Debrett - succeeded 1920, sometime Lieut.-Com. RNVR

Hut - Ngata Estate, Ngongogeri Njoro, donated land for College

Curtis - p. 97 - 'Kipkebe' by Agnes Shaw - 'Among the bachelors who came most frequently to our house was Hugh Coltart, who ran Lord Egerton's home farm for many years and became Bwana Lordy's right-hand man. Out of gratitude Lord Egerton when he died left him all his Kenya estate, which I believe consisted of a large parcel of land, and equally large overdraft and a castle which he had built for himself, but seldom occupied, at Njoro. For all his ventures and many foreign investments Lord Egerton used to say that the only one which really paid was a small shop in Vancouver run by a Chinese. Perhaps this was because Lord Egerton, himself a bachelor, was more of a philanthropist than a businessman, his especial interest being the training and welfare of young men, as Egerton Agricultural College bears witness.

Macmillan - 1930 - The Anglo-Baltic Timber Co. Ltd., Importers of Building Materials, Saw-Millers - Directors:- Sir John Ramsden Bart., Lord Egerton of Tatton, The Hon. D.G. Finch Hatton, MC, Major J.W. Milligan, DSO (Chairman), and Mr Donald F. Seth Smith, MC. The General Manager at Nairobi is Mr L.P. Robinson

EA & Rhodesia - 6/2/58 - Lord Egerton of Tatton, one of the best-known farmers in Kenya, died last week at his home, Ngata Farm, Njoro, at the age of 83. The Rt. Hon. Maurice Egerton was born in 1874 the son of the third baron and Anna, daughter of Simon Watson Taylor, of Erlstoke, Cheshire. Educated privately, he was intended for the Diplomatic Service, and spent several years abroad learning French and German. The prospect held no attraction however, and he gave up the idea. Since both his elder brothers had died young, he became his father's constant travelling companion in wandering round the world. He was keenly interested in wireless in its early days, and a pioneer motorist and aviator, obtaining his flying licence in 1910. He was first attracted to Kenya in 1920 by the prospect of big game hunting, and he undertook a great deal of safari work, collecting museum specimens. Later he bought a 120,000 acre farm at Njoro, building a house which became known as "The Castle" to the people in the district. Over the years he developed a flock of some 25,000 sheep and 2,500 cattle, and in 1940 he gave 860 acres of his estate to the Kenya Government for the establishment of an agricultural centre for Kenya youth. It became the Egerton College for Agriculture, which gave courses of instruction to new settlers intent on farming. For many years Lord Egerton, who was unmarried, divided his time fairly equally between Britain and Kenya. He inherited Tatton Park, near Knutsford, in 1920 when his father died. In the 'twenties he was one of Lord Delamere's friends who took up land in the Iringa district of Tanganyika.

EA & Rhodesia - 4/9/58 - Two large estates left to Kenya beneficiaries under the will of the late Lord Egerton of Tatton may have to be sold to meet death duties. Lord Egerton, who died in Kenya in January, left estate in Britain valued at £1,717,572 gross, £1,035,978 net, as well as properties in Kenya. He asked the National Trust to take over some of his properties, including Tatton Hall, Cheshire, but a decision has not yet been reached. In Kenya Lord Egerton left a 12,000 acre farm to MR H. Coltart, his agent for 10 years, and a 3,000 acre farm to the Egerton Agricultural College, Njoro. It now seems that both may have to be sold to meet death duties unless the National Trust accepts some of the United Kingdom estates. Duty so far paid is £168,752.

EA Stud Book 1954 - Sheep - Corriedales - Lord Egerton of Tatton

Web - Lord Maurice Egerton died on January 30, 1958 without an heir, thus making the Egerton of Tatton Peerage extinct. Lord Egerton was a short man (1.37 metres) with a passion for hunting and photography. It was the hunting interest that first brought him to Kenya, maybe encouraged by his acquaintance with the Delamere family. When he came to Kenya he first lived in a small rondavel and later in a cottage designed by Hugh Coltart, his farm manager. Like the other settlers, Lord Egerton bought land in Kenya, but unlike them he turned his land into a tool of educating farmers - Europeans and Africans in agriculture. In 1939, Lord Egerton donated 400 hectares of land for a school to provide training for European settlers and the Colonial civil servants. It is this school that is the present day Egerton University. Upon his death he bequeathed an additional 1215 hectares of a commercial farm (Ngongongeri) to EU. 44 years after his death, Lord Egerton has contributed more to Kenya's education, agriculture, civilization and scientific discovery than any other settler who owned land in Kenya. The Lord Egerton castle is believed to have been built between 1930 and 1940. The building was owned by the late Lord Maurice Egerton. It is in this building that Lord Egerton spent his last days until his death on January 30, 1958. The castle is a four storey building in dressed stone and roofed in zinc tiles. The design was inspired from Egerton's mansion in Knutsfold in Cheshire, England. The complex has a total of 52 rooms. The building has been neglected over the years owing to lack of an official owner. It however appears to be solid and structurally sound. Finishes in the interior are still intact but due to lack of maintenance, the wooden floor blocks are peeling off. All the electrical installations have been vandalized together with the antique switches and sockets. In some cases, the doors are missing and where they still exist, their locks have been vandalized. Lord Egerton was a great British patriot. He had his own transmitter at Tatton and formed his own transmitter company, which he turned over to the government at the outbreak of WW2. He took great interest in the use of parachutes in the war. His Royal Aero Club was No. 11 dated 10th June 1910. He established the Nakuru Industries in the Nakuru Town where he manufactured belts and boots for the British troops. Lord Egerton was an extremely generous, philanthropic and jingoistic man. He ensured that his workers were adequately provided with a balanced nutritious diet and also provided for a change of their bedding once every 6 months. This was a rare gesture by a colonial settler at the time.

