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Name: LONG, Ernest Caswell 'Boy' (Capt.)
Nee: bro of Charles Aubrey Long and Henry Stephen Long
Birth Date: 1892 Ogbourne St Andrew, Wilts.
Death Date: 26 Aug 1950 Nairobi
First Date: 1912
Last Date: 1950
Profession: Farmer - in 1920 lived on Soysambu as Delamere's manager. Handsome, swashbuckling, one gold earring, ivory and gold bracelets, black stetson
Area: Elmenteita, 1925 Suguroi, Soysambu, Nderit
Married: 1. In Paddington 30 Apr 1917 Mary Millicent Erskine-Wemyss b. 15 May 1885 Chelsea, d. 1968 St Pancras; 2. In Kenya 1924 Mrs Genesta Mary Farquhar née Heath b. 5 May 1899 Marylebone, d. 20 Dec 1990 London (prev. m. Arthur Farquhar and later m. Lord Claud Hamilton 1907-1968); 3. Mrs Paula Alexandra Gertrude Marie Allen née Gellibrand b. 1 Dec 1897 Penarth, d. 25 July 1986 Wandsworth (prev. m. Pedro Mones-Maury, William Edward David Allen 1901-1973 and Ivan Wilkie Brooks 1891-1952)
Children: 2. Robert Eden Charles Caswell 'Robin' (1926-2007)
Author: Stone's Throw, 1986
Book Reference: Best, Midday Sun, Markham, Joelson, Cranworth, Manual, Mischief, Polnay, White Man, KAD, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, EA & Rhodesia, Red 22, Alice - Memories, Stud, Gazette, Racing, Barnes, Web, Alice - Memoirs, First Wheel, Rift Valley, Red 19
War Service: Grenadier Guards
General Information:
Best - mention in Evelyn Waugh's diary - drank champagne. Debonair.
Midday Sun - 1933 - 'Boy Long and his wife Genessie were a handsome pair. He had dark, curly hair, a ruddy complexion, lively dark eyes and looked like an English country squire with a dash of the cowboy, accentuated by a broad-brimmed Stetson hat and a bright Somali shawl (tomato red or electric blue) thrown across his shoulders. He once rode his horse round Glady Delamere's nursery clad in this attire. Women adored him. He was said to be one of the best stockmen in the country; he would not have been employed by Delamere for 15 years had it been otherwise.
Boy - his real name was Caswell - went to great trouble to write down for me his recollections of those days. These included an episode when an American called Paul Rainey had kept a pack of bear-hounds at Soysambu to hunt lions. When the hunted lion turned to face the baying dogs, the hunters would gallop in with rifles to shoot it from the saddle. In 15 days hunting they killed 12 lions. Then luck turned against them, and a man called Fritz Schindler was knocked off his horse by a lion and killed.
Markham - Had an affair with Beryl Markham off and on until the 1930s .......... In Dec 1923 he went home to UK to get married to Genesta. ....... Beryl Markham's trysting place with Boy was now [1935] Torr's Hotel, opposite the New Stanley in the heart of Nairobi. Rose Cartwright likened Boy's aura to that of Denys Finch-Hatton, 'a Lothario whose looks belied a good, solid farmer.' Boy would book a table regularly on the balcony overlooking Torr's ballroom and the musicians would strike up 'Miss Otis regrets' as Beryl took the floor with him for the first dance of the evening .......... Boy's wife came to loathe what the Torr's drummer called 'Beryl's signature tune' because he tended to hum 'Miss Otis' absent-mindedly after returning to Naivasha, signifying his latest assignation with Beryl.
Joelson - 1928 - Elmenteita - .... splendid property of Captain E. Caswell Long, late manager to Lord Delamere. .....
Cranworth - for many years managed D's estates, ...... He was selected by Lady Delamere as tutor to their son Thomas, and arriving in the country with his school cricket colours barely dry upon him. When Thomas returned to England in a year or so, Long who had developed a great love for the country, was absorbed into the farm. He had the keenness, the intelligence and the youth to learn, and right well he did learn. In a few years there was no better man in the Colony with natives, cattle and sheep. He was as hard as nails and untiring, and the whole of these assets were wholeheartedly and ungrudgingly devoted to the service of Delamere for whom he had an unstinted admiration.
Manual - 1927 - Delamere Estates - Breeding stud stables and general management of the estates are in the capable hands of Capt. E. Caswell Long who has occupied that post since 1912
Mischief - Cyril Connolly said - died of drink?
