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Name: KNELLER, Arthur Harry OBE
Photo Source: Phil Toye
Birth Date: 28 Apr 1894 Kingsclere, Hampshire
Death Date: 19 July 1969 Chichester
First Date: 1934
Profession: Labour Officer in 1939, appointed 1935. Originally Temporary in 1934. Deputy Labour Commissioner in 1953 on leave pending retirement.
Area: Nairobi, Nyeri
Married: In Kenya c. 1927 Hester Muriel Farr b. Bourne, Lincs. 1897, d. 11.10.1970 Mombasa
Children: Alister Walter Arthur Ernest (11 Nov 1927 Nairobi-27 Nov 2005 Chichester)
Book Reference: Staff 39, Staff 53, Red 31, Hut
War Service: RGA
School: Ardingly College
General Information:
Kneller joined the Colonial Office after playing first-class cricket, becoming a colonial official in Kenya Colony. He was appointed Inspector of Labour in December 1934 by Governor Sir Joseph Byrne,with him later being appointed a registration officer in June 1938. He was appointed a senior labour officer in February 1941, before being appointed Acting-Deputy Labour Commissioner in February 1948. He returned to his substantive rank of Principal Labour Officer in March 1948, but was reappointed Acting-Deputy Labour Commissioner in June of the same year. In July 1950, he was appointed be a Deputy Labour Commissioner, and was appointed as a Labour Commissioner in September of the following year, before reverting to his substantive post of Deputy Labour Commissioner in September 1952. He was appointed an OBE in the 1953 Coronation Honours. Kneller later took part in the investigation into mistreatment of Kenyan prisoners during the Mau Mau rebellion, at which point he was employed by the Kenya Wattle Manufacturers Association. Kneller later retired to England, where he died at Chichester in July 1969.