Life at Bempton Cliff Farm

Harry's daughter Sheila writes: 'From 1919, Dad farmed the Bempton Cliff Farm, now the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Puffin Sanctuary, to 1926 when he had a fire in the stables and lost a number of horses.' Right: Harry CROMPTON at Bempton in 1926 - a leaving photograph? Courtesy: Sheila Mellstrom

Thomas bought Bempton Farm, near Bridlington, of 130 acres [53 hectares] for his son Harry. There is no specific information concerning the fields. However, using the Valuation Office Survey ¹ of 1910-1911, it has been possible to identify six fields whose a size totals 125¾ acres. A synopsis of the valuation field book records the following details related to the plan field number:

Note

• The value 19/10/- represents 19 pounds, 10 shillings and no pence.

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Above: Valuation map 1911 of Bempton Cliffs showing all the fields along Cliff Lane

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Above: 1929 1:10560 Map locating Bempton Cliff fields. The site of the farm is thought to be at the end of the straight road. RSPB Bempton is located at the end of Cliff Lane.

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The location of the farm house and building is uncertain. There are no buildings for a farm house and other buildings on this land: the buildings destroyed by the 1926 fire. However, the valuation book details buildings related to entry 39, which were located in the village, with the particulars detailing parcels of land at other locations. The significance of these are not known.

Particulars: Farm house buildings and land on south side of High Street and east of Bolan Lane. Corner field of Bolam Lane and High Street. Top of Cliff Lane on west side between Boc- Ride and top of Poor Peoples’ Lane, north side of Flamborough Road to Danes Dyke on south. Side of Bempton Lane near Buckton Mill.

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Above: Map of Bempton village 1912 locating Harry's assumed properties Click on the map to open a scalable pdf map in a new window

In 1924, Harry played cricket for Bempton against Rudston, Burton Agnes, Nafferton, Bridlington 2nds and Flamborough in the Bridlington and District League. Harry batted up the order and appeared to bowl too. On 11 June 1924 the paper reported Harry as being the first person to score a century in a local league game that season. In the same year, he played tennis successfully in the mixed doubles with Miss Hamilton and football with Bridlington Town. The Bridlington Free Press also records Harry sending cows and poultry to market and winning a rosette for an agricultural mare with foal at the local show.

Sources:

• 1910 Valuation Office Field Book Bempton 1-100 The National Archives (TNA) IR 58/73690
• 1910 Valuation Office Field Book Bempton 101-139 The National Archives (TNA) IR 58/73691
• The British Newspaper Archives (Accessed: 7 April 2021)

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Frances Eileen RICHARDSON

It is interesting to note that, by 1924, Harry has lost his war-weary look.

Frances was born on 12 September 1902 (GRO ref: Sculcoates 9d 182).

1911 Census:      Sun/Mon 2nd April/3rd April 1911
Source:   TNA Ref:        RG14 PN  
          Reg. Gen. Ref:  RG78 PN  ; En.Dist: ; Sched: 
          RegDist:  SubDist: 
Dwelling: Seacroft, Trafalgar Crescent             
Place:    Bridlington, Yorkshire East Riding              
Rooms in dwelling, other than scullery, landing, lobby, closet, bathroom: 8
Years married: 10        
Children:      Alive 2, dead none 

Name                       Rel  Mar  Age  Occupation            Status    Birthplace 
John Robert Richardson    Head   M   34   Timber merchant       Employer  Yorks, Hull
Louise Ellen Richardson   Wife   M   34                                   Yorks, Wakefield
Frances Eileen Richardson  Dau        8                                   Yorks, Hull
Cynthia Caton Richardson   Dau        6                                   Yorks, Hull
Theresa Emily Adams       Serv  Wid  40   Cook (Domestic)       Worker    Lancs, Liverpool
Kate Spindley             Serv   S   17   Housemaid (Domestic)  Worker    Yorks, Hull

Sheila Mellstrom writes about her father and mother:

When Frances was 14 her father died and her mother insisted she leave school and look after her and her two younger sisters, Cynthia and Jane. The family then moved to Devon but Frances and Kitty (Harry's sister) always kept in touch. My Grandmother never allowed Frances to go to school again even though she was very clever and should have gone to university. I think occasionally Frances was allowed to go up to stay with the Crompton family thus the 1924.

When Dad went to Kenya in 1927, Granny Crompton asked a number of people to write to him as he was very lonely and homesick and that must have been how the romance blossomed, as eventually he asked her to marry him and she threw everything up and went out on a boat to Kenya all on her own.

