My father Sydney Horne went to Kenya in 1907 to join his brother-in-law, Tom Howitt at Kiambu. They cleared forest and planted coffee and the estate was known as 'Thembigwa'. On the outbreak of war in 1914 he joined the EAMR and was stationed on the border of Tanganyika and Kenya, mostly in the Taveta area. When hostilities ceased in EA he returned to Nairobi and married Elsie Alcock who had come out from England to work for the firm of solicitors Shapley, Schwartze and Barret, in 1916.

They then went to Thika and took over the running of the Blue Posts Hotel. The hotel was situated in a valley between two beautiful waterfalls. The two rivers, the Chania and the Thika, met just a little way beyond the hotel and it was a short walk down to what we called 'The Point'. It was a great place for picnics and as children we used to lie on our backs on the sandy alluvial soil and watch the monkeys frisking about among the feathery leaves in the tall trees. My father made a punt and sometimes we had trips down the river ........…..

My father also made a path so that one could walk along the river from the Chania Falls, to the Point, and then to the Thika Falls. ....... (more - about early days at the Blue Posts Hotel) ....

In 1927 my father left the Blue Posts and bought a coffee farm at Ndarugu about 9 miles from Thika towards Nairobi. Unfortunately the 1930s slump was on the way and prices for coffee were rock bottom. Lucky if you got £30 a ton for top grade coffee. So to get an extra bit of cash he sold coffee (roasted and ground) in Nairobi, and pineapples. (The pineapples were giants compared to the ones in the shops here). Most of the farmers were very hard up, in debt to the Land Bank, and not able in many cases to afford much more than posho for sustenance. We went into Nairobi once a week with the box body car loaded up with ground coffee and pineapples and returned with shopping for the week. ......... At the outbreak of WW2 all the Kenya Defence Force were called up and my father (who was then in Class III) was sent to guard a railway bridge somewhere near Nyeri. I was already working in the Local Forces Office - Kenya Defence Force and Kenya Regiment. All white men had to register for the K.D.F. and keeping records was part of my job. The forms filled in by the Dutchmen from the Trans Nzoia area were a headache; many had the same name, not sure of their birth date and a lot of them quite illiterate.......... (more) - Source: Mrs J.M. Campling

Playne - Thembigwa Farm - The value of the timber industry is readily apparent at Thembigwa Farm, which Mr Thomas H. Howitt, who came from South Africa in 1904, now works in partnership with Mr S. Horne. One half of the 600 acres is devoted to timber mostly muhugu - known as sandal-wood - and the planting of timber is the aim for the future. For building purposes the native marothi is found to be very satisfactory and it was used for the dwelling-house. The dining-room, however, is constructed of a pink, soft sandstone peculiar to the farm. The roof of the house is made of muhugu shingles, hand-split. The whole of the buildings were erected by the two partners ......... There is another farm on the Rewera River, 3000 acres in extent, and situated on the Fort Hall Road about 18 miles from Nairobi. Messrs Howitt and Horne intend to plant sisal on this property.

Gazette - 3/2/15 - Partnership of R.J.E. Smith, W.A. Smith, N.D. Smith and Sydney Horne as Smith Bros. & Horne at Soy, dissolved 23/1/15

Red Book 1912 - S. Horne - Kyambu

Gazette 16/5/1917 - Application for Wine Merchants and Grocers Liquor Licence - Sydney Horne - Chania Stores Chania Bridge

Gazette 21/11/1917 - Application for General Retail Liquor Licence - Sydney Horne - Blue Posts Hotel (previously held by F.J. Bullows)

Gazette - 29/10/1919 - Register of Voters - Kikuyu - Sydney Horne, Storekeeper and Hotel Proprietor, Thika

Red Book 1919 - Blue Posts Hotel - Proprietor - Mr L. Horne [sic]

Gazette - 25/5/1927 - Notice is hereby given that Sydney Horne has sold his interest in the Blue Posts Hotel as from the 1st May 1927 and that A.B. De Witt has taken over all assets and liabilities.

Red 25 - Proprietor, Blue Posts Hotel.

Hut - 1919 Chania Stores, Blue Post 1937 Cranhurst Ndarangu

Gazette - 23/12/1925 - General Retail & Hotel Liquor Licence for Blue Post Hotel, Thika - Mr S Horne