The Happy Valley set was a group of
hedonistic
Hedonism refers to a family of theories, all of which have in common that pleasure plays a central role in them. ''Psychological'' or ''motivational hedonism'' claims that human behavior is determined by desires to increase pleasure and to decre ...
, largely
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
and
Anglo-Irish aristocrats
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At the time of the word' ...
and adventurers who settled in the "Happy Valley" region of the Wanjohi Valley, near the
Aberdare mountain range, in colonial
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
...
and
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
between the 1920s and the 1940s. In the 1930s, the group became infamous for its decadent lifestyles and exploits amid reports of drug use and sexual promiscuity.
The area around
Naivasha was one of the first to be settled in Kenya by
white people
White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view.
Description of populations as ...
and was one of the main hunting grounds of the 'set'.
["Naivasha, Kenya" (tourist information), go2africa.com, 2006, webpage]
Go2A
/ref> The colonial town of Nyeri, Kenya
Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County. The town was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province. Following the dissolution of the former p ...
, to the east of the Aberdare Range, was the centre of Happy Valley settlers.["Cultural Safari" (concerning Aberdare & Happy Valley settlers), MagicalKenya.com, webpag]
MK
In the mid-2000s, descendants of the Happy Valley set appeared again in the news, thanks to the legal troubles of Tom Cholmondeley, the great-grandson of Lord Delamere.
Some of the notable members of the Happy Valley set were: the 3rd Baron Delamere and his son and heir the 4th Baron Delamere; Denys Finch Hatton, his lover Baroness Karen von Blixen; Bror von Blixen-Finecke
Baron Bror Fredrik von Blixen-Finecke (25 July 1886 – 4 March 1946) was a Swedish nobleman, writer, and African professional hunter and guide on big-game hunts. He was married to Karen Blixen (née Dinesen) from 1914 to 1925.
Personal ...
; Sir Jock Delves Broughton and wife Diana Delves Broughton; the 22nd Earl of Erroll; Lady Idina Sackville
Lady Myra Idina Sackville (26 February 1893 – 5 November 1955) was an English aristocrat and member of the Happy Valley set. Her behaviour and lifestyle scandalised middle class society.
Early life
Lady Myra Idina Sackville was born on 26 Fe ...
; Alice, Countess de Janze (cousin of J. Ogden Armour
Jonathan Ogden Armour (November 11, 1863 – August 16, 1927) was an American meatpacking magnate and only surviving son of Civil War–era industrialist Philip Danforth Armour. He became owner and president of Armour & Company upon the death of ...
) and her husband Count Frederic de Janzé.
History
According to Ulf Aschan, "Witty, attractive, well-bred, and well read, Happy Valleyites were relentless in their pursuit to be amused, more often attaining this through drink, drugs, and sex."
The height of the Happy Valley set's influence was in the late 1920s. The recession sparked by the 1929 Wall Street stock market crash greatly decreased the number of new arrivals to the Colony of Kenya and the influx of capital. Nevertheless, by 1939 Kenya had a white community of 21,000 people.
Location
The area around Naivasha was one of the first to be settled by white people and one of the hunting grounds of the hedonistic Happy Valley set.[ The area also includes ]Thomson's Falls
Nyahururu Falls is a waterfall on the Ewaso Ng'iro river in Central Rift Valley Kenya, a few kilometres from Lake Ol Bolossat, which drains from the Aberdare Range. It is situated from the town of Nyahururu, at elevation. In 1883 Joseph Thomson ...
.[Happy Valley section in ''Vertical Land'']
/ref> Geoffrey Buxton, the first colonial farmer in the area, had moved up from the arid Rift Valley with its meagre rivers and a relentless dusty wind that gave Gilgil
Gilgil, Kenya, is a town in Nakuru County, Kenya. The town is located between Naivasha and Nakuru and along the Nairobi - Nakuru highway. It is to the west of the Gilgil River, which flows south to feed Lake Naivasha.
Gilgil has a population ...
its name. And so, after finding his ideal farming country, he called this new haven 'Happy Valley'.[Juliet Barnes: ''The Ghosts of Happy Valley'': Aurum Press Ltd (1 July 2013)] Some members of the Happy Valley set lived in Gilgil, Kenya, just north of Lake Elementaita
Lake Elmenteita is a soda lake, in the Great Rift Valley, about 120 km northwest of Nairobi, Kenya.
