SE - Block - Jan 1908 - sold him an Ideal Swan Plough

Last Chance - (1948) - In November, 1903, this man landed at Mombasa with one bag of "Early Rose" potatoes, one bag of European peas, one bag of haricot beans, one bag of linseed for planting, two white Basuto ponies, and £23 10s. 0d. - all the money he had in the world. To-day he owns the New Stanley and Norfolk Hotels and 40000 acres of the best farm-land in Kenya.

Who's Who - says born at Ysterplatz, S. Africa. Man Dir. U.A.C. Ltd., Bullows & Roy Ltd., Chairman Block Hotels Ltd. Chairman - Nairobi Hebrew Cong. for 9 years. Served in EA in WW1

Kenya Diary - Aug. 1903 - Nairobi - met Mr Block this morning, recently arrived from SA and exploring possibilities of making his fortune in this country. Being a Jew I think it more than likely he will succeed, as he seems to be full of ideas. He asked my advice, and I told him I thought that most money could be made from land speculation; to this he replied that he had little cash - £20 - a pony, and a sack of seed potatoes. I advised him to borrow from the bank. I liked him for he was full of enthusiasm.

Macmillan - 1930 - M. Rosenblum and Co. Ltd., General Merchants and Direct Importers - It was started in 1912 by Mr M. Rosenblum and carried on by him until 1925, when it was taken over by Mr A.L. Block, and formed into a limited liability company. The manager is Mr J. Wolffe, who has had long experience of local trade and has been connected with the concern since 1922.

Gazette - 10/5/16 - Notice - Power of Attorney held by A.L. Block from M.H. Wessels cancelled by A.L. Block

Nairobi Forest Road cemetery - Abraham Lazarus Block, British, age 83, died 18/4/65 and Mrs Sarah Block, Jewish, age 87, died 24/12/80

Doria Block - ' ….. I read in the press that a proposition was put by the late Sir Harry Johnston and endorsed by Joseph Chamberlain that a settlement would be established for Jews persecuted in Europe which would be beneficial to the whole country. After this announcement my interest was greater than ever to be part and parcel of the first pioneers to go to BEA. I had no capital but only the spirit of adventure and considered it necessary to get in touch with a few friends to get their views. even of us made up our minds to pave our way to the new land. ……. I managed to raise enough cash and being a farmer's son considered it advisable to take seeds from South Africa which consisted of a bag of early rose potatoes, bag of beans, a bag of linseed and a bag of peas. My stock in trade to start life afresh in Kenya Colony was a balance of cash amounting to £23.10p of which quite a few pounds went to pay for excess bagage and freight. ………….. [much more about his early days in Kenya]

SKP - 1938 - Society of Kenya Pioneers - over 30 years in Colony - arrived June 1903

Glimpses - 1903 - The larger group of Jewish pioneers came a more roundabout way, from South Africa. This was a group of 7 who disembarked at Mombasa in July 1903. They were young men from Central European farming backgrounds who, having got wind of the 'Uganda Plan', came to take up farming in Kenya. A couple did not like what they saw, turned around and left. But 5 stalwarts stayed: Abraham Block (aged 20), I. Hotz, M.W. London, Simon Medicks and W. Sulsky.

Glimpses - Abraham Block as told to Doria Block - "Nairobi was much less impressive than the coast. Rain came down making the village one large mud puddle ….. My 6 friends had by this time applied for land ……. They were granted land in Molo, Ruiru and one took up land in Kiambu. Next morning I asked Mr Wood and also Mr Jeevanjee about land, but unfortunately without success, so hung around for about 3 months."

Glimpses - Block, who had worked awhile in his still young life as an upholsterer, turned his hand to making mattresses for the beds in Mrs Bent's Hotel Stanley for several months, until he had earned enough money to buy a 640 acre farm in Kiambu, not far from his friends Sulsky and Medicks.

Glimpses - Abraham Block as told to Doria Block - Acquiring a farm was one thing. Running it was another. I had my two ponies, my seeds, but no plough or oxen. The first heartbreaking thing I did was to sell my ponies to a man by the name of Lashingtob [Lushington] for the large sum of 1000 rupees and considered myself very wealthy. I walked the 17 miles into Nairobi and Mr Marcus sold me a double furrow and rude sack plough made in Germany …. My labour was at last rewarded ……… I sold oats and hay to Mr Marcus for a handsome profit. Was able to retain seeds to plant a further 2 acres with some potatoes, but as a young man I found it difficult to exist on the diet of sweet potatoes, mealie meal and bananas. So I walked into town feeling rather gloomy and met Lord Delamere in Mr Marcus's office. He wanted to know why I looked so dejected. I told him I had made up my mind to return to SA. He replied that Kenya could ill afford to lose young men and asked what I wanted? ……. He then asked Mr Marcus to write to his manager at the Njoro office and arrange that they send me 12 of his best oxen and a few dairy cows. He also asked Mr Marcus to give me 100 rupees a month and debit his account …….. That was the middle of 1904.

Glimpses - Ruth Rabb says of her mother - "My mother in the early days put her hands to all kinds of tasks including driving the milk in an ox cart to the customers (they had a dairy in Parklands). I think life was very hard for her on her arrival in Kenya - she spoke no English and found life in the colony very foreign, far from home, and living with her in-laws.

Glimpses - Abraham Block was another who flourished in the postwar boom. With his astonishing entrepreneurial energies, he already had a couple of farms and was dealing in cattle. In 1923 he became a partner in a general store on Hardinge Street, in the town that was more built up but just as muddy or dusty as when he had arrived 2 decades earlier. He also had a butchery and a plot of land on what was then Sixth Avenue. In 1927 he exchanged, it is said, his Sixth Avenue plot for the Norfolk Hotel, which had been founded by a Major Ringer in 1903, the year Block had arrived. (One suspects something more was involved in the deal, because the Norfolk was already a famous establishment, nicknamed "The House of Lords" for the number of titled chaps who frequented it.) However it was actually acquired, it was the beginning of the famous Block Hotels empire to which the family devoted its life.

Red Book 1912 - A. Block - Mombasa

Gazette - 12/11/1919 - Register of Voters - Nairobi, North Area - Abraham Lazarus Block - Farmer and Soda Water Manufacturer, 2nd Avenue, Parklands

Red Book 1919 - A L Block - Settler - Nairobi

EAHB 1906 - A.L. Bloch, Limuru

Block Notes - 1914 - After 3 months in Europe which one could do very cheaply I decided to go back vis Palestine. I had to get a visa on my passport in Turkey to enter Jaffa. It was midwinter when I met my present wife in Rishon le Zion where I was visiting acquaintances. She was the second daughter of Alexander Tulipman, a well known farmer. To my surprise she accepted my proposal we got married and we returned together and arrived in Mombasa on 24 July 1914. .….….…. I left my wife with my parents whom I had brought from South Africa in 1909 to farm in Limuru. .….….……

In 1915 my first child (a daughter) was born .….….…… In 1916 my son was born .….……

Gazette - Voters List 1936 - Abraham Lazarus Block, Farmer and Soda Water Manufacturer, Caledonian Rd., Box 531, Nbi and Sarah Block, Caledonian Rd., Box 531, Nbi

Forest Road cemetery, Nairobi Abraham Lazarus Block / in loving memory / from his wife & children / 15 April 1883 18 April 1965

Gazette 4 May 1965 probate

Gazette 6 Nov 1981 wife's probate