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Name: HOPTON, Harry Chester
Nee: younger son of Charles Edward Hopton, nephew of Clement Hill
Birth Date: 1856 Canon Frome, Herefordshire
Death Date: 25.11.1916 Kings Norton, Birmingham
Nationality: British
First Date: 1899
Last Date: 1916
Profession: Uganda Railway Asst. Storekeeper in charge of Railway fuel cutting before April 1902; resigned from Railway; appt. Asst. in Agricultural Dept 31/7/1903
Area: Nairobi, EAHB 1906 Kibwezi
Married: In Kemerton, Glos..17.10.1886 Marian Isabella Holmes b.1859 Paddington, d. 12 Jan 1934 London
Children: Reginald Edward (1888 Cirencester-1944); Evelyn Dorothy (1890 Castle Frome)
Book Reference: North, EAHB 1906, Gazette, EAHB 1904, Barnes, Red Book 1912, Fox Davies, Mills Railway
General Information:
Issued with Public Officer's Game Licence at Nairobi 5/1/1901;
North - Appt. Acting Veterinary Officer EAP 28/12/1903
Gazette - 20/12/16 - Obituary - Lieut. H.C. Hopton, Uganda Railway died in England whilst on leave. Originally joined the Uganda Railway in October 1899 - November 1914 entered military service and in July 1916 was invalided home to England.
Gazette - 4/11/1914 - Appt. - East Africa Transport Corps - To be Lieutenant - H.C. Hopton
North - From Tewkesbury; Estate Agent at Nairobi & member of Nairobi Town Council 31-12-1902; Appt. Acting Veterinary Officer, EAP 28-12-1903; Sacked for drunkenness, March 1904 to be paid up to 28-8-1904; 'Mr Hopton's defects were chiefly two, viz. incompetence and indifference' (Linton FO 2); 'a nephew of Sir Clement Hill's at the FO …. one of the biggest wasters & ne'er do wells out here, and that’s saying a bally lot you may bet' (McGregor-Ross, RH)
EAHB 1904 - Estate Agent, Uganda Railway, 1889; Agricultural Dept., EA Protectorate 1893; Zululand medal and clasp, 1878-79; Suakim Campaign, medal and Khedive's Star 1885
Uganda Railway Memorial Plaque - Lieut. EA Transport Corps
Red Book 1912 - H.C. Hopton - Nairobi
Mills Railway - The first railway estate officer was H.C. Hopton, assistant storekeeper and a veteran of the Zulu War of 1878-9, who was appointed at a temporary salary of £350, He was reluctantly granted an increment of £25 in November, "on the distinct understanding that it gave him no claim to permanent employment."