Pioneers - In 1929 Mrs Florence Kerr Wilson, 50 years old and recently widowed, flew to England from an airstrip at Langata in a Fokker Universal with Mr Tom Campbell Black as pilot and Mr Archie Watkins as engineer. In those days there were few airstrips, let alone airfields, and no sophisticated instruments. Refuelling arrangements were extremely sketchy. Pilots relied on simple navigation by compass and map and often came down on roads or in the bush. The African services of Imperial Airways had not yet begun. Tom Campbell Black's ambition was to start a local air transport business, and in Mrs Wilson he found an enthusiastic backer. Wilson Airways was launched on 31 July 1929 with a capital of £50,000 and one Gipsy Moth aircraft.

Campbell Black made history by flying a 17½-stone passenger with his baggage to Croydon, England, in this tiny machine, within one week. He flew back in an Avro Five which, with the Gipsy Moth, founded Wilson Airways' fleet. In the first full year's operation the company flew more than 150,000 miles at a cost to passengers of 1/3d. A mile. By 1931 the company had three pilots and a fleet of 2 Avro Fives, 2 DH Puss Moths and 3 Gipsy Moths. Campbell Black made the first non-stop flight from Zanzibar to Nairobi, and was the first to fly from Nairobi to Mombasa and back in a day. Mrs Wilson piloted herself on occasions, and with Captain C.P. Mostert flew 8531 miles from Zanzibar to Croydon, via the Congo, Kano and Dakar, in a Puss Moth, in 80 hours and 40 minutes flying time, averaging 106 miles an hour.

At the outbreak of the Second World War pilots and engineers joined the Kenya Auxiliary Air Unit, and later the RAF, and the company ceased to function as an independent airline. It was later merged into East African Airways. Mrs Wilson died in 1966, but the airport at Langata survives. A plaque at Wilson Airport, formerly Nairobi West, commemorates its founder's outstanding services to aviation in Africa.

Campling - 1933 - Kenya's first air force unit as a unit of the KDF - Officers included - Mr M.C. Mostert

Markham - Lover of Beryl Markham in 1930s. Became the new head of Wilson Airways [1934?].

Frampton - WW1 flying ace working as a pilot for Wilson Airways in 1930s

Gazette 13 Mar 1962 ?wife's probate

Gazette 17 Jan 1975 probate