The Happy Valley set was a group of mostly British and Anglo-Irish aristocrats and adventurers who settled in the "Happy Valley" region of the Wanjohi Valley, near the Aberdare mountain range, in colonial Kenya between the 1920s and the 1940s. During the 1930s, the group became infamous for its hedonistic, decadent lifestyles and exploits amid reports of drug use and sexual promiscuity.[1]
The area around the town Naivasha, on the shore of Lake Naivasha, 92.8 km (57.7 mi) north west of Nairobi, was one of the first to be settled in Kenya by Europeans and was one of the main hunting grounds of the 'set'.[2] The colonial town of Nyeri, Kenya, to the east of the Aberdare Range, was the main town of Happy Valley settlers.[3]
During the mid-2000s, descendants of the Happy Valley set were publicized by the news, due to the legal troubles of Tom Cholmondeley, the great-grandson of Lord Delamere.
Some of the notable members of the Happy Valley set were: Hugh Cholmondeley, 3rd Baron Delamere and his son and heir Thomas Cholmondeley, 4th Baron Delamere; Denys Finch Hatton, his lover Karen Blixen; Bror von Blixen-Finecke; Sir Jock Delves Broughton and wife Diana Delves Broughton; Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll; Lady Idina Sackville; Alice de Janzé (cousin of J. Ogden Armour) and her husband Count Frederic de Janzé.
- ^ Storm clouds over Happy Valley Archived 17 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine The Telegraph. 16 May 2009
- ^ "Naivasha, Kenya" (tourist information), go2africa.com, 2006, webpage: Go2A Archived 11 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Cultural Safari" (concerning Aberdare & Happy Valley settlers), MagicalKenya.com, webpage:MK Archived 18 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine