony - arrived June 1899
Masonic - Rift Valley Lodge (Hall Stone Lodge), Nakuru, consecrated 22 May 1926 by R. W. Bro. A.A. Legat CBE, JP, PDGM and Mount Kenya Lodge, Nyeri, consecrated 17 Oct 1936
Masonic - District Grand Lodge of East Africa - District Grand Master - 1933-48
Rift Valley - Member of the Rift Valley Sports Club - Jan 1929 - Elected - 26 April 1927 - A.A. Legat
Richardson 1929 - "To dine ……………. Also Mr A.A. Legat, Manager of the National Bank of India which does all the Government's business."
Nairobi Club - President 1952-3
Gazette - Voters List 1936 - Nairobi South - Arthur Alexander Legat, Banker, Anderson Rd., Nbi and Mrs Kathleen Eliza Legat, Anderson Rd., Nbi
Gazette 6 Dec 1938 Kiambu Voters Roll
Barnes Langata Cemetery, Nairobi Arthur A Legat O.B.E. / died 16th October 1959 / aged 84 years / beloved by all who knew him also his dear wife / Kathleen Eliza Legat M.B.E. / died 31st May 1963 aged 87 years

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