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Name: GALTON-FENZI, Lionel Sebastiano Douglas Carlo Hubert OBE

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Nee: known as Lionel Douglas Galton-Fenzi

Birth Date: 16 May 1881 Florence

Death Date: 15 May 1937 Kiambu

First Date: 1918

Last Date: 1937

Profession: Founder of the AA of EA. Hon. Sec. from 1919-37. Pioneered the trip from Nairobi to Mombasa with Capt. Gethin in a 1926 Riley in 1926. The trip took 15 days and they had 56 punctures. Company manager and farmer

Area: Kigwa Est. Kiambu, Box 87, Nairobi

Married: 1. In London 20 Apr 1912 Edith Lilian Shipster b. 15 May 1880 Paddington, d. 27 Apr 1915 Batavia; 2. In Barrackpore, India 23 Mar 1918 Evaline Elizabeth 'Bessie' Montague Sandy of Australia, b. 13 May 1894 Ashfield, Sydney, d. 2 Aug 1976 Nairobi (later m. Harold Robert Montgomery 1884-1958)

Children: Elizabeth Evelyn Rosalie (Schluter and Foot) (29 Aug 1920 Nairobi-18 Apr 2017 East Sussex); Anthony Douglas (8 Sep 1921 Nairobi-17 May 1998 Bali); Hugh Montague (25.2.1930 Nairobi-16.11.2021 South Brent, Devon)

Book Reference: Safari, Coast Causerie, KAD, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, Macmillan, Bur, Red 22, Kiambu Scrapbook, Barnes, Foster, Bate

General Information:

Coast Causerie - The route he took in 1926 from Nairobi to Mombasa was from Nairobi to Longido where there was a rest camp, and on to Moshi where, the report stated, accommodation could be obtained at the New Africa Hotel. From thence the road proceeded through Taveta and Voi where food could be obtained at the Dak bungalow. Refreshment could also be obtained at Samburu station, 73 miles from Mombasa.
From Samburu one motored to Kwale and on to Likoni ferry. The charge to cross the motorised ferry was 4/- and that ended the journey.
In 1926, he stated, that the AA of EA had 5,000 members.
Macmillan - 1930 - Nestle and Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company - The company's manager for Eastern Africa is Mr L.D. Galton-Fenzi OBE, who has resided at Nairobi since 1918, and as Hon. Secretary of the Royal East Africa Automobile Association has done, and is doing, more than anyone for the welfare of motorists throughout the great territory where his efforts are so highly appreciated.
Red 22 - Hon. Secretary, Royal East African Automobile Association
Kiambu Scrapbook - Mr L.D. Galton Fenzi came to Kenya in 1919 and bought Kigwa Estate in Kiambu which he planted for coffee in 1923. He lived in Kiambu from that date until his death in 1937. With the keen support of the Governor, General Sir Edward Northey, he founded the REAAA (as it then was) the very year he came to Kenya, and was a true pioneer in the cause of motoring in this country, all his work being entirely voluntary. Besides acting as Honorary Secretary for the Association from the time of its foundation until his death in 1937, he wrote the Motor Notes column regularly for the East African Standard and was the sole reporter in Kenya on the conditions of roads, bridges etc. and also (before the establishment of the Kenya Meterological Department) on the weather.
In the early days of motoring, reports of this kind were absolutely essential, and in districts which were too remote for him to make inspections personally he relied on reports from District Commissioners from whom he always got friendly cooperation. Mr Galton Fenzi (or 'Dougie' as he was widely known) started Reliability Trials and Hill Climbs, as part of his work for the Association, and in October 1936 was called upon to organize the start of the famous Nairobi-Johannesburg Road Race. This he did with such efficiency that not only did visiting journalists remark on it but a special letter of thanks from competing South Africans was printed in the Standard.
He was also the founder of the East African Aero Club and at one time its Honorary Secretary. One of his famous pioneering safaris in the interests of motoring was the survey of possible routes for a road from Nairobi to Mombasa. This he undertook with Captain Gethin on behalf of the REAAA in 1926, in the Association's test car which is still in existence. The report was published as a "photographic record of the first car, a 12 H.P. Riley, to accomplish this journey," and in his foreword Dougie says that "from Voi to some 5 miles beyond Mackinnon Road, a distance of 60 miles, there was no road whatsoever, and we just had to hack our way through the dense bush …..
In parts the bush was 15 to 20 feet high, sansovera, thorn, cactus and wild sisal, not to mention the wait-a-bit thorn trees, so our progress was very slow and the heat appalling. In point of fact, they not only hacked their way through, but as the report goes on to show, actually made the road, the first gang cutting down the bush, the second widening and clearing the track and the third taking out stumps and levelling the earth. All this in a part of the country where "every drop of water for the men had to be carried quite a long way." This section is virtually the same road, now tarred, that we use today.
Barnes - St. Paul's Church, Kiambu Cemetery - Lionel Douglas Galton-Fenzi, 16th May 1881 - 15th May 1937
Bate - The first secretary of the RAC in Kenya was that very worthy patriot, Colonel Galton-Fenzi. A fine safari driver with the interests and performances of cars from the old country very much at heart, but not solely on paper. The Colonel set out in 1924 to prove a point, and prove it he did in no uncertain manner.
KAD 1922 - Committee, EASPCA
Gazette 6 Dec 1938 Kiambu Voters List expunged

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