Geography
Elmenteita is derived from the Maasai word , meaning "dust place", a reference to the dryness and dustiness of the area, es ...
.
The colonial town of Nyeri
Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County. The town was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province. Following the dissolution of the former pr ...
in Central Province, to the east of the Aberdare Range
The Aberdare Range (formerly the Sattima Range, Kikuyu: ''Nyandarua'') is a 160 km (100 mile) long mountain range of upland, north of Kenya's capital Nairobi with an average elevation of . It straddles across the counties of Nyandarua, Nye ...
, was the centre of Happy Valley settlers.[ The town had the atmosphere of a sleepy English village, an impression fostered by the cool air and morning mists.][ Outside Nyeri is the ]Outspan Hotel
The Outspan Hotel is in Nyeri, Kenya. It was built up from an old farm by Eric Sherbrooke Walker in the 1920s.
Walker had purchased of Crown Land in Nyeri and in 1928, opened the Outspan Hotel, overlooking the gorge of a river in the Aberdare R ...
, a colonial landmark which became a place of pilgrimage for the world's Scouts.[ A small cottage on the hotel grounds was the final home of ]Lord Baden-Powell
Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the wor ...
and his wife, founders of the Scouting movement
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking, ...
, and he is buried outside Nyeri. The cottage has a small museum dedicated to Baden-Powell's life and memory.[
]
In popular culture
The antics of the Happy Valley set were highlighted in books and films such as '' White Mischief'', which dramatised the trial of Jock Delves Broughton
Sir Henry John Delves Broughton, 11th Baronet, DL (10 September 1883 – 5 December 1942), was a British baronet who is chiefly known for standing trial for the murder of Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll. The event was the basis of the film '' W ...
for the murder of Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll; and ''The Happy Valley
''The Happy Valley'' is a British television drama, first shown on BBC1 on 6 September 1987 in the ''Sunday Premiere'' strand. It was written by David Reid, directed by Ross Devenish, and produced by Cedric Messina. It stars Holly Aird as Ju ...
'', Juanita Carberry
Juanita may refer to: Names/places
*Diminutive of Juana, a female given name in Spanish
*Mummy Juanita, or "The Ice Maiden", 15th-century Inca mummy discovered in 1995
*Juanita, Kirkland, Washington, a neighborhood of the city of Kirkland
*Juanita ...
's account of her adolescence and later involvement with the Delves Broughton case. A biography of Idina Sackville
Lady Myra Idina Sackville (26 February 1893 – 5 November 1955) was an English aristocrat and member of the Happy Valley set. Her behaviour and lifestyle scandalised middle class society.
Early life
Lady Myra Idina Sackville was born on 26 F ...
, ''The Bolter'', by Frances Osborne, includes stories of the origins of the Happy Valley set and features many of its key characters. Sackville was married to Lord Erroll for several years, and they had a child together.
The 1999 UK television mini-series ''Heat of the Sun
''Heat of the Sun'' is a British television crime drama series, created by Russell Lewis and Timothy Prager, that first aired on ITV on 28 January 1998. Set in 1930s Kenya, the series stars Trevor Eve as Superintendent Albert Tyburn, a Scotla ...
'' looks at the fictional lives and crimes of Happy Valley dwellers.
Most recently, British-American author Rhys Bowen has published a murder mystery cozy titled ''Love and Death Among the Cheetahs'' taking place in the valley.
In 2019, Irish author Lucinda Riley fictionalised the lives of some well known members of the Happy Valley family in her novel of ‘The Sun Sister’.
Notables
Although there is no actual definition of what constitutes a member of the Happy Valley set, it is generally agreed by writers that it refers to white colonials located in or around the area of the Wanjohi Valley, who were infamous during the 1920s–1940s period for a number of scandals, usually revolving around infidelity and drug/alcohol abuse.
Some of the most notable members of that clique are the following:[
"Corpun – Book Reviews Page 4" (description),
"CHILD OF THE HAPPY VALLEY: A Memoir" (memoir),
CorPun, Colin Farrell, January 2004, webpage:
]
CP-Carberry
Hugh Cholmondeley, 3rd Baron Delamere
One of the first British settlers in East Africa, Hugh Cholmondeley, 3rd Baron Delamere (1870–1931), K.C.M.G., is credited with helping form the Happy Valley set. Lord Delamere first travelled to East Africa in 1891 for lion hunting and returned yearly to resume the hunt. In 1894, he was mauled by a lion. As a result, he limped for the rest of his life. He is also credited for coining the term "white hunter
White hunter is a literary term used for professional big game hunting, big game hunters of European or North American backgrounds who plied their trade in Africa, especially during the first half of the 20th century. The activity continues in t ...