White Man - partner with Lord Delamere and Sir John Ramsden in Colonists Ltd. - to open up the Southern Highlands of Tanganyika - Not a success!

Christine Nicholls ,Old Africa magazine online Apr 2023, Egerton: the Lord, the Farm, the College and the University:  As a third son, Maurice Egerton never expected to inherit the Barony of Tatton and the Tatton Park estate in Cheshire with its grand residence, Tatton Hall. But his eldest brother William died in infancy and his other sibling Cecil died at school at the age of seventeen.  Born on 4 August 1874, Maurice was kept carefully at home by a mother who dreaded losing her third son, and was educated privately. His lack of social contacts and school friends during his adolescent years made him very shy and uncomfortable in large gatherings; in fact, he had few social skills.  None the less he developed an interest in photography, aviation, travelling, collecting and motor sports. In 1910 he had a serious plane crash which left him limping for the rest of his life. Some time was spent accompanying his father on travels around the world.

He joined the forces at the outbreak of World War 1, serving in the Royal Navy. He was then eligible, under the soldier-settler scheme, to apply for land in Kenya, where he settled in 1920, the same year that he inherited the barony. He was granted land at Ngata. Later he bought a 120,000 acre farm at Njoro, where he developed a flock of 25,000 sheep and 2,500 cattle. This farm was managed by Hugh Coltart. Egerton divided his time between his Kenya property and Tatton Park in Cheshire, where he was a generous lord of the manor, particularly to the young, for he had a passion for helping boys. He often invited schoolchildren from the poorer districts of Manchester to Tatton Park for the day. In 1946 he founded Egerton Boys’ Club. The daughter of the Tatton estate blacksmith said ‘Everyone called him Lordy. He was a warm, lovely man, very kind. During the war he had logs cut from the estate and put at the top of each street in Knutsford for people’s fires. When he came to the farm he always wore an old greasy mac and flat cap. Nobody would know who he was unless they knew him personally. There was no side to him, no show.’

In Kenya, he displayed his special interest in the welfare and training of young men by establishing in 1940 Egerton Agricultural College at Njoro, on 860 acres of his land which he gave to the Kenya government. It provided courses for young men interested in farming. This college became present-day Egerton University. Meanwhile, in the 1930s he began to construct at Njoro a four-storey 82-roomed building copied from the design of Tatton Hall, which he called Egerton Castle.  The design was neo-classical with natural dressed stone walls, slate tiled roof, steel casement windows in recessed carved timber frames and panelled and carved timber doors carried in arched timber frames. Floors were mostly finished in polished parquet, with coloured ceramic tiles for wet areas and smooth cement screed for work areas. The building was not finished till 1954, after which Egerton lived in it. A recent visitor (the house is now a museum open to the public) wrote: The walk through the 4-storey castle feels like a time travel into chivalry. The man had mastered his delectable traits, I can tell by the large wine cellar situated in the basement. The castle has many bathrooms with defunct electrical machines that would be used to warm towels and dry hair, with at least four to himself. The rest were for male kids, guests and the ladies (despite the irony that no woman took a shower in there during his tenure). There’s a large safe and two food stores: one was for imported foods and the other for local products. “The kitchen had a mini slaughter-house. The chef would have to shower and perfume himself before cooking Lord a meal. A doctor would drive from Nakuru twice a day to come inspect his food,” states Robert [the caretaker]. It also surprises me that all the rooms are numbered. Lord Egerton’s bedroom door number is 20 and locked. “It still has some of his personal effects, ” he explains, adding, “All 53 rooms were numbered because we had a lot of businesses running around here, it was easier that way to avoid getting lost.”’

Lord Egerton died in his Kenya castle on 30 January 1958. Unmarried, he left no heirs and the barony became extinct. There is a possibly apochryphal story about a fiancée who jilted him, but he could have been unattractive to women, being only 4 feet 6 inches tall. He left his farm to its manager, Hugh Coltart. The enormous death duties on his English properties were assuaged by his donation of Tatton Park and Hall in Cheshire to the National Trust. Egerton University flourishes – a fitting tribute to this most philanthropic of men.