The Happy Valley Set in Kenya

Exploring the Extravagance of the Happy Valley Set in Kenya

Unveiling the Secrets of Happy Valley

In the heyday of British colonization in Kenya, a cohort of colonizers sought refuge in a retreat where conventional norms were discarded for a world of unconventional and often extreme activities. This enclave, famously known as the Happy Valley, played host to the notorious Happy Valley Set.

 

Where was the Happy Valley Located?

Nestled in the Aberdare Mountains of Kenya, the Happy Valley, presently known as Wanjohi Valley, served as the clandestine haven for the Happy Valley Set. Wanjohi Valley, situated on the western side of the Aberdare ranges in Nyandarua County, Kenya, lies in proximity to Gilgil town and Ol-Kalau town.

The Hedonistic Legacy of the Happy Valley Set

Comprising hedonistic British and Anglo-Irish aristocrats and adventurers, the Happy Valley Set carved out a scandalous reputation from the 1920s to the 1940s. Their exploits, marked by infidelity and the rampant misuse of hard drugs and alcohol, left an indelible mark on the annals of history.

It is said that the Happy Valley Set succumbed to three compelling forces: Altitude, Alcohol, and Adultery. 

From Polo Matches to Black-Tie Elegance

By day, the Happy Valley Set indulged in polo matches, while as night fell, the scene transformed into an elegant affair where black ties adorned the glamorous members. This sophisticated social circle, against the backdrop of the Aberdare Mountain range, radiated opulence and affluence.

Decadence in the Happy Valley Evenings

Evenings in the Happy Valley commenced with lavish feasts featuring game meat, preferably gazelle, and champagne. The atmosphere, accompanied by the faint strains of music-hall tunes from a wind-up gramophone, descended into a debauchery-fueled merrymaking that made Gomorrah seem like a jest.

In one particularly bizarre after-dinner amusement, male participants formed a line behind a sheet, extending their aroused appendages through holes for the ladies present to vote on their preferred choice. The question that echoes through time remains: who engages in such peculiar antics? Today the Kenyan Street language would ask, "Uliskia wapi?"

Who were these people making up the Happy Valley set?

 

Notables of the Happy Valley Set - Kenya

Although there is no precise definition of a Happy Valley set member, consensus among writers revolves around some names.

Some of the most notable members men and women who turned a slice of Kenyan highlands into a hotbed of colonial debauchery were.

Hugh Cholmondeley, 3rd Baron Delamere

Hugh Cholmondeley, 3rd Baron Delamere (1870–1931), Yes, Lord Delamere played a key role in forming and shaping the Happy Valley set.  He was a prominent figure among the first British settlers in East Africa, who earned the distinction of K.C.M.G., which stands for Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. He first came to East African in 1891, focusing on lion hunting, a pursuit he pursued annually as a young man. In 1894, in one of his hunting expeditions, he was mauled by a lion almost lipping off one of his legs, leaving him with a permanent mark and limping his entire life, credit goes to one of his Somali gun bearers Abdullar Ashur who leaped on the lion and saved his life.

Notably, Delamere is credited with coining the term "white hunter." His relocation to Africa in 1896 culminated in settling in Kenya, where, in 1906, he acquired the expansive Soysambu Ranch that lies between Lake Elementaita near Gilgil to Mbaruk near Nakuru town, expanding to an impressive 200,000 acres (810 km2). His contributions extended beyond land, significantly impacting the development of Kenyan agriculture. He quickly became well known among the European community in Kenya. He was active in recruiting settlers to East Africa and and deeply admired the culture of the local Maasai people.

Delamere exhibited unconventional behaviors, a story goes of Delamere's riding his horse into the dining room of Nairobi's Norfolk Hotel and jumping over the tables, and engaging in golf antics atop the roof of the Muthaiga Country Club, a favored meeting place for Nairobi's white elite.

With the onset of World War I, Delamere assumed intelligence responsibilities on the Maasai border, monitoring German unit movements in present-day Tanzania. His marriage to Lady Charles Markham in 1928 marked a personal milestone. Lord Delamere passed away in 1931, leaving behind a legacy intertwined with the development of East Africa and the Happy Valley set.