". In 1896, he moved to Africa and eventually settled in Kenya. In 1906, he acquired a large farm, the Soysambu Ranch, which would eventually rise to . Lord Delamere is also considered to have contributed significantly to the development of Kenyan agriculture. He quickly became the unofficial leader of the white community in Kenya. He was active in recruiting settlers to East Africa, and deeply admired the culture of the local Maasai Maasai may refer to:
* Maasai people
*Maasai language
* Maasai mythology
* MAASAI (band)
See also
* Masai (disambiguation)
* Massai
Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...
. There is a story of Delamere's riding his horse into the dining room of Nairobi's Norfolk Hotel and jumping over the tables. He was also known to knock golf balls onto the roof of the Muthaiga Country Club
The Muthaiga Country Club is a club in Nairobi, Kenya. It is located in the suburb of Muthaiga, about 15 minutes drive from the city centre.
The Muthaiga Country Club opened on New Year's Eve in 1913, and became a gathering place for the coloni ...
, the pink stucco gathering-place for Nairobi's white élite, and then climb up to retrieve them. At the outbreak of World War I, Delamere was placed in charge of intelligence on the Maasai border, monitoring the movements of German units in present-day Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
. He married Lady Charles Markham (née Gwladys Helen Beckett) in 1928. He died in 1931.
Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll
A Scottish peer and notorious philanderer, Josslyn Victor Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll (1901–1941) abandoned his diplomatic career in Great Britain and scandalised society when he eloped with a married woman, Lady Idina Sackville
Lady Myra Idina Sackville (26 February 1893 – 5 November 1955) was an English aristocrat and member of the Happy Valley set. Her behaviour and lifestyle scandalised middle class society.
Early life
Lady Myra Idina Sackville was born on 26 F ...
. The couple were married in 1923 and moved to Kenya in 1924. They became the unofficial 'king and queen' of ' Happy Valley' and their home, ''Slains'' (named after the former Hay family seat of Slains Castle
Slains Castle may refer to one of two ruined castles in Aberdeenshire, Scotland:
* Old Slains Castle, a 13th-century castle was originally the property of the Comyn Earls of Buchan, near Collieston
*New Slains Castle, a 16th-century tower house, b ...
), became a centre of social life, notorious for its orgies. Idina, Countess of Erroll, divorced him in 1929, because he was cheating her financially. Lord Erroll was already having an affair with married woman Molly Ramsay-Hill. The couple eloped. When Ramsay-Hill's husband found out, he hunted them down and famously horsewhipped Lord Erroll in public at Nairobi Railway Station
Nairobi railway station is a railway station located in Nairobi, Kenya. The station is on the metre gauge Uganda Railway, and previously provided services to Mombasa three times per week. However, in 2017, the new Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge ...
. Erroll married Molly in 1930. In 1934, Lord Erroll joined Sir Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...
's British Union of Fascists (B.U.F.) and, on his return to Kenya a year later, became president of the Convention of Associations. Early in 1939, Erroll's wife Molly, Countess of Erroll, died from the effects of consuming a concoction of alcohol, morphine
Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...
and heroin. On the outbreak of World War II later that year, Lord Erroll became a captain in the Kenya Regiment
The Kenya Regiment was a unit of the British Army that recruited primarily from White Kenyans and some Ugandans with Black Kenyan recruits increasingly employed most notably, during the Mau Mau conflict. Formed in 1937, it was disbanded at the o ...
and accepted the post of military secretary for East Africa in 1940.
In late 1940, Lord Erroll met Diana, Lady Delves Broughton, the new, glamorous and much younger wife of Sir Jock Delves Broughton, 11th Baronet. Lord Erroll and Lady Delves Broughton soon became lovers. Their romance was a very public one and they intended to elope. Delves Broughton reportedly gave his blessings. However, in January 1941, Erroll was found shot dead in his car in an intersection outside Nairobi. Although Delves Broughton was charged and tried, he was acquitted of the murder. Numerous books, films (including '' White Mischief'') and articles have been written on the murder mystery and various theories have been argued; however, the murder remains officially unsolved.
