Sir Wilfrid Havelock | |
|---|---|
| Member of theLegislative Council | |
| In office 1948–1963 | |
| Constituency | Kiambu |
| Minister of Local Government | |
| In office 1954–1962 | |
| Minister of Agriculture | |
| In office 1962–1963 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 April 1912 |
| Died | 6 April 2003(2003-04-06) (aged 90) Nairobi, Kenya |
| Party | New Kenya Party (1959–63) |
| Military service | |
| Unit | King's African Rifles |
Sir Wilfrid Bowen Havelock (14 April 1912 – 6 April 2003) was aKenyan politician, described in a 2003 obituary inthe Daily Telegraph as "the last of the white leaders responsible for ensuring the smooth African accession to power".[1]
Havelock was born on 14 April 1912 inPort of Spain,Trinidad and Tobago. His father was killed inWorld War I during theBattle of the Somme, and after his mother remarried, the family moved to East Africa when he was eight years old. After starting at the Kenya Grange School inLumbwa, he was later sent toImperial Service College.[1]
In 1929 he returned to Kenya and began working at a timber yard, before becoming manager of aRoyal Dutch Shell depot inNakuru.[1] After starting an unsuccessful garage business, he moved into the fishing industry onLake Victoria; this too was not a success, and after the boat blew up, he started selling milk in theKakamega gold fields, buying eucalyptus trees to use forpit props and also became aprospector. However, he also discovered that his partner in the fishing business had run off and left him with a debt of £800, which he spent the next eight years paying off.[1] In 1938 he married Muriel Pershouse, with whom he had a son.[1]
He then moved into the civil service, becoming the senior officer inNairobi jail. WhenWorld War II began he was appointed secretary to theKenya Defence Forces tribunal, also holding the position of assistant to the Director of Manpower. He later joined theKenya Regiment, seeing action inAbyssinia with theKing's African Rifles. However, after suffering fromdysentery, he was sent back to Kenya, and began running a training school.[1] After the war he bought a dairy andpyrethrum farm inLimuru. He moved into raisingJersey cattle and then bought a coffee farm.
His move into politics started after he became the unofficialelection agent forOlga Watkins, the Member of theLegislative Council forKiambu. She died in 1948, and Havelock won theby-election to become an MLC.[2] He retained the seat in theMay 1948 general elections, in which he was returned unopposed. Initially a right-wing firebrand, he later realised that African nationalism had to be accommodated. He became the chairman of the elected members in 1950,[3] and was also returned unopposed in the1952 elections. He was appointed Minister of Local Government in 1954,[3] and was narrowly re-elected in1956 when he beat his opponent Richard Thompson by 23 votes.
He subsequently joined theNew Kenya Group, Kenya's first multi-racial political party. He was re-elected again in the1961 elections, and the following year he was appointed Minister of Agriculture, a position he held until 1963. He was knighted in 1963, and after independence, he was a member of the Coastal Regional Assembly until it was abolished. He later worked for the agricultural finance corporation, and acquired a number of hotels. After divorcing, he married Patricia Mumford in 1972.[1]
Havelock died on 6 April 2003 inNairobi.[1]
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