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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:'Men of the Officer Class': The Participants in the 1919 Soldier Settlement Scheme in Kenya
Author:Duder, C.J.
Year:1993
Periodical:African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African Society
Volume:92
Issue:366
Period:January
Pages:69-87
Language:English
Geographic term:Kenya
Subjects:aristocracy
colonists
British
veterans
colonialism
History and Exploration
Military, Defense and Arms
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/723097
Abstract:This paper investigates the correctness of the aristocratic image of white settlement in Kenya during the colonial period. It is based on information on the participants in Kenya's 1919 soldier settlement scheme. This scheme was the only officially sponsored attempt to increase Kenya's white popluation in the colonial period. What stands out about the soldier settlers was that they were an elite. The money they possessed, the ranks they held and the schools they attended all attest to this fact. The soldier settlement scheme, however, was not restricted to British applicants. It also included participants from, amongst others, Anglo-Ireland and Anglo-India. The final part of the article considers the question of why settlers would choose to hazard themselves, their family and their capital in the Kenya of 1919. Among the factors influencing settlers' decisions were the inflation and the lack of servants in Britain. Furthermore, farming in Kenya offered a way out for the great number of unemployed ex-officers. The key to the attractiveness of Kenya to men of the officer status was that it offered them the chance to retain this status. Ref.
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