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Emigration to Kenya

'It was also the year of the slump and so Dad joined the Soldiers Settlement Scheme and went to Kenya as a farm manager.'

Above: An abstract from the Mantola's passenger list showing passenger Harry CROMPTON, a farmer of 91 Cardigan Road, Bridlington embarked at London on 09 June 1927 bound for Mombasa. Harry was the only farmer on this page. Also listed was his friend Ralf BANCROFT, who was to become godfather to his daughter Sheila. Source: The National Archives (TNA) BT 27/1167/16/1

The British India Steam Navigation Company Limited (BISNCo) built the Mantola in 1921 in the Glasgow yard of Barclay, Curle Co. Ltd. Despite the company name their ships sailed on the East Africa route to Beira in Mozambique. At 5496 tons she carried 96 passengers in 1927. On Harry's voyage DF James was Master. The Mantola was scrapped in 1953. Right: B.I.S.N.Co Mantola

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Soldier Settlement Scheme

Apart from CJ Duder's PhD thesis (1973 Aberdeen University) little appears to be written about the UK's Soldier Settlement Scheme to Kenya.

The Soldier Settlement Scheme of 1919 saw the allocation of land in the colony (then known as British East Africa) in an official attempt to increase the white population. This is put down to an attempt to bring economic development to the area whilst also seeking to address African unrest during World War 1. The Scheme applied to a small cross-section of the population who had to be of 'pure European origin' and have served in an officially recognised Imperial service unit in World War I. The requirement to have significant financial reserves thinned out the majority of applicants and insured that this remained very much a 'public schoolboy colony par excellence'. The result was that the vast majority of participants were officers, with those of the rank of major and above disproportionate to their numbers in the army as a whole.

The article goes on to break down by unit affiliations and also identifies aristocratic members as well as the predominance of those from a variety of British Public Schools (31 settlers came from Eton). In seeking to determine why the settlement occurred, the author concludes that World War I was pivotal in weakening the position of the middle class, with inflation and the decline of a servant population eroding their privileged position.

But it also goes on to analyse the rise of the 'unemployed ex- officer'. The enormous expansion in the number of officers in World War I brought with it problems after the war when 173,955 of them had to be demobilised. As their commission automatically now made them a 'gentleman' in British society, this presented something of a challenge.

The flood of ex-officers back into civilian life proved problematic and by April 1919, the appointments branch had found work for only 4,415 out of 88,687 demobilised officers. Similarly by June 1920, 17,000 ex-officers were on the unemployment rolls. For those lucky enough to have financial security, agriculture in the Empire was a way out, with professional officers seeing an end to rapid promotion and also those disabled by the conflict. The description in a public school year-book of 'Farmer in British East Africa' pressed all the right buttons in a class-conscious society.

1914-18 had also the careers of a whole generation, with many soldier settlers going straight from school or university into the Forces and then finding themselves at something of a loss afterwards. And for those used to military adventure, settlement in Africa helped reduce the adjustment to peace-time again and a return to every-day lives.

It concludes by highlighting that the number one attraction to the settlers was a chance to retain an officer status that they had become used to. The life of an ex- officer in Kenya was a comfortable one, with status protected by the fact that its main pre- requisite: white skin, was still something of a rarity.

For most of the ex-officers, 'migration to Kenya was but a change of location for the exercise of elite status'.

Source: Adapted from a review of Duder, C.J., 'Men of the 'Officer Class': The participation in the 1919 Soldier Settlement Scheme in Kenya', African Affairs (1993) quoted in Great War Forum (No loner available)

The Scheme gained notoriety in the White Highlands and through the film 'White Mischief', but these settlers were a small minority who gave the remaining and majority of ex- soldiers a bad name. Harry qualified for the scheme by being an ex-officer, educated at Bridlington Grammar School. However, rather than being landed gentry, Harry's background was in 'hands-on' farming, which must have helped gain him the position as a farm manager. Later, when he took on his own farm, Cottam was carved out of virgin bush, as were the majority of farms in Trans Nzoia District. Far from the image portrayed by the White Highland, Harry would be described as a benevolent settler and the Trans Nzoia atypical of Duder's research.

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Farming in Kenya

Harry's daughter Sheila writes: Dad worked on a farm between Lumbwa and Rumaruti for three years during which time he met Frank LeBreton whose family owned big Hampshire estates called 'Loders'. He also owned Kitale and New Loders Farms in the Trans Nzoia District and needed a manager. Right: Harry's first house in Kenya 1927-1930 Courtesy: Sheila Mellstrom

Above: A map locating Kitale and Saboti in Kenya's Trans Nzoia District, which was near Mount Elgon and very close to the Uganda border. One of Harry's post war farms was at Saboti. Cottam was five miles from Saboti towards Mount Elgon; perhaps on the edge of the National Park. Click on the map to open a map showing Kitale in its wider context.

