Macmillan - 1930 - The business of Messrs Gailey & Roberts Ltd., was started in 1904 by Major J.H. Gailey who played a very important part in the construction of the Kenya-Uganda Railway. In 1921 the firm employed 11 Europeans; and the fact that they now employ nearly 80 Europeans is sufficiently indicative of the expansion to which their business has attained. ….. Major Gailey was joined in partnership in the early days by Mr D.O. Roberts, who died in 1916. In 1924 the firm was formed into a private limited company, with Major Gailey as Chairman, Mr G.E. Ramsay, Managing Director, and Mr A.L. Gladwell as General Manager

EA & Rhodesia - 15/4/1954 - The Story of Gailey & Roberts - In 1932 the first caterpillar tractor to be seen in East Africa was unloaded at Mombasa. This was the idea of A.L. Gladwell. He felt that the mechanical clearing of sisal would benefit the new industry. Scornful farmers howled him down; Gladwell set about demonstrating the tractor himself, converted the sisal growers, and placed heavy orders for more machines to cope with the rush. ………  To study modern methods of mechanical road-making A.L. Gladwell went to America. With a natural flair for engineering and a ready appreciation of trends, he saw that the tasks that lay ahead in Kenya would be large-scale rather than small. There were roads to be built, dams to be constructed to conserve the valuable rainfall, air-strips to be levelled, and the clearing of vast areas of scrub jungle for large-scale agriculture. …. [more]

Member of Lodge Harmony - Initiated 2/2/25

Nairobi City Park cemetery - Athelstan Lewis Gladwin, died 23 Nov 1948 aged 58. and Nairobi Forest Road cemetery for Violet Grace Gladwell d. 6 Mar 1957

Gazette 16 Nov 1936 Voters List 1936 - Athelstan Lewis Gladwell, Engineer, Salisbury Rd., and Violet Grace Lilian Gladwell, Married woman, Salisbury Rd., Box 667, Nbi