Obituary - by Miles Maskell
Peter Derek Marrian – 1916 to 1999
Peter Derek Marrian – 1916 to 1999
Peter Marrian who died recently aged 83 led a distinguished and varied life. He was loved and respected by all generations, and was an inspiration to many. He was a great enthusiast with an infectious sense of fun; he had impeccable manners, and was kind and considerate to friends and strangers alike. He played a prominent and far-sighted role in the events leading up to and following Kenya’s independence, an era which is perhaps now largely forgotten.
Peter was born in Worcester in June 1916, the younger son of a prominent shoe manufacturer. He shone at games at Shrewsbury, particularly at athletics - he became Huntsman, the captain of running. He went up to Trinity, Oxford in 1936 where, aside from taking a history degree, he made many life-long friends. He won a Blue at athletics and a Half Blue at lawn tennis, became an Authentic, and a member of Vincent’s of which he was very proud. One event in his running career was never forgotten by his Oxford friends - Frank Waldron, who shared rooms and later farmed with him in Kenya, used to point to Peter’s rather scrawny legs (when stripped for tennis or swimming) and intone in a voice dripping with reverence: “Those are the legs which won the Varsity Mile!”.
He joined the Oxford Squadron and learned to fly; to his disappointment, however, the RAF would not accept him due to ear problems. Instead he chose the Colonial Service and sailed for Kenya in 1939. On arrival, he was released for military duty, and served in the East African Artillery for the next six years in Ethiopia, Madagascar and at Ramphoul in Burma, attaining the rank of captain and a mention in dispatches.
In 1946 Peter returned to Kenya, and together with Frank Waldron and Michael Foxley Norris, bought a coffee and cattle estate at Mweiga, an idyllic spot between Mount Kenya and the Aberdares, which he farmed until 1964. One of its original European owners, a soldier settler named Billy Sheldrick, built a game-watching platform in a Mugumo tree in the neighbouring forest which was expanded to a four-room tree house, and eventually mushroomed into “Treetops” where the then Princess Elizabeth learned of the death of her father on the night of 5th / 6th February, 1952.
With its invaluable and lengthy airstrip, “Marrian’s Farm” became a vital link in the 1952/1957 operations against the Mau Mau, and a base from which the Kenya Regiment launched many successful patrols. Elements of the Kenya Police AirWing and the RAF Regiment were also stationed at the farm at one time or another. However, despite this massive military presence, a herd of in-calf heifers was on one occasion driven off into the forest and slaughtered!
With his Second War experience, the support of Susie his adored first wife, and his boundless energy and hospitality, Peter turned “Marrian’s Farm” into a miniature replica of Cairo in the Western Desert campaign, a beacon of civilised and cosmopolitan life in the shadow of the front lines. He also played an important intelligence role, providing much authoritative information from his knowledge of the locality and with the assistance of his mainly loyal Kikuyu employees. As the situation eased, “Marrian’s Farm” gradually returned to normal, although the many guests at his dining table, changed into evening dress, were reminded of ever lurking dangers by the loaded revolver at Peter’s right hand.
Peter became increasingly at odds with the arguments that the white man had the right to dictate his will by force, and that one per cent of the population should rule the other ninety nine per cent indefinitely. Today these beliefs are almost unthinkable, but forty years ago they were not, and any European voicing more liberal views was likely to be howled down by his peers. He pressed on however, and became involved with the Capricorn Africa Society, the brain-child of David Stirling who was living in what was then Rhodesia, and who had founded the S.A.S. some years previously. Capricorn’s tenets were far-reaching if naïve, and certainly years ahead of their time: the removal of all forms of racial discrimination including voting restrictions, the setting up of multi-racial schools, agricultural land being placed in the hands of the most competent farmers, and the emphasis on civilised behaviour as the sole criterion for membership of a club or entry to a hotel or restaurant. To the majority of white settlers these views were little less than treason, whilst to the African nationalists they appeared to be yet another instance of European duplicity in the face of the ever-growing demand for self-determination.