Trans-Nzoia District is an administrative district of Rift Valley Province. It is located between the Nzoia River and Mount Elgon and its centre is the town of Kitale. Historically the area has been inhabited by the Kalenjin people.

The British East Africa colony, founded in 1905, encouraged British immigration to Kenya. Kitale was founded in 1908 by white settlers in what to be known as the White Highlands. This term described an area in the central uplands of Kenya, so-called because, during the period of British Colonialism, white immigrants settled there in considerable numbers. By the time the Kenya Colony came into being in 1920, about 10,000 British had settled in the area. Settlers got 999 year leases over about 25% of the good land in Kenya. A branch line of the Uganda Railway from Eldoret reached Kitale in 1926 which promoted growth of the town. The main motivation was to take advantage of the good soils and growing conditions, as well as the cool climate, despite being some 60 miles (100km) north of the equator.

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After independence many of the farms vacated by white settlers were bought by individuals from other ethnic groups in Kenya. Today Trans Nzoia District is part of Kenya's 'Grain Basket' and the 'Big-7' grain producing districts. It produced three times the Kenya national yield for corn as an exportable cash crop. In 2010 farmers of small holding were diversifying because of the steady rise of input costs and the change of weather patterns.

Source: Rift Valley Cereals (Accessed 24 June 2010 No loner available) and USDA - 2008 (Accessed 20 October 2010 No loner available)

Frances Eileen RICHARDSON joins Harry

'During this time he had been corresponding with my mother, Frances Eileen RICHARDSON, who was Kitty CROMPTON's [Harry's younger sister Catherine] best friend from school. She agreed to marry him and to come you to Kenya by boat.'

[Frances had looked after and push her wheel chair bound mother between 1914 and 1928 and had asked her sister to take her turn.] Frances Eileen was always known as Jill. To Harry 'Frances was a man's name and Eileen was difficult to say', so throughout Kenya, Frances Eileen was know as Jill CROMPTON.

Above: An abstract from the Modasa's passenger list showing passenger Miss Frances RICHARDSON of White Cottage, Chelston, Torquay who embarked in London on 20 December 1929 bound for Mombasa. Source: TNA BT 27/1248

The BISNCo built the Modasa in 1921 in the Newcastle yard of Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson for the East African route to Beira in Mozambique. At 5636 tons, she carried 350 passengers in 1929. On Frances's voyage ,JW Gilbert was Master. The Modasa was scrapped in 1954. Right: BISNCo Modasa

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She met a couple on the boat who said, "My Dear, if you find he has a red nose when you meet him, don’t marry him but come and stay with us as it will mean he is drinking!!!" However Mum and Dad were married on 17 January 1930 in Mombasa Cathedral the day she landed with the couple off the boat and a friend of Dad’s as witnesses and were very happy! Granny Richardson wouldn’t speak to Mum for about two years as she felt Mum had deserted her.

Above: Mombasa Cathedral ~2009	Above: Harry CROMPTON and Frances RICHARDSON's (centre) wedding on 17 January 1930 at Mombasa Cathedral Courtesy: Sheila Mellstrom

Left: Kitale Farm 1930 Courtesy: Sheila Mellstrom They lived at Kitale Farm, where I was born in 1937, until 1942 during which time Dad met Rodney Meyler who offered him a half share...

'... in a virgin farm on the edge of Mount Elgon if Dad would run the farm when he (Rodney) was away in Burma in the army. So when I was four we moved to what was now called Cottam Farm. During the War Dad ran a number of farms for the soldiers who were away. In 1948 he bought Meyler out when he returned to England and also purchased a farm of his own, called Saboti, five miles away. ' Right: The front view Cottam Farm just after it was built in 1942 Courtesy: Sheila Mellstrom

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In 1943 my parents adopted Heather and she came to live with us in April. Her story is below.

'On these two farms Dad was growing maize, flax, sisal, latex, coffee and tea. he also had cattle for beef; native cattle which he crossed with Red Poll cattle imported from England.' [The red, preferably deep red, and naturally hornless Red Polls is a dual purpose breed of cattle developed in England in the latter half of the 19th century. Red Poll cattle are mainly used a beef suckler cows known for easy calving and successfully rearing a high proportion of their calves. They do well on poor soils.]

