Last Chance - (1948) - the Hon. Mrs Nellie Grant - one of the most sensible, lovable, industrious women I have ever encountered; with her 8 dachshunds and unorthodachshunds, her 2 boxers, her tame hornbill, household of black servants who just would not work for anyone else, her poultry, and the Angora rabbits she raises for their fur; that delightful little home on the slope of Njoro, with the Goya over its fireplace.    

Nellie - In about 1922 her friend Trudie Denman bought Nellie 1000 acres of land at Njoro where she was to remain for 43 years. Kitimuru, at Thika was sold. Later, just before WW2 she sold 300 acres to Donald Seth-Smith. During the war she sold stone to Donald S-S.     

Letter from R.G. Ridley - "A little story of Nellie Grant .... 1946 ..... War Memorial Hospital, Nakuru. Its main problem, common with all hospitals, was its cash flow - we had to raise more money to keep it alive. It was made clear to Pat Bell, the local chartered accountant and to me [R.G. Ridley] that we were the chaps to think up how this should be done. Nellie Grant had been on the Board for some years. At that time the Irish Sweepstake was the pathway to a fortune and appeared to be well patronised in Kenya. Why not, we thought, institute a Hospital Sweepstake to take its place, but if it were to be successfully launched there had to be a guaranteed first prize. The Hospital Board was all for it in principle and thought that £1000 first prize would ensure success. I then had to raise the question of a guarantee and to explain that if the necessary tickets were not sold the guarantors would have to put their own hands into their own pockets. With fingers crossed behind my back - at that time I certainly could not have produced a sum anywhere near £1000 - I said I would, of course, sign the necessary guarantee and Nellie at once piped up and said she would also be a guarantor. As history has since related and as a banker I well knew, the Grants hardly ever had a bean to spare so, after the meeting, as nobody else had spoken up, I suggested to Nellie that it would be advantageous if we could have at least one other well known (I did not say 'financially responsible') name as a joint guarantor. "No trouble" she said "I'll get Tom Delamere" and she did! The Sweep was a success and the guarantors were not called upon. It was continued by the Nakuru War Memorial Hospital for a year or two and then by arrangement it was taken over by Cavendish Bentinck and moved down to Nairobi. Greatly expanded it still makes a useful contribution to Hospitals and Charities.      

Obituary - The Times - 'The death in Portugal of Nellie Grant diminishes alike the dwindling band of Kenya Pioneers, and the lives of her many friends. In 1912 she and her husband Jos reached their new home near Thika in what was then the East Africa Protectorate in an ox-cart, camped on the veld, and planted their first coffee bushes. Fifty-three years later she left her home at Njoro, a mud and wattle bungalow propped up by creepers. Wherever she went, she planted things that nearly always thrived. Born, as she remained, a true countrywoman, she had the forward-thrusting mind of a potential scientist. Some experiments succeeded, some did not, but she laughed off the failures before working on her next project, and never looked back. For 50 years she was deeply involved in all aspects of Kenya life except the political, apart from an interlude in the First World War when, with her friend Lady Denman, she played a prominent part in the formation  of the Women's Land Army. In her youth she was a brilliant horsewoman, in her age seldom, when sedentary, without a piece of needlework in her hands. She never grew old. Nellie displayed, above all, a genius for friendship and a generosity of spirit that never failed. Her values were not of this day and age: friends laughter and enjoyment were at the top, material success way down at the bottom. When European settlement in Kenya was wound up, most white farmers stood out for compensation by the Government. Nellie sold her farm to a group of her former African employees for a song, packed the surviving silver and, with two dogs and some boxes, arrived in the Algarve. Here, aged 80, she started afresh on a quinta in a countryside well removed from swimming pools and beaches. Very soon there was another garden, succulent vegetables, grafted fruit trees, the sturdy Perpetua hoeing among irrigated strawberries, a new circle of friends and a stream of visitors. Within a few days of the end she was planning to master the art of puppetry with the enthusiasm of a young woman. Her friends came in all ages, nationalities, classes and kinds; she never grumbled, had a keen wit, and to all who knew her will remain a warm, in time almost a fabulous, memory, whose like will not be seen again.'

Pioneers - Kitimuru 1912 to 1920 - Nellie Grant - We bought 500 acres at Thika from Jim Elkington. It was part of a 5000 acre block, stretching from the edge of the Kikuyu land unit to the Blue Posts Hotel and lying between the Thika and Chania Rivers, that had been given to him by a Mr Wyndham as a token of gratitude for the treatment of a poisoned foot by Mrs Elkington. We paid £5 an acre, considered by earlier buyers to be exhorbitant. It was all under bush and forest and there were, of course, no roads. ……… [more]

Rift Valley - Member of the Rift Valley Sports Club - Jan 1929 - Elected - 20 Jan 1925 - Hon. Mrs E. Grant

KAD 1922 - Committee Member, Makuyu Hunt Club