Josslyn Victor Hay, The 22nd Earl of Erroll

A Scottish peer and notorious philanderer, Josslyn Victor Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll (1901–1941), made headlines when he abandoned his diplomatic career in Britain to elope with a  married woman, Lady Idina Sackville. They got married in 1923 and relocated to Kenya in 1924, where they became the most celebrated couple in the infamous 'Happy Valley' set. Their residence, Slains, named after the former Hay family home of Slains Castle, became a notorious venue for social gatherings, particularly infamous for its orgies. However, their happiness was short-lived, Idina, Countess of Erroll felt that Lord Erroll was cheating her financially. This led to Idina divorcing Lord Erroll in 1929. Undeterred, Lord Erroll entered into a new affair again with another married woman Molly Ramsay-Hill, when Ramsy-Hill husband to Molly discovered that his wife Molly was having an affair with Lord Erroll, he traced them one day at their hideout at Nairobi Railway Station and gave Lord Erroll a nice horsewhip in public. Lord Erroll later married Molly in 1930. In 1934, Erroll joined Sir Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists (B.U.F.) and on his return to Kenya a year later, became the president of the Convention of Associations. Tragically, at the onset of World War II in 1939, Erroll's wife Molly died from the effects of consuming a concoction of alcohol, morphine, and heroin. Then in 1940, Lord Erroll took on the role of a captain in the Kenya Regiment and assumed the position of military secretary for East Africa.

In late 1940, Lord Erroll's life took another dramatic turn when he met Diana, Lady Delves Broughton, the glamorous and much younger wife of Sir Jock Delves Broughton, 11th Baronet. Lord Erroll and Lady Delves Broughton embarked on a public romance with plans to marry. Sir Jock Delves Broughton is reportedly said to have given his blessings that the two can go ahead and marry, tragedy struck in January 1941 when Lord Erroll was found shot dead in his car at an intersection outside Nairobi. Sir Jock Delves Broughton faced charges and a trial but was ultimately acquitted of the murder. This sensational story has been immortalized in various books, articles, and the UK movie "White Mischief," sparking continued intrigue and debate surrounding the unsolved murder mystery.

Lady Idina Sackville

Lady Idina Sackville, a British aristocrat born in 1893 and the daughter of the 8th Earl de la Warr, made headlines in the British society through a series of scandalous events.  The cousin of renowned poet Vita Sackville-West, Idina shocked society by divorcing her first husband, Euan Wallace, consequently losing the right to see her two sons who were later killed while serving in World War II.. Her second marriage to Captain Charles Gordon was abandoned in favor of another affair with Josslyn Victor Hay, the future Earl of Erroll, who was eight years her junior. In 1924, the couple relocated to Kenya and played a pivotal role in establishing the extravagant lifestyle of the Happy Valley set.

In Kenya, Idina gained notoriety for hosting extravagant parties marked by unconventional activities such as spouse-swapping and drug use. Infamous tales circulated of her welcoming guests while naked immersed in a bathtub made of green onyx, then dressing right before the eyes of her guests. Together with Josslyn Hay, they both earned the distinction of being the most celebrated couple within the Happy Valley Set. Lady Idina was the one who would trigger the curtain game that involved all the male attendees of that dinner lining up behind a sheet, then poking their aroused appendages through holes in it, so that the ladies present could cast their votes on their favourite . Lady Idina later divorced Lord Erroll for what was said he was eating her money and afterwards got married twice before her death in 1955.

Countess Alice de Janzé

Born in 1899 Alice Silverthorne of Erie County, New York, was the only child of a diplomat and a textile industrialist William Edward Silverthorne. 

Alice Silverthorne was one of the most prominent American socialites of her time. She got married into the French nobility in 1921 to Frédéric de Janzé. In 1925, the couple first met and became good friends with Josslyn, 22nd Earl of Erroll, and his wife, Idina, Countess of Erroll and were later introduced to the Happy Valley Set. In the Happy Valley, the de Janzés were neighbours to the Errolls. Alice was soon known as "the wicked Madonna" for her beauty, sarcastic sense of humour, and unpredictable mood swings. Her husband de Janzés documented his time at the Happy Valley even noting his wife’s suicidal tendencies. In his book Vertical Land, he referenced about her in a prophetic way that came to be, “No man will touch her exclusive soul, shadowy with memories, unstable, suicidal.” Alice refused to return to France with her husband and preferred to remain in Kenya.

As fate would have it in the Happy Valley, she involved herself with several affairs. In 1927, she made international news when she shot her lover Raymond de Trafford in a Paris railway station and then turned the gun on herself; they both survived. Alice de Janzé stood trial and was fined a small amount, and later pardoned by the French state. She went on to marry, and later divorce, the man she shot and returning to Kenya.

Apart from Raymond de Trafford she also had an affair with Lord Eroll and sometimes later was charged as a prime suspect in Lord Eroll’s shooting to death. In 1941 during a phase of depression, alcoholism and morphine addiction she commited suicide fulfilling what her husband’s de Janze had written prophetically in a book published in 1928.

 

Count Frédéric de Janzé

Frédéric de Janzé, Comte de Janzé (February 28, 1896 − December 24, 1933) was a French nobleman, a racer and a writer. He was the son of was Vicomte Léon Frédéric de Janzé.