The early 1950's were prosperous times for Kenyan farmers, but then the Mau Mau made life very dangerous, although it was not so bad in Trans Nzoia District. We had very few Kikuyu there. However, Dad sat with a gun on a chair behind him at dinner. ¹

My Grandmother had told Mum she had heart trouble but, in 1951 when we came to England for the first time , she decided to come back to Kenya with us to live and had to have a medical test before she could go on the ‘plane. The test proved she had never had anything wrong with her heart!! A very sad story.

The Independence came and Dad decided that as he was approaching 70 it was time to sell and return to England. It took him four years to sell, and eventually in 1966 he sold the 900 acre farm to a syndicate of 50 Africa farmers for £15000; a pittance of what it was actually worth. He came back to live with us in East Horsley and died of lung cancer in 1973.

'Dad and Mum did a huge amount for the African. Dad built them proper houses - rondabels. My Mother started a Woman's Club where she taught the women how to sew, knit and cook more nutritious food. Dad was a member of the local African Chiefs' Council. Kenya was poorer for their departure.' Right: Harry CROMPTON, third from left, with the Chiefs' Council Courtesy: Sheila Mellstrom

Harry and Frances returned from Kenya in 1966 to live with their daughter Sheila at North East Horsley, Surrey, whose house was named Cottam after the the farms in East Yorkshire and Kitale. Both Harry and Frances died there: Harry on 27 March 1973 (GRO ref: Surrey South-Western 5g 1484) and Frances Eileen on 01 January 1996 (GRO ref: Surrey South-Western A5A 7612A 212). They are both buried in Oakham churchyard. In his will Harry left £17,651 estimated to be £215,000 at the 2019 RPI rate.

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Heather CROMPTON - Harry and Frances' adopted daughter

Heather was born in Mombasa, Kenya on 27 November 1942 to a Greek mother, probably living in Mombasa, and a British father who was in the Royal Air Force. He was possibly in a South Africa reconnaissance squadron, who must have been in Kenya for more than nine months, although it is believed that Heather was premature. Sheila's research, at TNA, suggests he may have been one of seven pilots in a squadron photograph who was killed shortly after in a flying accident. Heather was given up for adoption and must have been taken to a Nairobi orphanage. Harry and Frances went to Nairobi when Heather was about three months old and chose her from between six and seven babies. She was named Heather CROMPTON. Her second name, Caton, was added when she was christened at the age of 11 years.

Heather was due to go to live at Cottam in January 1943 but Frances was unwell and so this date had to be postponed. Meanwhile the Yugoslavian Royal Family, who had escaped from the Gestapo to East Africa and who were seeking asylum in South America, were resident in Nairobi. Prince Paul and his wife Queen Olga (the former Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark) had been placed under house arrest by the British leaving Princess Elizabeth (born 7 April 1936) with an English nanny, called Miss Ede. Miss Ede decided the Princess needed someone to share her attention, so she went to the orphanage and asked if she could look after a baby for a few months until it went to its new family. Heather was the baby selected and so she lived with Miss Ede and the Princess. In April 1943 Miss Ede and Princess Elizabeth brought Heather up to Kitale, on the train, to live with Harry, Frances and Sheila. The Princess and Miss Ede stayed for about a week.

Heather would like to trace her mother and airman father, since her birth and adoption records were destroyed in a Nairobi flood. Unfortunately there are no known names.

Heather Crompton is trying to trace her birth family. Email Heather via

End notes

1. The Mau Mau Uprising was a military conflict that took place in Kenya (then called British East Africa), from 1952 to 1960, between a Kikuyu-dominated anti-colonial-group called Mau Mau and the British settlers protected by the Army. The conflict set the stage for Kenyan independence.

---

Kitale today

The present day Kitale is a market town for the local agricultural area in western Kenya situated between Mount Elgon and the Cherengani Hills at an elevation of around 7000 feet (2134m). Its urban population is estimated at 220,000 in 2007. It is the administrative centre of the of Rift Valley Province and the the agricultural hub of Kenya. The main cash crops grown in the area are tea, Pyrethrum, seed and seed. Kitale is among the most diverse towns in the country.

'Kitale...is a place where the modern world sits side by side with the ancient world. Kitale is a busy little "town"... but, the "suburbs" ... spread out and encompass many densely populated slum areas ... .

Suffice it to say that Kitale is a bustling little town. During the day and into the evening hours; the streets are full of people selling vegetables piled on a piece of fabric by the roadside, walking to the shops, stopping to greet a friend every few feet, hailing a boda-boda (bicycle "taxi") or, in the case of the street kids, begging each passer-by for a few shillings or some "bread and milk".