In 1956 Peter and one other brave soul stood for election on this platform against the right wing leader of the wholly white electorate, Group Captain Briggs. “Think, vote for Marrian” his posters proclaimed. “Think again, vote for Briggs” his opponent responded. Peter was roundly defeated - “you want us to abandon the security of our land and send our son to school with the kitchen boy” was the common cry “you’re not only a lunatic, you’re a traitor, sir!”.
Although Capricorn gave way to the more pragmatic approach of Michael Blundell and Wilfred Havelock, the leaders of the New Kenya Party, Peter decided to concentrate his attention on the Kenya National Farmers Union, eventually becoming its President. It was increasingly clear that Britain was moving Kenya towards independence, and many white farmers feared that wholesale dispossession would be its inevitable consequence — a concern which has become a distressing reality elsewhere in Africa. There was a scramble to sell, and land prices dropped to almost nothing. In the midst of this hysteria, Peter and his Vice President, Lord Delamere, son of the founder of white settlement, flew to London to see lain Macleod, Secretary of State for the Colonies. They went, not to challenge the political decision that had already been taken, but to discuss the economic repercussions that would follow such radical changes, and for which no provisions had apparently been made. Whether wholly or partly as a result of their intervention, the Government accepted the need for a far reaching resettlement and compensation plan, and a scheme was put in place which has continued over the years.
Whereas the majority of the large farms have been sold, a number of white farmers still remain, often in the employ of public companies, whilst many other Europeans, citizens and expatriates alike, continue to play important roles in the country’s economic life. Above all, a feeling of trust and racial harmony has been nurtured which, despite the inevitable hiccups, prevails to this day. In 1961, in the run-up to independence, Peter again stood for Parliament and was elected as an Independent. He became Minister for Forests, Tourism andWildlife, flying his own light aircraft to all parts of the country. As a member of the Legislative Council, he participated in both the Lancaster House negotiations and in the lengthy discussions under the wise chairmanship of Malcolm MacDonald, son of the former Prime Minister, which hammered out the country’s constitution.
On Jomo Kenyatta’s release from detention, Peter accompanied him to London where the former ‘freedom fighter’ was presented to the House of Commons and spoke about his policies for his country’s future. On then being asked to address the gathering, Peter stressed the need for a swift move to independence under Kenyatta, already Kenya’s acknowledged leader.
Following independence in December 1963, the ‘Mzee’ (the ‘Old Man’) was swept to power, and Peter was appointed a Junior Minister in Daniel Arup Moi’s Ministry for Local Government. Despite few mineral resources, Kenyatta steered his country into an era of remarkable growth and stability at the very heart of an increasingly turbulent continent. Following the break-up of his marriage and the sale of his farm, Peter moved to London in 1964, setting up two boutiques with his second wife, Mary Ann.
Returning to Kenya in 1973, he joined the Nairobi stockbrokers, Francis Drummond, becoming Director for Overseas Investments, and then Chairman. In 1974 he joined the Boards of Blue Circle’s two associated companies, Bamburi and East African Portland Cement Company, and for many years gave invaluable information and advice on the Kenyan political and economic scene. He was a devoted supporter of the legendary Muthaiga Country Club outside Nairobi, eventually becoming its Vice Chairman.
Peter was a fine bridge player and a keen and canny golfer. He had a profound understanding of his country’s magnificent open spaces and its kaleidoscopic peoples. A story is recounted that en route to a camping holiday in the Mara in the 1970s, he and his party stopped for lunch at a small, remote hotel. On enquiring whether a telephone message had been left for him, the young African receptionist was heard to enquire: “Are you really Peter Marrian?” on nodding his head, Peter was solemnly informed: “You, Sir, are nearly the only white Kenyan”. A rare tribute. He is survived by his first and second wives, and by his three sons and his daughter to whom he gave uncompromising love and support.
23rd May 2000