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Name: TRENCH, John Stapleton Le Poer 'Jack'
Nee: bro of Daniel Power le Poer Trench, son of Maxwell Douglas Le Poer Trench
Birth Date: 9 Dec 1910 Kingston, Jamaica
Death Date: 19 Nov 1994 Nairobi
First Date: 1915 with parents
Profession: Aircraft Engineer, KAR, Kitale
Area: Kitale, Coast (Jadini)
Married: 1. In Nyeri 16 Jan 1937 Hilda Evelyn Hogg b. 2 Nov 1909, d. 1985 Nairobi (dau. of Ernest William Hogg); 2. Noel Frances b. 1915 Zimbabwe, d. 23 Aug 1963 Harare
Children: Brian Hugh (26 Nov 1938 Kitale-2012 Nairobi); Diana (13.4.1941); also dau and son of 2nd marriage
Book Reference: Kenton, Baptism, Wed, Aero, Campling, Air, Mills
School: Kenton College - left 1924 for Cheltenham College
General Information:
Gazette 20 Jan 1995 probate
Gazette 6 Dec 1938 Trans Nzoia Voters List
Aero - Acquired the De Havilland 51 Aircraft "Miss Kenya", originally owned by John Carberry, in the 1950s. He was a well-known aeronautical engineer in Nairobi. Rebuilt the aircraft with Mr J.A. Johnstone and, after it flew again in Kenya from 1955 to 1962 it was passed to the Shuttleworth Trust in England
Campling - Joined East African Airways Ltd as pilot and engineer, having qualified with de Havilland at Stag Lane in July 1932 and returned to Kenya from England in 1934 flying a Fox Moth, together with the famous sky writer Sydney St. Barbe-Baker.[sic] …..
After the closure of East African Airways Ltd. Jack joined the KAR for a spell as an officer, but later joined Captain Mostert with Wilson Airways in Dar es Salaam, and he worked there as an engineer until the outbreak of war, when he joined the Kenya Auxiliary Air Unit.
Campling - Jack's education had initially been at the BEADOC Preparatory School for boys at Lumbwa, and to reach there he usually went on horseback from Nyeri accompanied by a syce over the Aberdares to Naivasha, and thence to Lumbwa by train. Then on one occasion Maxwell took him by car, but when they arrived in Nakuru they heard that the school had closed down and that the people who ran it had disappeared with the fees. Jack was then sent to Kenton College …… He became Kenton's first head boy and then went on to a public school in England. After finishing school Jack returned to work with the coffee at Seremai but soon went back to England to join de Havillands at Stag Lane, where he qualified as an aircraft ground engineer and a pilot. He obtained a British Empire Aviator's Certificate dated 1st July 1932, which in his travels round Europe he often found to be of more use than a passport.
Campling - "… The Uganda Company was owned by Unilever, and Jack Trench opened their operations on Nairobi West with one Auster ….. in addition to engineering work with the Uganda Company, Jack Trench continued as a pilot instructor. …… Jack remained with the Uganda Company until the company was taken over by Noon and Pearce; he later left the aviation world to join Marshalls, the Peugeot agents in Nairobi, but that was not the end of his flying and he kept his licences valid until January 1964, and remained involved in the Aero Club and the aviation scene to the end of his days.
Air - Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate No. 10583 dated 1 July 1932 - DH 60 Gipsy 100, De Havilland School of Flying