District commissioner’s house Moroto, Uganda
Astri Griffin’s father, Mr R. D. Cordery, was D.C. in Uganda in the 1950s and 1960s. The family moved around a lot and lived in three different houses for little over a year each.
Contribution by: Astri Griffin
Images
District commissioner's house, c. 1960, Moroto, Uganda ©Astri Griffin
District commissioner's house, c. 1960, Moroto, Uganda ©Astri Griffin
I stayed in this house for about 3 months in 1949. The D C was H Bryan Watney, and his wife Bernice. I myself was then aged 18, from a Kenya “settler” family living in Western Kenya on Mt Elgon close to the Uganda border and the district of Karamoja. Having just left school in Britain I was interested in a career in the Colonial Administrative Service and my stay in Moroto confirmed that. Bryan Watney allowed me to observe the duties of a DC both in the District Office and on tour out among the people. So later I served as a District Officer and Magistrate for 9 years in what was then called Tanganyika. Thanks in great part to what I learned at that house.