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Name: HEPPES, Harry Nicholas
Nee: son of Nicholas Heppes, twin of William Bennett Heppes
Birth Date: 23 Sep 1899 Ixopo, Natal
Death Date: 1971 Natal, South Africa
First Date: 1907
Profession: Hunter, worked for Kakuzi Fibrelands
Area: Nakuru, 1925 Songhor, Rongai, Ruiru, Mitubiri
Married: In East London, S. Africa 5 Feb 1938 Rebecca Theresa Fetting b. 27 Mar 1908, d. 5 July 1995 S. Africa [?7 May 1995 Durban]
Children: Keith Harry (1939-2011); Sidney David (1942); Neil Herbert (1944)
Book Reference: KAD, Red 25, Hut, Red 22, Red 31, Pioneers, John Heppes, Barnes, SKP, Rifleman, Red Book 1912
General Information:
Red 22 - H. Heppes, Box 146, Nairobi
Neil Heppes - Worked for Kakuzi Fibrelands at Mitubiri …. Until he retired in 1965
SKP - 1938 - Society of Kenya Pioneers - over 30 years in Colony - arrived Jan 1907
Rifleman - Harry Heppes - Harry's family came from South Africa. They had shipped their ox-wagons to Mombasa and had trekked inland about 1904, while Harry was an infant. But he was raised in the Boer tradition, where a boy was sent out with a rifle and two rounds of ammunition. Failure to bring home either meat or both cartridges resulted in a licking with a hippo-hide "sjambok". A stern schooling indeed, but I have met a hunter or two who would have benefited from it, and Harry became an outstanding shot who represented Kenya at Bisley, and rarely wasted a cartridge. One of his favourite tricks was to lie patiently waiting on an anthill until he had two gazelles lined up so that he could drop both of them with one shot, which the 6.5 mm's 156-gr. RNSP bullet at 2570 f.p.s. would do handily. It displayed the remarkable penetration for which it was known even more convincingly on another occasion, when Harry was charged by a rhino while peacefully fishing along the Tana river. He barely had time to unsling his rifle and get off a shot from the hip, braining the beast. Not too bad for a little 6.5 mm soft-nose bullet!
Red Book 1912 - H. Heppes - Naivasha [twice]