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Name: PARTINGTON, Hugh Basil
Nee: son of Rev. Thomas Partington
Birth Date: 22 June 1874 Netherfield, Sussex
Death Date: 1 July 1914 Mombasa, blackwater fever
Nationality: British
First Date: 1900
Last Date: 1914
Profession: Appointed to Uganda Admin. in 1900. Became Asst. Collector, EAP, in 1902, later a DC and then PC
Area: Uganda. HBEA 1912 DC - Ngabotok, 1913-14 Kisumu, 1909 Rumuruti, EAHB 1906 Kericho
Married: Ruth Bebikei Smith, dau of Harry Smith and Esther Tapteigut at Kericho
Children: Harry (by an African lady, Kasugu of Elgeyo). Harry married Ruth Bebikei Smith, dau of Harry Smith and Esther Tapteigut at Kericho
Book Reference: Gillett, HBEA, Hobley, Ainsworth, Kenya Diary, Bovill, EAHB 1905, EAS, Hut, North, EA Diary 1903, Drumkey, EAHB 1906, Gazette, Nicholls, EAHB 1904, EAHB 1907, Colin Whitehead, Leader14, Barnes, Red Book 1912, Web
School: Marlborough College, Pembroke College, Cambridge
General Information:
Ainsworth - 1910 - DC - Kericho.
Bovill - 1907 - raised tea in prison garden at Kericho.
EAHB 1905 - Asst. Collector, Kisumu
Hobley - (Kisumu) - 'I had, as District Commissioner, a delightful personality named H.B. Partington, who was above all one of those rare beings gifted with an uncanny influence over natives. Most successful District Commissioners have it to a considerable extent, but two men - William Grant of Busoga, and H.B. Partington - possessed this gift in greater degree than any others I have known. Both have now, alas! passed away, so one can freely discuss their characters. .......... Partington was a 'Varsity man and of wider culture (than Grant); further, he did not identify himself so closely with native life, or shut himself so much from his colleagues. Like Grant, however, his manner was very repressed, he would listen patiently to a long story of some grievance, ask a question or two, and then mumble something in a rather whimsical way, and the natives would go off quite happy and do exactly as he directed. It was all the more remarkable for he was not a personage of striking mien, was generally untidy, grew an unkempt beard, his voice carried little conviction, and he was not a brilliant linguist; but there it was, he had the power of imposing his will upon all natives with whom he came into contact and without apparent effort on his part. He will long be remembered by the Kavirondo.
Kenya Diary - Nandi - Feb. 1906 - The Commissioner has appointed a man called Partington to be DO at Nandi. He has recently given up charge of the Lumbwa. In my opinion he is not at all the right sort, being rude, ill-mannered and ill-educated. He appears to be a most disagreeable fellow.
EAHB 1905 - 3rd Assistant, Uganda Protectorate, July 1st 1900; Transport Officer, Nov. 1900 to March 1901; Asst. Collector, EAP, April 1st 1902.
The African Standard - 26-2-1903 - Invited to the wedding of H.R. Phelips & Miss Jacquette Edith Lambe in Mombasa
North - Appt. 3rd Asst. Collector UP 9/7/1900, based at Kampala; Acting Commissioner, Kisumu June 1901; transferred to EAP; Asst. Collector EAP 1902; Appt. to new station in Kericho 1902; on leave 1903; Acting Collector, Kericho 1904; appt. Collector EAP 1/4/1905; Intelligence Officer of the Sotik Punitive Force 1905; "a delightful personality …. with an uncanny influence over natives" (Hobley, 1929); "rude, ill-mannered and ill-educated. He appears to be a most disagreeable fellow" (Meinertzhagen, 1957)
EAHB 1906 - Collector, Kericho
Gazette - 8/7/14 - Obituary - H.B. Partington, of blackwater fever at Mombasa 1/7/14. Joined the Protectorate service in 1900 - resigned in 1913 to take up private employment. A very capable and energetic officer, particularly successful in management of natives.
Nicholls - Kericho - In 1904-05 tea bushes grown by the DC Hugh Partington in the prison garden flourished mightily. They attracted attention after WW1, and tea gradually became one of Kenya's main exports.
EA Diary 1903 - Uganda Protectorate July 1900; Transport Officer Nov. 1900 to March 1901; Collector, Kisumu March 1901
EAHB 1907 - Collector - Nandi
Mombasa Mbaraki cemetery - Hugh Basil Partington, DC, died 1 Jul 1914, age 40, European Hospital, Black water fever
Red Book 1912 - H.P. Partington [sic] - Kericho - Kisumu Province - DC at Ngabotok
Cambridge Univ Alumni 2nd s. of the Rev. Thomas (next), V. of Netherfield, Sussex. B. there, June 22, 1874. School, Marlborough College. Matriculation: the formal admission of a student into the University as distinguished from his admission into a College. It occurred in each of the three terms, Lent, Easter, Michaelmas.' Matric. Michs. 1892; B.A. 1897. District Commissioner at Kisumu, East Africa, 1912. Died July 1, 1914, at Mombasa. Brother of Thomas E. (1887). (Marlborough Coll. Reg.)
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