Lady Idina Sackville
A British aristocrat, daughter of the 8th Earl de la Warr
Earl De La Warr ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1761 for John West, 7th Baron De La Warr.
The Earl holds the subsidiary titles of Viscount Cantelupe (1761) in the Peerage of Great Britain, Baron De La Warr ( ...
and cousin of poet Vita Sackville-West
Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer.
Sackville-West was a successful novelist, poet and journalist, as wel ...
, Myra Idina Sackville (1893–1955) scandalised society when she divorced her first husband Euan Wallace
David Euan Wallace, MC PC (20 April 1892 – 9 February 1941) was a British Conservative politician who was an ally of Neville Chamberlain and briefly served as Minister of Transport during World War II.
Early life
Wallace was born on 20 Apr ...
, losing the right to see her two sons, who were later killed while serving in World War II. Idina abandoned her second husband Captain Charles Gordon for her lover Joss Hay, the future Earl of Erroll, eight years her junior. Together, they moved to Kenya in 1924 and essentially pioneered the decadent lifestyle of the Happy Valley set. Idina became notorious for hosting wild parties, which included spouse-swapping and drug use. Stories were also told of how she often welcomed her guests in a bathtub made of green onyx and then proceeded to dress before them. After she and Erroll divorced, she married twice more. She died in 1955.
Countess Alice de Janzé
Born Alice Silverthorne (1899–1941), she was a wealthy heiress from Chicago and Buffalo, New York, daughter of an alcoholic felt manufacturer and niece to magnate J. Ogden Armour
Jonathan Ogden Armour (November 11, 1863 – August 16, 1927) was an American meatpacking magnate and only surviving son of Civil War–era industrialist Philip Danforth Armour. He became owner and president of Armour & Company upon the death of ...
. She lived in Paris since the early 1920s, together with her husband, Count Frédéric de Janzé. The couple first met Joss Hay, Earl of Erroll and his wife, Idina, when the latter two lived in Paris in the early 1920s. After the Hays moved to the Wanjohi Valley in Kenya, they invited the de Janzés for lion hunting, in 1925 and 1926. The de Janzés lived in a house next to the Hays for several months. Alice had an affair with Lord Erroll and later with Raymond de Trafford. When the de Janzés returned to Paris, Alice abandoned her husband for Raymond.
Alice made international headlines in 1927, when she shot Raymond in a Paris railway station and then shot herself. It was later revealed she did this on account of her anguish, after Raymond told her he could not marry her. They were both hospitalised but survived; Alice was tried by a Paris court and got away with a four-dollar fine. When she returned to Kenya in 1928, she was forced by the government to leave the country as an undesirable alien. In 1932, she and Raymond married in France, but split almost immediately and later divorced. Alice later returned to the Happy Valley in Kenya. Depressive, alcoholic and addicted to morphine, she remained in Kenya until she committed suicide by shooting herself in 1941. Prior to her death, Alice had been considered as a suspect for the murder of Lord Erroll.
Count Frédéric de Janzé
A French nobleman from an old aristocratic family of Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
, Comte (Count) Frédéric de Janzé was also famous in France for his career as a racing driver. Following an invitation from their friends, Joss and Idina Hay, he and his wife, Alice, first travelled to the Wanjohi Valley, Kenya, in 1925 and spent months there, hunting lions. Frédéric had an affair with Idina, while Alice was having an affair with Joss. Frédéric wrote a memoir, ''Vertical Land'',[ in which he gives his impressions of several of the notable personalities of the Happy Valley set. He returned with Alice to Happy Valley in 1926, during which time Alice tried to elope with her new lover, Raymond de Trafford. The de Janzés divorced in 1927, in the aftermath of Alice's shooting scandal. Frédéric died in 1933, of ]sepsis
Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...
, aged 37.
