Many thanks for such a comprehensive summary, Viv.
And I agree - well found ShaunJ and johnhood. Using those forgotten skills you’ve prompted here are a few extra details and observations regarding Monica and Leslie:
Monica:
- address in Kitale on 6 Jan 1948 per Sir Aubrey’s death notice
- appears in the Kenya Gazette (searchable online) Nov 1949-Jul 1952 regarding at least two land grant applications in Kitale. The first (issues 51/55 and 52/11) for an acre for residential purposes appears to be withdrawn, in the second (issues 52/27 and 54/44) the State appears to refuse a land grant of 321 acres, which was taken to the Court of Appeal.
- There’s also a photo of Monica (sadly not accessible online) at the Kitale Air Show in 1951 (Old Africa Magazine Issues 1-7, p25).
Leslie: nothing more substantive to add, but have you considered contacting Caro Ayre, who holds Peter Ayre’s collection of public and private documents which form the europeansinafrica database? That’s the only place the date of 2000 is mentioned for Leslie’s death (under his father’s entry) and it may be from a notice in the Kenyan press. Caro ‘is willing to answer queries’ and may be able to tell you what sources Peter was using for relatively recent updates to the data. I can’t post the personal email here but you can find it via this link:
https://en.gravatar.com/caroayreAlso, although it may not lead directly to Leslie’s death, have you consulted Mabel Fannie and Monica’s wills? They might provide you with an idea of whether he was alive at the time.
Good luck with the next steps,
Helen
