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Name: BEALE, William Steuart St. John 'Billy' (Capt.)
Birth Date: 1888 Leintwardine, Herefordshire
Death Date: 22 July 1942 Timau
First Date: 1920
Profession: Farmer, Farm 915 Nanyuki area
Area: Nanyuki, 'Ngare Ndare' at Timau - sold to Casey
Married: In Kensington 11 Apr 1917 Nora Griffiths b. 1893 Mottisfont, d. 19 Dec 1968 Tonbridge - wrote 'The Hazelbys in Kenya'
Children: Richard Arthur St John (15 Feb 1925 Kenya)
Book Reference: Foster, KAD, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, Red 22, Pioneers, Barnes, Paice's Place, Bartlett
General Information:
Foster - early arrivals in the Nanyuki area
Beale had attended an agricultural training college in England and had been about to set off to farm in New Zealand when the war broke out.
Gazette 6 Dec 1938 Aberdare Voters List
Foster - Beale ran a flock of 1000 Karakle sheep which he sold to Carles in 1939. Traces of the Karakle blood can still (1979) be found in Timau merinos. Beale died in the early 1940s and his wife, Nora, returned to Britain as the children were being educated there. Casey bought the farm. His wife Nora wrote two children's novels about life on the farm in the 1930s "The Hazelbys in Kenya", Harrap 1935 and "Further Adventures of the Hazelbys" Harrap 1940.
Pioneers - Kisima - Will Powys - …….From Naro Moru it took us 3 days to get to Beale's. The oxen and wagon had to cross the wall of a dam which Beale had just made. The driver was so afraid of going into the dam that he drove the wagon over the edge the other side and it landed upside down in a gulley …………
Nanyuki Cemetery - Plot A11 - William Steuart St John Beale 1888-1942
Paice's Place - Living standards for all landed settlers were high. W.S. Beale, a local resident, assumed that an average settler household would have 4 domestic servants.
Bartlett - There were quite a few characters in the farming area and various stories were told about them. Billy Beale, who tended to be on the fat side, was very cheerful and well-liked but he was inclined to indulge in alcoholic drink, especially during his wife's absence. His wife had to leave for England in a hurry as her mother was desperately ill and she asked two spinster neighbours to call in periodically and check on Billy. A day or two later the spinsters knocked at the front door. Billy staggered to answer the call, opened the door and said, "Hello, come in ladies." They took one horrified look at Billy and fled. He looked down and realised he was stark naked. On a visit to Nairobi he went into a bar and had quite a few beers. A couple of hours later he came out, got into his old car, reversed and hit a new car parked close by. The owner came out screaming, "Look what you have done to my new car!" Billy calmly looked at the damage, took out a ten cent piece, flicked it at the irate owner and said "Here. Go and have it painted." On another occasion when his wife was away, Billy and a friend finished all the booze in the house and wondered how to replenish the supply. Billy suggested they get some local brew. He called in the cook and said "Go and get some tembu." Tembu in Kiswahili has two different meanings - alcohol or elephant. The cook said "Ndio Bwana" and went off. Late that night, Billy and his friend waited patiently for the cook's return. Eventually they heard thumping and something being dragged down the passage. The door opened and the cook came in dragging an elephant tusk.
Hut - Founder Sunday Post
Gazette - 26/9/1923 - Voters Register - Kenya Province - William St. John Beale, Farmer PO Nanyuki and Nora Beale, Farmer PO Nanyuki