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Who Was Rex Boustead? An Excursus on the Mombasa Club's First Proprietor

In a previous article in History in Africa the rules and regulations of the Mombasa Club, dating from 1903 or earlier, were laid out (Frankl 2001). Since that article was written, the original Mombasa Club Rules, a booklet of sixteen pages printed in Mombasa and dated 1899, has come to light in the Public Record Office at Kew. One of the three signatories to that document was Rex Boustead, Proprietor. Edward Rodwell (1988:20) asked “Who was Rex Boustead?” This paper attempts to answer that question. Altogether there were six Boustead children, of whom Rex was the last born. The Bousteads, originally from Cumrenton in Cumberland, were connected with Ceylon from the early nineteenth century. Rex's paternal grandfather, John Boustead St., was paymaster of the Ceylon Rifles Regiment for more than half a century. Rex's father, John Boustead Jr. (1822-1904)—his occupation is given as “Army Agent” in Rex's birth certificate—was an only son, the second of five children. He married Augusta Phoebe Twentyman (1824-1911) at St Mary's Walthamstow in 1853; between 1854 and 1863 she gave birth to six children. John Boustead Jr. had several estates in Ceylon, and it is clear from his will that he was a moderately wealthy man, for he left £6662, a not inconsiderable sum in 1904. All the children of John Boustead junior were born in England, all married, and all died in England. Of the boys, all except Rex went to Harrow School. John Melvill (known as “Jack”), the oldest brother (who had east African connections), was born on 31 March 1854, at Walthamstow.