Kiki Preston
Born Alice Gwynne (1898–1946), she was an American socialite, relative of the powerful Whitney Whitney may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Whitney'' (2015 film), a Whitney Houston biopic starring Yaya DaCosta
* ''Whitney'' (2018 film), a documentary about Whitney Houston
* ''Whitney'' (TV series), an American sitcom that premiered i ...
and Vanderbilt families. Kiki and her second husband, Jeromy "Gerry" Preston (1897–1934) first moved to Kenya in 1926, after being offered land on the shores of Lake Naivasha by a friend. Kiki and her husband excelled as big game hunters. Kiki was also notorious for her drug use, especially her addiction to cocaine and heroin, and was one of the best clients of Frank Greswolde Williams, the chief drug dealer of the colony. She was nicknamed "the girl with the silver syringe", due to her habit of always carrying her syringe in her bag and publicly shooting drugs without regard for onlookers. Whenever she was out of supplies, she would send an aeroplane to pick up new ones. Kiki also had numerous affairs with men, including Prince George, Duke of Kent
Prince George, Duke of Kent, (George Edward Alexander Edmund; 20 December 1902 – 25 August 1942) was a member of the British royal family, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary. He was a younger brother of kings Edward VIII and Geo ...
, whom she introduced to drugs, much to the dismay of the British royal family, which forbade them from seeing each other. Kiki is often alleged to have borne a child out of wedlock from her affair with Prince George, who later became publishing executive Michael Canfield, adopted son of Cass Canfield
Augustus Cass Canfield (April 26, 1897 – March 27, 1986) was an American publishing executive who was the longtime president and chairman of Harper & Brothers, later Harper & Row.
Early life
Canfield was the son of Augustus Cass Canfield (185 ...
.
Following her husband's death, Kiki gradually abandoned the farm and returned to United States. Her son, Ethan, was killed in the Normandy Landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...
. Kiki committed suicide in 1946, jumping out of the window of her apartment at the Stanhope Hotel in New York City.
Raymond de Trafford
Son of Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 3rd Baronet
Sir Humphrey Francis de Trafford (3 July 1862 – 10 January 1929) was an English landowner and racehorse breeder. He was the son of Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 2nd Baronet and Lady Annette Mary Talbot.
On the death of his father on 4 May 1886, Hu ...
, Raymond Vincent de Trafford (1900–1971) was a British nobleman from an old Irish aristocratic family. A gambler, womaniser and alcoholic, de Trafford was a notable presence in the Happy Valley set during the 1920s, and had numerous lovers, including Alice de Janze and Kiki Preston. He once attempted to seduce Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, (born Lady Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott; 25 December 1901 – 29 October 2004) was the wife of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of King George V and Queen Mary. She was the mothe ...
, but was repelled. De Trafford was once reported to be so drunk, he set some houses of Kenyans on fire one night.
De Trafford was threatened by his family with disinheritance if he were to marry Alice de Janze. In 1927, after discovering the truth, Alice shot him and then shot herself, while in a railway station in Paris. Raymond survived and later tried to defend Alice in her trial. In 1932, he married Alice, but almost immediately deserted her (allegedly, because he feared her) and moved to Australia. In 1939, he hit and killed a man with his car while under the influence, and spent three years in prison for manslaughter. A year later, he filed for bankruptcy.
Sir John "Jock" Delves Broughton
A British aristocrat, Sir Henry John "Jock" Delves Broughton (1883–1942) moved to Kenya, together with his new wife, Diana Caldwell, thirty years his junior. Diana immediately began a very public affair with Joss Hay, Earl of Erroll. Broughton eventually conceded to the idea of Diana deserting him and marrying Erroll, due to a prenuptial agreement they had made, that she could abandon him if she fell in love with another man.
However, Erroll was murdered in January 1941. Broughton was considered a major suspect. He was arrested by the police and tried for the murder of Erroll. Due to lack of evidence and to ballistic considerations, he was acquitted. Juanita Carberry, daughter of John Carberry (10th Baron Carbery
Baron Carbery, of Carbery in the County of Cork, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1715 for George Evans, with remainder to the heirs male of his father and namesake George Evans, a supporter of William and Mary during the ...
), maintains that Broughton confessed the murder to her shortly after his acquittal. Diana quickly divorced Broughton. He returned to England, where he committed suicide by barbiturate overdose
Barbiturate overdose is poisoning due to excessive doses of barbiturates. Symptoms typically include difficulty thinking, poor coordination, decreased level of consciousness, and a decreased effort to breathe (respiratory depression). Complicati ...
in 1942.
