Pages For this Section
Winnie, her life in Kenya.
Barnoldwick to - where?
Leaving England
First Impressions
Eldoret
Kisumu
Trip to England
Parties and Picnics
Home Leave
War Years - the last years in Kisumu
Nairobi
Post Script
Winnie's Cook Book
image: In the garden of the Nairobi House, 1943.
In 1899, the Railway engineers moved their camp from Mombasa to the present site of Nairobi. R.O.Preston described the site as 'a bleak, swampy stretch of soppy landscape, devoid of human habitation of any sort, the resort of thousands of wild animals of every species' (Pioneer's Scrapbook - Reminiscences of Kenya 1890 to 1968. Edited by Elspeth Huxley & Arnold Curtis. Published by Evans Brothers Ltd.) He was himself a colorful character, being one of the first engineers to start the building of the railway in 1897. In its favor, the site did have a small river then called Maasai Uaso. Despite the bleak environment, Nairobi grew and was declared the capital of Kenya in 1907. It is 5,453 feet (1662 meters) above sea level with an agreeable climate.
Frank was posted to the Medical Research Laboratories for special duty in connection with the control of insect-borne diseases and the family moved to Nairobi in time for the children to start school at the beginning of the school year of 1940. Frank was allocated a Government house on Upper Hill Road in a well-established European residential area. As the names suggest, it was situated on a hill overlooking the city.
The houses were mainly wood and corrugated galvanized sheet steel, each individual and unlike its neighbor. Where the gardens were well tended they added color to the district, with the variety of bouganvillia bushes. Frank had not at that time, however,developed his later enthusiasm for gardening and the Hewitts' house therefore made little positive contribution to the general environment.
The family's new home was on a sloping, acre block of land. It was on stilts at the front and as well as boasting a garage and store, it had a guesthouse. This was a large bedroom and bathroom, but no bath or basin! The boys used the guesthouse as a play room and Kenneth set up his chemistry set in the bathroom.
The house was quite large, but with a very complicated layout. The hall, which led off the veranda, was spacious and doubled as a dining room. There were two large bedrooms. That used by Frank and Winnie had two rooms leading off it, a bathroom (again with no hand basin or toilet) and a dressing room which was used by Marjorie. Peter's room had to be large to accommodate the vast quantities of rubbish, which he could, under pressure, fit into a small cupboard. Kenneth, who was much tidier in habit, had the dressing room, which led off Peter's.
The toilet was next to the guesthouse, situated on the fence line, as its bucket had to be emptied every night by the "sweeper". It was quite an adventure visiting the toilet. The wall cavity of the guesthouse attracted bees and although they were removed at regular intervals, they quickly returned to build another hive. It was a case of dodging the bees and praying that none followed one into the toilet! Added to this hazard, a large gum tree giving shade to the guesthouse had exposed roots on the path and however many times they were covered the next rainstorm would wash the murram away. Winnie seemed to be the prime victim and was forever tripping over the roots! This was the first house the family lived in that had electricity but still no running water or sewerage system. The kitchen was the usual black and smoky detached room and the hot water was heated the same way Winnie had experienced when she first arrived in Kenya. She kept her paraffin stove on the back verandah and they invested in an electric refrigerator. Maurice Williamson drew Kenneth's last deciduous tooth on this verandah!
Because of the children's ages, the house inevitably had pets. As her greatest concession, Winnie permitted Frank to bring two white mice from the Laboratory into the house, in spite of the fact that she had no affection for the animals. She was assured that they were both of the same sex and would not therefore breed. Some six months later, when they had somehow grown to a cage full of 80 or more, Frank dismissed her concern by pointing out how serious the situation would have been if he had brought home a male and female! In fact, he was simply adding to his growing reputation for a weakness in his animal-sexing skills.
Kenneth and Peter derived great pleasure from the mice, but occasionally lost control of them, which led to a temporary infestation which Winnie and the cats had to resolve. The oldest cat was the mother and grandmother of unspayed female cats who had produced serial litters of kittens, in the most inconvenient locations (usually Winnie's bed). Whilst the children would have kept all of the offspring, Winnie had the unenviable task of drowning them to the accompaniment of protesting children and cats.
From the house it was possible to walk to town, the schools and All Saints Cathedral. A bus service was also nearby, the buses being divided with a section for Europeans and a larger section for the rest of the community - African and Indian.
All Saints Cathedral is a dignified stone structure built in the early 1930s. It attracted Frank, Winnie and the family who became regular worshippers. Kenneth and later Peter joined the choir. Peter had a delightful voice and Winnie was especially proud when he became leading soloist. During the war years, the Cathedral attracted a large congregation especially members of the armed forces and all services were well attended. Marjorie was confirmed in 1944 by Bishop Crabb, the Bishop of Mombasa and Kenneth a year later.
