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Name: GRIMBECK, John Wilfred
Nee: son of Etzard Johan Adolf Grimbeck
Birth Date: 1897 S. Africa
Death Date: 17 April 1975 Durban, S. Africa
First Date: 1905
Profession: Mechanic with the Veterinary Department at Kabete, and then with the PWD in Mombasa. He retired to the family farm at Rumuruti.
Area: Kabete, Mombasa, Rumuruti, 1922 Nyeri
Married: 1. Gwendoline May Hammon b. 29.8.1905 Coventry, d. 9.4.1994 Walton-on-Thames (she later m. Frederick Albert Kempton 1894-1969); 2. Kay b. 1900
Children: Irene Hazel (Macgregor) (10 Oct 1929 Bournemouth)
Book Reference: Gillett, KAD, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, Red 22, Barnes, Dominion, Medals, David Forrester, John Dykes
General Information:
Gazette 6 Dec 1938 Aberdare Voters List has John Wilford, farmer Rumuruti
Barnes - JW at some stage kept Angora goats
Dominion - Public Works Department - Posts and Telegraphs Dept. - Telegraph Inspector - 1930
Medals - East Africa Veterinary Corps - No. 5100, Corporal
David Forrester - 24/1/2002 - Wilfred was a conundrum. He was an excellent mechanic and as noted in the book a whizz on the drum. Yet he could not resist the lure of drink - in common with many men of the period. Sometime after the war he married again - a woman called Kay whom I remember only as being rather a prim, severe looking person but also an excellent pianist[actually, his mother]. They had a small farm well out of Rumuruti on the escarpment above the Rift Valley. I never went there so have no idea of what house Wilfred had built.
John Dykes - 24/12/2001 - " ……… Wilfred. He was a renegade drunk and although he was mechanically minded (motor mechanic) he was unable to be usefully employed by himself or others, or by his parents. His drinking resulted in him being barred from membership of the club. Later he lived on a farm owned I think by his parents, but separated from his parent's farm. The farm on which he lived was sold in the 1960s but I suspect that after his debts were settled he would have little left over. I do not know what Wilfred did after that.
Red 25 - Settler
Gazette - 26/9/1923 - Voters Register - Kenya Province - John Wilfred Grimbeck, Farmer PO Rumuruti
Gazette - 3/12/1919 - Register of Voters - Rift Valley Area - W. Grimbeck (Junior) - Farmer - Nakuru