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Name: TRENCH, Maxwell Douglas Le Poer
Nee: bro of Power Watts Dutton le Poer Trench
Birth Date: 17 Nov 1884 Montego Bay, Jamaica
Death Date: 26 Dec 1969 Mombasa
First Date: 1914
Profession: Partner with John Carberry - had known him in Jamaica - in Nyeri, then took up land along the coast. Farmer, hotelier
Area: Diani,' Jadini', 1922 Seremai Estate, Nyeri partner with John Carberry
Married: In St Andrews, Jamaica 5 June 1909 Ellen Stapleton Stephens 'Nellie' b. 1885 Jamaica, d. 8 Nov 1968 Mombasa
Children: Daniel Power (31 Oct 1919 Nyeri-1991); John Stapleton 'Jack' (9 Dec 1910 Jamaica-1994); Anne Margaret 'Nancy' (16 Mar 1916 Nairobi-17 May 1994 Nairobi) (Wise)
Book Reference: Markham, Frampton, Mischief, KAD, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, Red 22, Gazette, Nicholls, Campling, Wed
School: Eastbourne College
General Information:
Gazette 26 Mar 1970 probate
Markham - JC - By 1932 he and his partner from Jamaica, Maxwell Le Poer Trench, were producing eau-de-cologne, cheap gin, créme de menthe and Jamaica rum from the Seremai still. .….
Mischief - 'Seremai', Nyeri - There Carberry ran his liquor still with his partner, Maxwell Trench, whose Jamaican parents had taught him the art of distilling cane. They made cheap gin, Jamaican rum, Créme de Menthe and Eau de Cologne
Gazette - 15/4/14 - appt. Coffee Plant Inspector
Nicholls - One of the favourite hotels for a visit was Jadini, on Diani beach 20 miles south of Mombasa. Run by Maxwell Trench and his wife Nellie, with his son Dan and wife Madeline to assist, the hotel acquired its name from the first letters of Maxwell's three children, John Ann and Dan, joined to the Swahili word for 'the place of'.
Campling - The family originally came from Jamaica, where they had had a coffee estate in the Blue Mountains, but after that was destroyed by hurricane and floods Maxwell Trench came to BEA in 1914 and took a job with the Government as a coffee expert and adviser, being joined by his wife Nellie and their 4 year old son Jack early in 1915. ………
Maxwell later met John Carberry and was persuaded to join him in a partnership in a coffee estate at Seremai just outside Nyeri. His post as coffee adviser for the Government was then taken over by his brother Arthur. Maxwell, who was a man of many parts, had a liquor still at Seremai and made excellent rum for his friends and family; he was also very knowledgeable on tropical fruit, and imported a number of different kinds to grow at Seremai, in fact it was he who was responsible for the importation and planting of the large variety of mango trees in Malindi after a visit to India; some of these trees still stand today in the gardens of houses on what was once Carberry land behind the Eden Roc Hotel, adjacent to where Carberry had his airstrip.
Maxwell's wife Nellie was a dumpy little woman and a most lovable character; she used to deliver milk and cream from Seremai to the Outspan and also marketed the bottled fruit juice that they made, although this latter project had to be abandoned because of a shortage of bottles and the difficulty in getting people to return the empties.
Campling - Jadini - Diani Beach was in those days unspoilt by all the hotels of todays tourist industry and the Jadini Hotel was a family affair, small and friendly, where visitors were made to feel welcome and at home. Nellie, who walked round the hotel with an enormous bunch of keys hanging at her waist, was a motherly figure, and her knowledge of the art of cooking fish in unusual and tasty ways added to the success of the hotel dining room. Maxwell spent much of his time in his workshop turning pieces of wood from the forest into items of beauty, and was always interesting to be with, while Dan could be very entertaining, usually good for a laugh and always ready for some fun.
Gazette 28/1/1914 - Arrived on 1st Appointment - Coffee Plant Inspector - 14/1/1914
Gazette - 29/10/1919 - Register of Voters - Kenya Area - Maxwell Douglas le Poer Trench - Planter, PO Nyeri and Ellen Stapleton le Poer Trench - Married woman, PO Nyeri
Frampton - a slim, aristocratic looking man with a wicked twinkle in his eyes.
Red 25 has M. de la Poer Trench, Nyeri.
Red 31 has M.D. Le Poer Trench
Gazette - 26/9/1923 - Voters Register - Kenya Province - Maxwell Douglas le Poer Trench, Planter PO Nyeri and Ellen Stapleton le Poer Trench, Married woman PO Nyeri
Gazette 6 Dec 1938 Aberdare Voters List
His wife was small, as round as a tennis ball, looked 1000 years old
Gazette 11 Apr 1969 wife's probate
Gazette 26 Mar 1970 probate
Allfree in Bluff: He was buried at sea, but the coffin floated so his son Dan kept taking shots at it until two hit the target and the coffin sank.