For many years Winnie had been an active member of the E.A.W.L. (East African Women's League) and twice a week she served in the British Legion's Canteen in Harding Street. The war brought troops to Kenya - soldiers en route to other war zones -and Nairobi was a base for leave. Only white soldiers used the canteen. Her work in the canteen brought Winnie into contact with many distinguished local residents, such as the Governor and General Wetherall and of particular note was the day she and Marjorie were presented to the famous soldier and leader, Field Marshall Jan Smuts.
Residents of Nairobi opened their homes to the troops on leave and Frank and Winnie were no exception. Frank always insisted that the men came from Yorkshire and there was a constant stream of soldiers, sailors on shore leave from Mombasa or airmen, staying in the guesthouse or having a meal with the family. Winnie recalled that "?it was like Waterloo Station."
One Christmas, some A.T.S. (women soldiers) girls were in town and Winnie thought it would be change to have two girls. Some of the men had been rough and their language was likewise and Winnie was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the large number of men in the house. Greta and Nancy arrived, Nancy apologizing as she was from Bolton, Lancashire whilst her friend Greta was from Leeds, Yorkshire. Nancy had her twenty-first birthday with Frank and Winnie and after the war, both girls kept in touch. Nancy attended Winnie's funeral in 1988 and she herself died a year later.
Apart from the troops, Frank and Winnie continued to entertain and accommodate their friends who were visiting the Capital. The children were generally happy to give up their rooms, since guests often rewarded them for their inconvenience by a gift of a five or even a ten-shilling note.
When there were major events in Town, there could be several guests and on one occasion Frank pressed the blackboard into service to list the occupants of the various rooms for the night. This was left in the dining room, so that the servants and residents would know where to find a particular body. In normal times, the blackboard was used energetically by Frank in his attempts to teach Marjorie the rudiments of Algebra. He was largely unsuccessful, but both Peter and Kenneth, who could hardly avoid the commotion, proved to be particularly adept at the subject when they reached it later in their school careers.
The Kings African Rifle's Camp was on the Ngong Road and it was a frequent sight to see battalions of African troops marching, led by their band, up the hill past the Hewitt's house. The Kings African Rifles distinguished themselves in the Burma Campaign. From time to time, an Officer would be recognized, old friends from Kisumu, going to Burma to support the British Army. One such officer was the husband of Gladys Hughes, a friend of Winnie's. He was the only personal friend from Kenya to be killed in action. Gladys was devastated. When Frank was away on safari, which was frequently, Winnie and the children would spend weekends with Gladys and her daughter, in Karen.
Karen is a suburb named after Baroness Karen von Blixen and is eight miles from Nairobi, at the foot of the Ngong Hills. Baroness von Blixen's house in Karen in now maintained as a memorial and museum to her and was featured in the film "Out Of Africa". It is remembered as a very lush suburb where eland and zebra damaged gardens and lion were frequently heard.
National Game Parks of today did not exist in 1940. As a favorite Sunday morning outing Frank would take the children mushrooming in an area which has since been incorporated as part of the Nairobi National Park. Despite its reputation as a good place to see lions, the first lion ever seen by the children was in Blackpool Tower Zoo in 1946!
"I was put on the Board of Censors for films and I used to go every Tuesday morning". ?Mrs. Miniver', with Greer Garson and Walter Pigeon, was the first war film to be released in Nairobi and it attracted large audiences. This intensely emotional film is said to have been the most important single event to sway American public opinion into the U.S.A. joining the Allies in the war against Germany.
There were three cinemas in Nairobi. One of the cinemas doubled as a theatre and was a popular venue for the Gilbert and Sullivan productions. Bob Pearson (a colleague of Frank's and the husband of Peter's Godmother, Margaret) was the lead baritone in the productions and the annual Gilbert and Sullivan operetta was much looked forward outing for the family.
Kenneth's interest in anything science, brought him in contact with Robson's, the Chemist, where he spent some time in the school holidays, washing bottles. Robby Robson, as well as being a pharmacist, had interests in making fragrances.
Bobby Maxwell (son of Uncle Jim and Auntie Kitty) managed the Nairobi Emporium for his father-in-law and he recruited Winnie to help part-time in the shop, on the haberdashery counter. She, and Edit Martin (the Swiss wife of an official in the prison service) advised customers with their craft activities but were hampered with very limited stock. Before the war the Nairobi Emporium had been a small departmental store, but the limited arrival of quality stock had restricted the store to dress fabrics, lingerie and haberdashery by the time Winnie joined the staff. In those days, the clientele in the City stores was confined to Europeans. Whilst no official exclusion policy existed, it was not customary for Asians and Africans to look for service in European owned shops.