Comte (Count) Frédéric de Janzé, a French nobleman and racer, had an affair with Idina while his wife, Alice, was involved with Joss. The de Janzés divorced in 1927, and Frédéric died in 1933. During the First World War he served in the French Air Force. His married first wife Alice Silverthorne the Countess Alice de Janzé in 1921. His first wife, Alice, was part of the Happy Valley set in Kenya, and had an affair with Raymond de Trafford in 1926 that led to her shooting and wounding de Trafford and shooting herself in early 1927, not long before she and Frédéric divorced. He had two children with Alice and in 1930 he married Genevieve Ryan widow of Washington financier Thomas Jefferson Ryan. He was well known as a big game hunter in Kenya and wrote books on French Morocco. In his book Vertical Land published in 1928 he referenced about his wife Alice in a prophetic way that came to be, “No man will touch her exclusive soul, shadowy with memories, unstable, suicidal” The prophesy came to be when Alice committed suicide in 1941.

Kiki Preston

Alice "Kiki" Preston, born Alice Gwynne and later Allen (1898 – December 23, 1946), was a prominent American socialite known for her association with the Happy Valley set, and the alleged mother of a child born out of wedlock with Prince George, Duke of Kent, fourth son of King George V

Her drug addiction earned her the nickname "the girl with the silver syringe.”

In 1919, Alice married Horace R. Bigelow Allen after his service with the United States Army. The couple had a daughter, Alice Gwynne Allen, and a son, Ethan Allen. Residing in Paris, Alice befriended key members of the Happy Valley set, including Alice de Janzé and Josslyn Hay, the 22nd Earl of Erroll.

In November 1924, Preston applied for divorce at the Paris courts, on the grounds of desertion and in April 1925, she got married to an investment banker Jerome "Gerry" Preston, described as "a creature of instincts" and "untamed" by writer Frédéric de Janzé. Alice and Gerry's journey led them to the British East Africa colony of Kenya, where they settled permanently on a friend's land on the shores of Lake Naivasha.

Both she and her husband were successful as big game hunters and horse breeders. On their farm, they entertained several guests at times, including actor Gary Cooper. Friends of the couple in the community included Alice de Janzé, Lord Erroll and his wife Idina, writer Evelyn Waugh and aviatrix Beryl Markham.

Alice's scandalous presence in the Happy Valley set was marked by her beauty, wild lifestyle, and drug abuse, with a penchant for heroin, cocaine, and morphine. She earned her infamous nickname due to always carrying a silver syringe for self-injections. To demonstrate how notorious and addicted she was, whenever she was out of morphine, she sent a plane to pick up new supplies from the main drug dealer. 

During this tumultuous period, Alice had numerous lovers, including actor Rudolph Valentino and Prince George, Duke of Kent. In the late 1920s, she introduced the prince to various drugs. Concerned about his brother's well-being, Edward, Prince of Wales, attempted unsuccessfully to intervene and end George's relationship with Alice.

Despite Edward's efforts, Alice and George continued their association until 1929 when Edward forced them to part ways. George's struggle with drug addiction persisted, leading to a forceful removal from a chance encounter with Alice in Cannes in 1932.

After grappling with mental health issues for several years, Alice Preston tragically ended her life on the night of December 23, 1946. She jumped from the fifth-floor window of her apartment in the Stanhope Hotel in New York City, landing in the hotel's courtyard.

Raymond de Trafford

Son of Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 3rd Baronet, Raymond Vincent de Trafford (1900–1971) was a British nobleman from an old Irish aristocratic family. He was a gambler, a womanizer and alcoholic, de Trafford was a notable presence in the Happy Valley set during the 1920s, and had numerous lovers, including Alice de Janzé and Kiki Preston. He once attempted to seduce Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, 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 Janzé. 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 relocated to Australia.

Sir John "Jock" Delves Broughton

A British aristocrat, Sir Henry John "Jock" Delves Broughton (1883–1942) 

He moved to Kenya in 1940, together with his new wife, Diana Caldwell, thirty years his junior. Diana immediately began a very public affair with Lord 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 was in love with a younger man.

Lord Erroll was found shot in the head in his car at a crossroads outside Nairobi on 24 January 1941. He and the Delves Broughtons were part of the so-called Happy Valley set living in Happy Valley, Kenya.

Erroll's former lover, Alice de Janzé, was initially viewed by the Happy Valley set as a suspect, but Sir Jock Delves Broughton – whose bride was very publicly carrying-on with Erroll – was arrested. He was acquitted at trial for lack of evidence, a conclusion that hinged on the identification of the murder weapon. Delves Broughton's pistol was a Colt with 6 grooves, and Erroll was killed by a bullet with 5 grooves. No pistol was produced by the Crown or by the defence. Delves Broughton claimed that two of his pistols, a silver cigarette case and 10 or 20 shillings were stolen days before Erroll's death.