Polnay - a legendary person who has figured in a number of books written about the Kenya of his day. He had come to Kenya before WW1 as tutor to Lord Delamere's son. Boy got on well with Delamere and went to England when the war broke out - had a good war record. Then he married an heiress with whom he returned to the Colony, where he bought much land at Elmenteita. He cultivated flamboyant manners, seemed always to be shouting at the top of his voice, and he had, so his legend had it - ridden on horseback into a ball at Government House, wearing muddy boots. He considered himself a lady killer of the first rank. His terai was the largest that ere was seen, and he was tall, handsome and lived with all his might the part he had created .....…..
He drove a Packard and two native servants sat in the back. .................. The Long's house built of grey stone, could have competed with a manor ......... Ginesta Long, Boy's wife was a charming woman who, one morning as we rode side by side, said I looked like an aesthete - which I didn't consider flattering. ........
Long knew about farming, and he rode or drove round the place the whole day long. His two brothers worked for him. ........ Boy Long was no longer interested in big-game hunting as he had shot too many buffaloes, elephants, lions and rhinos in his time. ..... At dinner Boy wore a resplendent Charvet dressing gown. On the Sunday Lord Delamere came to lunch. He seemed as old as time; his manners were perfect.
White Man - Long resigned as Delamere's manager in 1926
East Africa & Rhodesia - 21/9/50 - Mr G.S. Hunter writes - The death of 'Boy' Long removes from the active sphere in Kenya another of those colourful early settlers who have done so much to pioneer various types of farming and ancillary activities for the benefit of those who come later. 'Boy' Long originally came to Kenya as tutor to the present Lord Delamere, and in time became manager for the late Lord Delamere, residing at Soysambu, Elmenteita, until soon after his marriage to Genesta, the daughter of Mr C.E. Heath.
They purchased a large block of land from the late R.A.B. Chamberlain and began operations on Nderit Estate, also at Elmenteita. Long was a successful breeder and dairy farmer, and developed Nderit into one of the best cattle properties in East Africa; but he was perhaps best known to the European community through holding for many years the office of Chairman of the Kenya Co-operative Creameries Ltd., in which position he succeeded the late Lord Delamere. Long was chairman during the period when the Creameries were settling down after amalgamation, and when many decisions irrevocably affecting the future of the dairy industry were taken. He saw the company develop from a membership of about 50 to something approaching the thousand mark before he vacated the chairmanship. He brought to that office a consistency, logic, and loyalty for which many of those who knew him only in his lighter moments never gave him full credit.
'Boy' Long was also well known to the community as chairman for many years of the Stockbreeders Co-operative Society Ltd. This was a particularly active body prior to 1939, though its activities dwindled considerably after the formation of the Supply Board Meat Control during the war.
In his later years Long retired largely from public life on account of ill-health, but the live-stock industry in Kenya has reason to be thankful for many years of strenuous and usually quite unrewarded work given by him for the community at large.
Red 22 - Honorary Permit Issuer - Ndaragwa Estate, Laikipia, Gilgil
Alice - Memories - If there was a glamorous couple, it was undoubtedly 'Boy' and Genessie Long, who set off their good looks with beautifully cut and chosen clothes. 'Boy' invariably sported riding boots and a very dashing sombrero trimmed with snakeskin. They had a magnificent estate overlooking Lake Nakura, now an attractive game park.
EA Stud Book 1954 - Brood Mares - Thoroughbred - Breeders - E. Caswell Long (1935)
Gazette - 7/4/15 - Liable for Jury service, Elmenteita - E.C. Long (British), Settler
Racing - Owner of 'Butterscotch' - 1930 - Mrs E.C. Long
Nairobi City Park cemetery - Ernest Caswell Long, died 26 Aug 1950 aged 58
First Wheel - 1929 - "the farm bordered on Lord Delamere's acres, and several times his general manager, Boy Long and his wife, Genesta, came riding past by horseback. They were a very handsome pair and were always on very fine horses and were very gaily dressed. Corduroy slacks, bright-coloured shirts, large cowboy hats and a Somali shawl draped over their shoulders. ……… Boy Long died fairly early on. A great loss to the country; he was a premium man.
Rift Valley - Member of the Rift Valley Sports Club - Jan 1929 - Elected - 20 Oct 1913 - E. Caswell Long
Gazette - 3/12/1919 - Register of Voters - Rift Valley Area - E.C. Long - Farmer, Soysambu - Elmenteita
Red Book 1919 - District Committees - Nakuru - C.C. Long [sic] ?
Gazette - 26/9/1923 - Voters Register - Kenya Province - Ernest Caswell Long, Farmer PO Suguroi
Gazette 6 Mar 1951 probate