With the progress of the war, merchant shipping from Europe was frequently sunk and those getting through, had less and less goods for the market. Weekly magazines and comics imported from England had missing editions, which was most frustrating, if a serial was being followed! The arrival of a consignment of goods for the businesses created a buzz of activity and shopping sprees. The establishment of local manufacturing industries started to flourish and there was less reliance on imported goods. Together with a thriving dairy industry, the residents of Kenya were not greatly disadvantaged. There was some limited sugar rationing and meat could not be sold for two days of every week, nor served in restaurants on those two days.
Mail to and from England was subject to censorship (as were Marjorie's letters from school!). The airgraph, being a photograph of the original letter, would have names and place names blocked out. Despite this, Frank received news that his elder brother John had died as a result of injuries received in an air raid. Although two brothers were serving in the British Army he never received news of their well being. They came through the war but his brother Harry, who had served in the Medical advance party to enter and liberate the inmates of the Belsen Concentration Camp was very disturbed by the conditions he witnessed of the camp and prisoners. He withdrew into himself and it took him many years to overcome the shock and forget the horrors.
The radio was an important link and Frank and Winnie were avid listeners to the news on the car-battery-operated radio kept by Frank's chair in the sitting room. The news kept them abreast with events in Europe and the Far East and as light relief, they listened to Tommy Hanley and other variety shows.
Although Winnie had become accustomed to the long gaps between letters, her mother not being well overshadowed news that her parents had moved into a new house. The next letter confirmed that her mother had been diagnosed as having inoperable breast cancer. Had it not been wartime, she would have returned to England to see her mother. Her mother's death coincided with the end of the war in Europe.
All through the war it was common practice to send food parcels to England. Christmas parcels, containing tinned fruit, tinned butter and tinned meat, as well as dried fruits, were painstakingly wrapped and sewn in calico and posted by sea mail. Sometimes these parcels would be lost at sea.
This was the longest period without leave and the strain was beginning to tell on many families. Winnie's thoughts began to turn to England and as wool and fabrics became available, she started to knit and sew in preparation of their return to England.
As with many Europeans, Frank felt the strain of the war. In the absence of younger men in the forces, there were no new recruits to the Medical Services and the African staff, although willing, were not yet ready to assume responsibilities. He was also concerned for Winnie and consequently he made the difficult personal decision to retire at the end of the war and return to England. The feeling of insecurity naturally reflected on the children. The Government European Schools were staffed with teachers past their retirement and they were feeling the strain of having no younger members of staff. The curriculum was limited because of the lack of facilities and the schools became overcrowded as the more centrally situated schools had been taken over for military purposes. Portable classrooms were built with Hessian walls and then white washed, to cater for the growing number of girls at the High School.
Kenya's celebrations at the end of hostilities in Europe were subdued in comparison to the celebrations in Europe but there were many Kenyans still fighting in the war zone in the Far East. The dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on the 6th August 1945 brought hope for world peace, which was finally declared a few days later. On 16th August, the streets of Nairobi were decked with flags and a large crowd watched the Kings African Rifles with full honors and their mascot goat called SAMRE led the parade of Nurses, W.A.A.F., R.A.F. and other British troops in Kenya at the time to the Law Courts. It must have seemed strange for the Europeans present that the parade was watched in almost complete silence. To the Africans, who inevitably dominated the crowd, the concept of cheering was alien to their culture, and only frequent pleas by an announcer to support particular marchers led to any reaction. An emotional outdoors' thanks-giving service was held and attended by members of all communities.
Frank duly submitted his resignation in 1945. This was in many ways a momentous decision for him as it not only involved severance from many good friends and the country he had come to love but also the abandonment of a secure career in the Government Service at a time when the family was growing up and he himself had reached a point of seniority where career prospects were excellent. Business opportunities were legion and attractive proposals were laid before Frank. His view was that Kenya was a marvelous place for him and his children but would be no place for his grand children.
An added influence for Frank's decision to return to England was the lack of further education in Kenya. He and Winnie wished to avoid separating themselves from their children by a sea should the children return to England for educational purposes and they remain in Kenya.
He was disappointed that passages to England were very scarce. All available ships were still being used for the conveyance of troops and the need to find five passages kept his family at the bottom of the list. This did not deter him and he and Winnie started to pack. Winnie had few regrets leaving Kenya. Infact, she looked forward to having her own home in England, without the worry of servants, who could be quarrelsome and amongst whom theft was a continuous problem.
Baggage had to be kept to the minimum and the children had to decide which of their possessions they wanted to keep, which ended up being a few books. All the furniture, kitchenware and dinner service, were sent to the auction rooms. The etched glasses, bought for six pence each in 1938, sold for five (Kenyan) shillings each in 1945!