Diana, Lady Delamere
Born Diana Caldwell (1913–1987), she moved to the Happy Valley in late 1940, together with her new husband, Sir John "Jock" Delves Broughton, a Baronet with extensive landed estates in England. She almost immediately began a very public affair with the unofficial leader of the community, Joss Hay, Earl of Erroll. She planned to divorce Broughton and marry Erroll. Broughton supposedly gave his blessings.
Erroll was discovered murdered in his car in January 1941. Broughton was charged with his murder but was acquitted in the trial. Diana stood up for her husband, but after the trial accused him of being the murderer and abandoned him.
Following her divorce from Broughton, she married Gilbert Colvile in 1943, one of the wealthiest and most powerful landowners in Kenya and inherited much of his fortune. They adopted a daughter. In 1955, Diana married Thomas Cholmondeley, 4th Baron Delamere
Captain Thomas Pitt Hamilton Cholmondeley, 4th Baron Delamere (; 19 August 1900 – 13 April 1979), styled The Honourable Thomas Cholmondeley from birth until 1931, was a British peer. Popularly known (from 1931) as Tom Delamere, he lived on an ...
, and increased her land fortune. For many years in the 1960s and 1970s and until the death of her lesbian lover, Diana lived in a three-way relationship with her husband and Lady Patricia Fairweather (daughter of the 2nd Earl of Inchcape). By the time of Delamere's death, she was possibly the most powerful white woman in Africa, dubbed the "White Queen of Africa."
Leone, Cavaliere Galton-Fenzi
Leone, Cavaliere
The Italian honours system is a means to reward achievements or service to the Italian Republic, formerly the Kingdom of Italy including the Italian Social Republic.
Orders of chivalry
Italian Republic
There are five orders of knighthoo ...
Galton-Fenzi
The Fenzi Bank and family were key players in both the economic growth of the Italian industrial revolution and the expansion of the north Italian Railways between Florence and Livorno in 18th and 19th century Italy.
The Family
The old Florentin ...
was the founder of the Royal East African Automobile Association, REAAA, in 1919 and honorary secretary until his death on 15 May 1937. He was the first man to drive from Nairobi to Mombasa in January 1926 in a Riley. There is a monument to this effect on Kenyatta Avenue.
In 1923, Galton Fenzi started negotiating for loan cars so that they could be tested under East African conditions. He received several vehicles, notably among them a Riley 12/50 from the Riley Motor Car Co. Ltd. of Coventry, which was used by Fenzi and Captain Gethin to pioneer a route from Nairobi to Mombasa in January 1926, a distance of . He also pioneered the Nairobi – Dar es Salaam to Malawi route, and the Nairobi-Khartoum route.
The EA Standard of 1924 quotes: ‘Galton Fenzi is always doing things, and he does them so quickly the public has no time to recover its breath!’.
Others
Others included Gilbert Colvile, Hugh Dickenson, Jack and Nina Soames, Lady June Carberry (stepmother of Juanita Carberry), Dickie Pembroke, and Julian Lezzard. Author Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen) was a friend of members of the group, and writer and pilot Beryl Markham
Beryl Markham (née Clutterbuck; 26 October 1902 – 3 August 1986) was a Kenyan aviator born in England (one of the first bush pilots), adventurer, racehorse trainer and author. She was the first person to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlant ...
frequently associated with the Happy Valley set.
See also
* Oserian
* Mount Kenya
* Errol Trzebinski
* Whites in Kenya
White people in Kenya or White Kenyans are those born in or resident in Kenya who descend from Europeans and/or identify themselves as white. Around 0.1% of the population of Kenya is white. There is currently a minor but relatively prominent ...
* Lake Naivasha Country Club
The Lake Naivasha Country Club is located on the opposite shore of Lake Naivasha from the town of Naivasha, Kenya.
Built using old colonial architecture and opened in 1937,
"Lake Naivasha Country Club – General Information" (wildlife, ...
– site from the period
* Nyeri
Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County. The town was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province. Following the dissolution of the former pr ...
– town from the period
Sources
*
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Happy Valley
British emigrants to Kenya
British expatriates in Kenya
European Kenyan
Expatriates in Kenya
History of Kenya
Immigrants to Kenya
Settlement schemes
1920s in Kenya
1930s in Kenya
1940s in Kenya
Settlers of Kenya
20th century in Uganda
Central Province (Kenya)
Rift Valley Province
Uganda Protectorate