Superintendent Arthur Poppy, a senior officer in the Kenya Police, claimed that Delves Broughton had stolen the guns from himself to give the impression that he had no .32 pistol at the time. Additionally, the bullet that killed Erroll was fired by a pistol with clockwise rifling; Colts use anti-clockwise rifling. Another bullet fired at Erroll also had 5 grooves and clockwise turning. The event was the basis of the film White Mischief and of the British television drama The Happy Valley, both from 1987.

Delves Broughton was never accepted back into the Happy Valley set and returned to England alone, leaving behind his young wife who almost immediately took in another lover. In December 1942, a few days after his arrival, 59-year-old Delves Broughton was found dying from a morphine overdose at the Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool. After his death, his widow Diana remarried twice, the first time to the Happy Valley's wealthiest settler, Gilbert Colvile, and the second time to The 4th Baron Delamere.

Diana, Lady Delamere

Diana Caldwell was born in Hove (Brighton & Hove) in December 1913, she was the daughter of Major Josiah Seymour Caldwell.

Lady Diana Caldwell got married to Sir Delves Broughton in Durban, Natal, Union of South Africa, on the 5 November 1940, and the couple moved to the Colony and British Protectorate of Kenya.

Upon arriving in Nairobi, Lady Caldwell almost immediately started a public affair with the Earl of Erroll who was at the Centre of the Happy Valley set. Her husband Delves Broughton appeared to consent to the affair but privately admitted to misgivings about their frequent outings together. Lord Erroll was murdered three months later, which created one of the greatest murder mysteries of the 20th century. Broughton was arrested for his murder but was acquitted shortly after for lack of evidence. Caldwell supported her husband's story but he returned to England in December 1942 and was found dying from a morphine overdose in a Liverpool hotel a few days after his arrival.

A month after Broughton died, Caldwell married Gilbert Colville, the richest landowner in Kenya. They had 12 years of relative happiness together, adopting a daughter when their own son died after a few days.

Caldwell fell in love with, Thomas Cholmondeley, 4th Baron Delamere and divorced Colville in 1954. Colville remained on good terms with Caldwell thereafter and left her his considerable properties in Kenya when he died in 1966. In 1955, she married Thomas Cholmondeley, 4th Baron Delamere and lived in a complex relationship until the 1970s.

Diana Caldwell, Lady Delamere returned to England a few years later to a house in Berkshire and died in London aged 73 in 1987. Caldwell will probably be remembered as she is portrayed by Greta Scacchi in the film "White Mischief", which was released in the same year of her death.

 

Beryl Markham

Beryl Markham was born in Leicestershire in 1902 as the daughter of Charles Baldwin Clutterbuck. When she was only two years old, her family relocated to Kenya, where her father had purchased land in Njoro. Living on the outskirts of the Mau Forest, the family earned a living by raising and training horses, although their nights were often disrupted by leopards preying on their dogs.

Beryl's upbringing was marked by adventure, as she accompanied her father on hunting expeditions that fueled one adventure after another. She developed a resilience that allowed her to handle any challenge. However, her mother, unable to endure the African life, took Beryl's older brother Richard back to England, leading to a sixteen-year separation from Beryl.

At the age of 18, Beryl married Captain Alexander Laidlaw Jock Purves. Despite her marriage, she engaged in multiple affairs, symbolized by her husband hammering a six-inch nail into their front-door frame with each new lover to highlight her lack of fidelity. In 1927, she married Mansfield Markham, adopting the name Markham from this marriage. All three marriages ended due to her infidelity.

At one time Beryl had a simultaneous love affair involving Prince Henry and Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, both sons of George V. That affair was nibbed at the bud to avoid royal controversy. However, her greatest love was Denys Finch Hatton from whom she developed an interest in flying career. Denys had tragic death in a plane crash in 1931.

Beryl was often in the company of the “Happy Valley Set,” group although she was not wealthy or titled enough to truly be part of the group, Beryl spent time with many of its members and was influenced by their lifestyles.

But Beryl Markham’s life despite her infidelity had several accomplishments that absolutely overshadow any other considerations when taking stock of her character. Her life is a list of firsts,

– She was the first professional female pilot in Africa.

– At the age of 17, she became the first licensed female racehorse trainer in the British Empire.

– In 1936, she became the first person, regardless of gender, to fly solo non-stop from England to the Americas, despite facing serious fuel problems, she successfully crash landed the plane after a 20 hour flight at Nova Scotia earning her a special place as a flight pioneer in the world of aviation.

Other notable figures

Other notable figures associated with the Happy Valley set included Gilbert Colvile, Hugh Dickenson, Jack and Nina Soames, Lady June Carberry, Dickie Pembroke, and Julian Lezzard. Author Karen Blixen Leone, Cavaliere Galton-Fenzi were also friends of the group.