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Name: COTTAR, William Calvin 'Mike'
Nee: son of Charles Cottar
Birth Date: 24 Mar 1905 Lipscomb, Lipscomb County, Texas, USA
Death Date: 12 July 1941 Musoma, Tanganyika, blackwater fever
Nationality: American
First Date: 1915
Last Date: 1941
Profession: Joined father in 'Cottars Safari Services'.
Area: Red 31 - Gilgil, Hut - Ferry, Mara Bay, Kisumu, Nairobi, Kinangop, Musoma
Married: In Nairobi 24 Aug 1924 Mona Ellen Adams Rossenrode b. 21 Sep 1904 Rawalpindi, d. Nairobi 25 Sep 1981 (dau of James Henry Rossenrode)
Children: Patricia Emily (Imison) (11 Mar 1927 Nairobi-1977); Jean Mona (Hacker) (31 Oct 1929 Nairobi-1980); Glen Calvin (11 Nov 1931 Nairobi-1996)
Book Reference: Gillett, Ker, Courtney, Rundgren, Tracks, Red 31, Hut, Mrs P. Cottar, Chandler
War Service: Too young for WW1 and died before America entered WW2
General Information:
Ker - Donald Ker's first safari was when aged 16 with a schoolfriend Mike Cottar. They went to elephant country which Mike Cottar had hunted with his father.
Courtney - 'Next I helped Mike Cottar to establish a ferry service across one of the bays in Lake Victoria. The vessel was a craft called the Grey Goose, and a remarkable craft she was. She had been built in America to the order of a member of the Woolworth family at a cost of £10,000. She was then shipped to EA and brought up from the coast - from Mombasa - a distance of some 350 miles, by special train. She was so long that some of the curved railway cuttings had to be widened to give her passage. Launched on the lake, the craft was used by her owner and his friends for hunting trips round and about the lake and up its rivers, after which the owner departed for America leaving the vessel behind him. No one had any use for it and no one would buy it until Mike took it over with this idea of using it as a ferry. Never was there such a ferry. The Grey Goose was fitted with every luxury. She had panelled cabins, oak bunks, a gorgeous saloon, cushioned seats, soft carpets. There were the latest things in shower and needle-baths, chromium fittings in the galley, and heaven knows what else.'
Rundgren - died as the indirect result of a buffalo mauling.
Tracks - Mike like his father had a boisterous sense of humour ....... imitating lion roars and grunts ..... Bud would make bogus lion prints outside the tents of the innocent visitors.
Letter from Mrs P. Cottar - Professional Hunting and Photographic Guide, also farmed on Kinangop for a while. late 1920's to early 1930's. In 1930's until his death owned and operated the Mara Bay Ferry in Musoma, Tanganyika (7 miles across the bay where the Mara River enters Lake Victoria. His widow, Mona, sold it in 1958)
Courtney - a top notch hunter - going with Courtney to the NFD when they heard that Mike's father was very ill - see Charles Cottar
Gazette - 8/4/1930 - Bankruptcy Ordinance - William Calvin Cottar of Nairobi - White Hunter and Car Driver - debtor's petition
Gazette 23 Apr 1982 wife's probate
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