Walter FRYER [10948]

  General Notes:

Walter Fryer
Birth Date: 27 Jul 1879
Birth Place: Dublin, Ireland
Father: William Fryer
Mother: Emma Ann Kenna

Walter was of the Colonial Service Tanganyika.

Walters son-in-law Jack Hill writes of him:
Walter went out to South Africa to fight in the Boer war of 1899-1902, and he remained there after the war and became a schoolmaster as was his father. When WWI broke out, he joined the South African Irish Regiment, later the 9th South African Infantry Regiment, one of the toughest of units, fighting with distinction in the East African campaign against the redoubtable German General Von Lettow, he was one of the few officers to survive the forced march from the north to relieve a force in serious trouble from malaria and a lack of food, quinine. and other supplies.
Despite the severe hardships he encountered during the war, he liked the country and decided to remain, and to join the colonial service.

Walter was a forthright down-to-earth sort of fellow, efficient and hard-working, but he was also obstinate. He was disliked by the
Governor of the Territory, Sir Donald Cameron, who had opposing views to Walter as to the future of the African people. Walter was accused of a "tendency to regard many of the customs of the African, too much from the British point of view" This sometimes ran counter to the British policy to rule indirectly through African leaders.

On the other hand Walter took a great interest in the differing lives customs and traditions of the more than 100 tribes in the country. He travelled widely and wrote many papers on the subject which the family have lodged with the Bodleian Library, and Rhodes House, Oxford.

John Hill his grandson writes - Walter Fryer joined South African Irish regt very soon after declaration of war in Sept 1914 (captain in this regt) and fought in S.W. Africa (Namibia), then German E.A., and ended up serving in administration of Tanganyika after peace was declared I still have one of his diaries and the original of his invitation to celebrate St Patrick's Day in 1915 in Swakopmund.

When the hostilities of World War I ceased Walter joined the British Administration in Tanganyika on secondment from the Army, as what was known as a Political Officer, ie a civil administrator. District Administrators were the police, the magistrate, the post office and more, all rolled into one.
Walter's first position, was a posting with his reunited family to the ancient town of Tabora, the headquarters of the Western Province. They lived in Tabora for some years, before Walter was appointed District Commissioner in Lushoto, in the Usambara Mountains. In 1928/29 they moved to Lindi Provence, Walter as District Commissioner. This is where his daughter Phyllys met her future husband Jack Hill. Finally c1929/30 Walter served his last years before his retirement in Dar-es-Salaam.

Walter retired from the Colonial Service in 1932 and moved to Kenya joining the gold rush at Kakamega, they failed to find gold and after much hardship returned to Gilgil where they set about building a home for themselves. This proved a great strain on their finances and after a difficult period they moved to Nairobi c1938 where Walter found work with HM Customs for a time.
After more moves around Kenya they were living in Kisumu, where the altitude there severely affected Walters health. He died in 1947, intestate and without provision for his wife.

Walter was a Mzungu a whiteman whose home was Africa, in "love" with a wide and beautiful land, open and free from the conventions of Western civilisation.
Ref: Wind Sun & Earth Remain - J. A. O'Toole 2016

Image courtesy of J A O'Toole

  Research Notes:

Family details from shipping records the Modasa March 1922 - Ancestry http://search.ancestry.com.au/browse/view.aspx?dbid=1518&iid=30807_A000718-00513&pid=24462044&ssrc=&fn=Walter&ln=Fryer&st=g

This data was extracted from Wind Sun & Earth Remains and approved by Jenny Hill 2017.
Images Courtesy Alec Wight & Jenny O'"Toole nee Hill - 2019

  Other Records

1. Census: England, 5 Apr 1891, Royal Military Asylum Chelsea LND. Walter is recorded as a son aged 11 a scholar born Ireland.

2. Walter Fryer: Images across time.
Walter WWI, with Elfreda and daughter Shirley, on safari in Africa, Walters boxcar 1920's, Walters grave in Kisumu Kenya.

Walter married Elfrida Dora Maria (Ella) BURMESTER [10949] [MRIN: 3638], daughter of Georg Simeon Bernhard BURMEISTER [25173] and Anna Maria Katrina Sophia Emma LIEBERMANN [25174], on 29 Jan 1906 in St Augustine Doornfontein South Africa. (Elfrida Dora Maria (Ella) BURMESTER [10949] was born on 8 Jan 1881 in Somerset East Eastern Cape SA, died on 9 Apr 1978 in Bournemouth HAM and was cremated in Bournemouth Crematorium.)