Foster - Charles Cobb - 1952 represented Thika on Thika and District Chaplaincy Committee; later Hon. Secretary Thika and District Chaplaincy; October 1960 resigned from both these positions.

Old Africa 32 - 1928 - My father Charles Charrington Cobb, helped build the road up Mt Kenya from Chogoria. My father was born in Kent, England and his Grandfather had built 5 churches in Stephaney [sic] - London, one after each of his children. Charles' father was also an architect but he committed suicide when my father was 14 years old. My father ran away from home at 15 years of age to fight in the First World War.  He was underage so they put him into an aircraft factory to build aircraft. This is where he learnt his engineering skills.

My grandmother eventually re-married a Don Drury Pennington who was born in India and had the Colonial spirit. Don had contacts from the Indian Colonial Raj and organised for my father to go to Kenya to work for a retired Colonel Baynnon {probably Col. Beynon?} and look after his hunting greyhounds at the end of the First World War. After some time caring for the greyhounds, my father, though an Anglican, worked for the Baptist Mission building churches, schools, hospitals and leper colonies for various church groups. At Chogoria my father helped construct the Presbyterian Chogoria Hospital as well as a leper colony. My father used his trusty 1000 cc Harley Davidson motorcycle for transport. While at Chogoria Dad built the first road up Mount Kenya around 1928 with Mr Carr, the father-in-law of Dr. Irvine who started the Chogoria hospital. While they pioneered the Chogoria to Mount Kenya Road my father saw an all-white snow leopard as well as a melanistic serval cat. When my father realised he was two-hairbreadths away from becoming a missionary himself he left the service of working for the Baptist mission and went into commercial sisal farming at Masongaleni as well as prospecting for gold at Kakamega.

Old Africa 33 - 1932 - My father Charles Charrington Cobb went on the Gold Rush to Kakamega ….. My father's partner was Cuthbert 'Whigs' Whigham. My father's 1920-1930 mates called him 'Cobbo' but later he was known only as Charles. If we called him Charlie we had to be prepared to run. The mine at Kakamega made enough to keep up with their day-to-day living expenses, but never had enough output to make them a fortune. At Kakamega my father met a great character, Sammy Samuels, who spent most of his life prospecting. Later my father and 'Whigs' both left the gold fields and went into commercial sisal production at Dandora sisal. My father went on to buy his own farm Munyu sisal.

Gazette 23 May 1969 probate

Chogoria - 1924 - It so happened that at this time there was a free-lance European artisan temporarily employed in the industrial department at Tumutumu named G.C. Cobb, who was not an overseas appointment. Dr. Irvine successfully requested permission to employ a local artisan and so was able to employ Cobb when he left Tumutumu. He came to Chogoria in February 1924 and stayed for the best part of 4 years. His help was invaluable and with the help of the African craftsmen who had come from the other 2 stations, including Maina the stonemason from Tumutumu, h was able to begin the technical training of local Mwimbi young men. By the time he left in 1928 to join the CMS, Cobb  was able to hand over supervision of the workshop and building work to Gaitungu ………