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Name: CARLES, Charles Wyndham MC 'Karl' (Capt.)

Birth Date: 12 Feb 1890 Shanghai

Death Date: 24 June 1951 Timau

First Date: 1920

Profession: Soldier settler farmer after WW1. In 1924 Carles' house burnt down destroying most of his belongings. He considered himself fortunate that Capt. Ernest Long offered to buy the site (now Inge Farm) and the surrounding 100 acres for £100

Area: Farm 922 Ngusishi Nanyuki, Ndare

Married: At All Saints, Merriott, Somerset 1930 Dorothy Florence Blake b. 26 May 1892 Paignton, d. 10 Nov 1970 Nairobi (dau of Robert Blake, Somerset farmer)

Children: Dr. Alan Blake (1930); Wyndham Richard (1934-22 Sep 1976)

Book Reference: Foster, KAD, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, Racing, SS, Barnes

War Service: 4th Bn. E. Kent Regt. TF secd. 6th Bn. Tank Corps - MC in WW1

School: Cheltenham College

General Information:

Gazette 6 Dec 1938 Aberdare Voters List
Foster - 'had failed to get into the Diplomatic Corps when he left Cheltenham College in 1908; and his father had refused to pay for Wyndham to go to Australia so he went into a Bank instead. At the outbreak of the War in 1914, Carles volunteered and became a Capt. in tanks before being captured and spending the last two years of the war behind wire as a prisoner of war. When peace came in 1918 Carles was more than ever determined to seek an open air life. He drew Farm No. 922 (Ngusishi Farm), and his father reluctantly gave him £1000; reluctantly, because the father still wanted his son to stay in England. Carles wisely decided to spend his first two years as a pupil of John Boyes "King of the Wakikuyu" before taking up his farm in 1923. Carles later became a Justice of the Peace for the area, empowered to witness signatures on documents; this was a particularly useful service when rain made the roads almost impassable. ........…..
Burrell - Known as "Gonoku", having built his house, decided to move to Kiambu for better prospects and he left Timau and Wyndham Carles, who held the farm next door, to run both; having drawn their farms one after the other, the Carles/Burrell farm was virtually run as one unit from the beginning - there being no fences in those days. Mrs Carles finally bought the Burrells out at a cost of £1 per acre in 1940 thus turning the Carles Farm into a 5,000 acre holding. ................. Mrs D.F. Carles was the daughter of a Somerset farmer (Blake), whose family ran sheep in the Falkland Islands, where she spent her early childhood. After her schooldays, she spent a couple of years in Patagonia. Frugal by nature and upbringing, she was the most generous and warm-hearted person, and an ideal settler's wife. She came to Kenya in 1928 to visit "Pinky" Jackson and the Symes at Kitale, and also her old school (Roedean) friend, Nora Beale of Timau. Will Powys of Timau - a childhood friend from Somerset - met her at Kilindini on arrival. Wyndham Carles went back to England to marry her in 1930. Two sons were born - Alan (1932) and Richard (1934). Mrs Carles lies buried at Nanyuki cemetery, alongside her husband, and her son, Richard, who died on Mount Kenya in 1976, shortly after selling Ngusishi Farm to settlement.
Racing - Owner of 'Chirgwin' - Winner of the Kenya Steeplechase Cup in 1926
Soldier Settlement Scheme after WW1 - Class B - Capt. C.W. Carles, MC, 89 Hereford Road, W2 - Farm 922
Barnes Nanyuki Cemetery - Plot F12 - mother, father, son, with dates
Gazette - 8/9/1920 - Presentation of Orders & Decorations by the Governor - MC - Lieut. C W Carles
Gazette - 26/9/1923 - Voters Register - Kenya Province - Charles Wyndham Charles [sic], Farmer PO Nanyuki
Gazette 3 Sep 1971 wife's probate

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