With everything packed and stored, the family retreated to Kisumu, where Uncle Jim Maxwell offered Frank the Manager's job at the Kisumu Hotel. He gladly accepted on the understanding that he would be leaving as soon as passages became available. Their delight at being back in Kisumu was tempered by the children's misery at having to go to boarding school in Nairobi - the schools where they had been day students. Kenneth was not affected, as he had been a boarder at the Prince of Wales School since transition from Primary School. Peter was particularly homesick, but was consoled by the fact that his school shared the same campus as Marjorie's and he was able to see his sister when he felt especially sensitive. His only comfort was being invited out by some of the day boys to their homes for occasional Sundays. One such friend was Roger Whitaker, who later went on to become an international singing star.
Winnie put her skills to use at the Hotel, taking on the duties of Housekeeper. Both she and Frank were content being occupied in Kisumu, whilst they waited for confirmation of a sea passage for the family. The Hotel was exceptionally busy at this time, as the sea plane service from Southampton to Cape Town was in full operation and Kisumu was a twice weekly overnight stop for passengers and crew traveling by Imperial Airways.
The Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Moslem sects, visited Kisumu, which caused quite a stir. He was to stay in the Hotel, and a section of the Hotel was made available. Not only were the rooms repainted and refurbished by his followers, but the bathrooms were also refitted. The security at the Hotel was tightened and his schedule was strictly adhered to. It was as if a member of the Royal family had come to stay! Kenneth and Peter were denied permission, by their father, to collect bath water from his waste pipe to sell it to the devout followers.
The children returned to Kisumu for the school holidays, hoping they would not be returning to school, but this was not to be so for two more terms. They stayed in the Hotel in a suite of rooms put aside for them. The rooms were in the oldest part of the Hotel and they are remembered for their cockroaches. Winnie recalled "?the cockroaches would keep us awake at night and a pretty pink tulle dress given to Marjorie, was eaten into holes by these pests."
Marjorie and Kenneth were unfortunate enough to have to return to boarding school, but for various reasons Peter remained in Kisumu and received education from his father. Frank had taught himself mathematics and algebra primary to help Marjorie, but his other subjects were a little weak. As a consequence, when Peter returned to full-time education in England, he was a year ahead of his contemporaries in mathematics, but behind in everything else!
At short notice, passages for the family became available on the S. Alcantara, seeing service as a troop ship, calling into Mombasa in August 1946. Traveling to Nairobi by train Peter enjoyed the luxury of a bunk to himself. The family was seen off from Nairobi station and it was to be a very uncomfortable overnight journey to Mombasa. The train was crowded, being a boat train and five in a compartment for four, made it a tight squeeze. Peter, being the youngest, was to spend the night at the foot of each bunk, with the result, no one got any sleep! This memory has remained with Peter as one of the worst in his life! The train now had a dining car and served dinner and breakfast to the first class passengers.
After a brief holiday in Mombasa, the family, with their worldly possessions, embarked to find conditions on board to be overcrowded and the family was split up. Winnie and Marjorie were lucky. "We shared a deck cabin with three other ladies and a small girl". Not only did the cabin have a fan, a luxury for the hotter parts of the journey, but its own bathroom! Frank was in a large dormitory with several men and the boys were in a smaller cabin of boys, which had a porthole.
As well as civilian passengers of all nationalities, the ship was carrying British troops returning to England from the Far East and Italian prisoners-of-war, leaving Kenya to be repatriated to Italy. They were on the open deck of the bow, with tarpaulins to protect them from the hot sun. They were happy - they were going home too and spent their time singing and playing their homemade instruments. There was little deck space and the entertainment on board ship experienced before the war, did not exist on this trip. Bingo was a popular past time and the Italians gave recitals.
Kenneth and Peter made up for the disappointment of not having a swimming pool by regularly flooding the large communal bathrooms. Winnie eventually had to put a stop to this activity when she received complaints that the other passengers were being deprived of bathing facilities.
Ports of call lacked the buzz and anticipation of visiting 'foreign' parts. The ship docked just long enough for passengers to embark and fresh supplies to be brought aboard. Cholera seemed to be endemic. Naples was a port, which had been destroyed during the war. The harbor was crowded with sunken ships that were used as a temporary jetty to which the ship berthed. By this time, the British troops were restless and bored of their long trip and were envious of the Italians leaving the ship. Relatives and friends who had waited three years had come to the harbor to greet the prisoners. The emotions overflowed and the British troops added their appreciation with whistles and catcalls!
The next stop was Southhampton and as the ship steamed up the estuary to dock, the atmosphere on board was electric. A band on the quay struck up, bringing the troops and passengers to the rail all feeling the deep emotion of seeing England again, after a long separation.
"Funga Safari" (Finish the Journey - A Kings African Rifles marching song)