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'Businessmen in suits and ties and smartly dressed women walk side-by-side with people in more traditional clothing. The barefoot, raggedly dressed street kids mingle with them all. But, the modern world has crept in too. "Supermarkets" like Transmattress, Blue House and the Gigamart are the Kenyan equivalents to Walmart selling food, clothing, electronics (including flat screen televisions!) furniture, bicycles and hardware.' Source: An oasis of hope in Kitale, Kenya (Accessed 13 February 2020)

Sheila Margaret CROMPTON

Sheila married Nicholas J MELLSTROM in the third quarter of 1959; (GRO ref: Surrey Northern 5g 907), who was born in the second quarter of 1935 (GRO ref: Surrey NE 2a 73 - his mother's maiden name was Garnham).

Above: Sheila Mellstrom's family circa 2010 Standing from left to right: Peter Bradshaw, Harry Bradshaw, Jacqueline Fish, Michael Mellstrom, Sheila Mellstrom, Nicholas Mellstrom, Jo Mellstrom, Karen Bradshaw, Andrew Fish Seated left to right: George Fish, Tom Mellstrom, Dan Bradshaw, Sam Mellstrom, Lily Bradshaw, Jack Mellstrom, Arthur Fish Courtesy: Sheila Mellstrom

With special thanks to Sheila Mellstrom who gave me access to her wealth of photographs and intimate family knowledge.

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Valuation Office Survey 1910-1915 The Valuation Office and the survey gives information about the value, use, extent or ownership of a property or piece of land in England or Wales around the beginning of the 20th century. The survey took place as a result of the 1909-1910 Finance Act which provided for the levy and collection of a duty on land in the United Kingdom based on any increased value of the land as a result of public money spent on communal infrastructure – a so-called ‘increment value duty’. The Valuation Office, set up by the Inland Revenue in 1910 for England and Wales established 118 valuation districts. The survey was in the charge of a district valuer and each comprised a number of income tax divisions. The survey was organised and carried out by these districts. The two main types of Valuation Office Survey records are marked-up Ordnance Survey maps, always referred to as ‘plans’, and the accompanying ‘field books’. The plans act as an index to the field books. The field books provide the bulk of the information collected about properties during the survey. Generally, you need to consult the plans for a place first before you can find the respective field book. The plans are printed Ordnance Survey map sheets, annotated by the Valuation Office surveyors, and act as an index to the field books. The plot numbers, marked by the surveyors, refers to the assessment numbers. The final record of the Valuation Office Survey, compiled after the survey was completed, was written in small bound volumes called field books. The amount of information entered in the field books varies considerably. Field books usually include: the names of owner and occupier; the owner’s interest (freehold, copyhold, etc.); details of tenancy (term and rent); the area covered by the property; figures entered for the purpose of valuation (i.e. market value); They sometimes include: the date of erection of buildings; number of rooms; state of repair; liability for rates, insurance and repairs; date(s) of previous sale(s); a sketch-plan of the property. Valuation books (also known as ‘Domesday books’) were the first major record created by the Valuation Office at the start of the survey. They are distinct from the field books, which were the final record compiled after the survey was completed, and which usually contain more information. In the course of the survey a number of forms were used to collect information. Some of them were sent to land and property owners for completion. The Valuation Office Survey was initiated by the Finance (1909-1910) Act (10 Edw. VII, c.8 section 26(1)) which provided for the levy and collection of a duty on the increment value of all land in the United Kingdom. The main object of the Act was to tax that part of the capital appreciation of real property which was attributable to the site itself, i.e. excluding that arising from crops, buildings and improvements paid for by the owners. In this way, private owners were required to surrender to the State part of the increase in the site value of their land, which resulted from the expenditure of public money on communal developments such as roads or public services. Increment value duty, as this levy was called, was based on the difference between the amount of two valuations. The site value as at 30 April 1909 constituted the ‘datum line’ for the purposes of increment value duty. A second site value was to be taken on the occasion of any subsequent sale or grant of a lease, or transfer or interest in a piece of land, or the subsequent death of a land owner, to determine any potential payment of increment value duty. The assessment of the site value on subsequent occasions was a recurring operation, which formed part of the role of the Valuation Office until increment value duty was repealed by the 1920 Finance Act (10 and 11 Geo. V, c.18). Although the 1910 land value tax was abolished following the 1920 Finance Act, the Valuation Office remained. Its modern-day successor is the Valuation Office Agency. Source: The National Archives Research Guide (Accessed: 05 April 2021)

This page was created by Richard Crompton and maintained by Chris Glass		Version A5 Updated 02 May 2023