23 Facts About Ewart Grogan

Ewart Scott Grogan was an English explorer, politician, and entrepreneur.

Ewart Grogan was the first person in recorded history to walk the length of Africa, from Cape Town to Cairo.

Ewart Grogan was educated at Winchester College and Jesus College, Cambridge, which he left without taking a degree.

Ewart Grogan proposed becoming the first man to make the Cape-to-Cairo journey; the stepfather agreed that this would be a suitable test of his character and seriousness.

Ewart Grogan then commenced his expedition from Cape Town to Cairo at the age of 24, reaching Cairo in 1900, after two and a half years of travelling.

Ewart Grogan was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and met Queen Victoria.

In four months of effort, Ewart Grogan wrote about his journey in From the Cape to Cairo; the First Traverse of Africa from South to North.

In October 1914 Ewart Grogan traversed part of German East Africa to Kivu where he met his old friend the Belgian Josue Henry.

Ewart Grogan died in South Africa at the age of 92.

Ewart Grogan initially made a number of real estate purchases including the Cross estate and the Manse estate, on which he built his famous house Chiromo.

Ewart Grogan then began to look for further business opportunities including the potential of developing commercial logging near the Mau summit and for cattle grazing on the Uasin Gishu plateau.

Ewart Grogan continued to expand his business interests in Kenya both before and after the First World War, as well as completing the railway line to his logging concession.

Ewart Grogan subsequently sunk a large portion of his wealth into building the first deep water harbour in Mombasa.

Ewart Grogan later built the Torr's Hotel in Nairobi and was a proprietor with Lord Delamere of the East African Standard newspaper.

Ewart Grogan invested a fortune to successfully irrigate and develop arid scrub into fertile productive land.

Ewart Grogan was appointed Belgian liaison officer and carried out reconnaissance across the Congolese border.

In 1943 Gertrude Ewart Grogan died from a heart attack in Nairobi.

Ewart Grogan, seeking a fitting memorial for his wife, founded the Gertrude's Garden Children's Hospital of which there are now seven in present-day Nairobi.

Ewart Grogan was involved in politics all his life in Kenya, serving on the Colonial Association and the legislative council.

Ewart Grogan took an interest in the advancement and education of the indigenous African population, believing that 'the road of advancement must be open to all Africans' and only then could his vision of a 'reasonable and decent society in Africa' be fulfilled.

Ewart Grogan had intended his Jipe Estate to be used as an agricultural college for Africans, offering it to the colonial government but never receiving a reply.

Ewart Grogan kept abreast of politics in the colony during the struggle for independence, lunching on several occasions with Tom Mboya at the Torrs Hotel and proclaiming him a 'very remarkable young African'.

Ewart Grogan served on the Legislative Council throughout Kenya's move to independence.