I hunted with Ol' William on the Devuli Ranch long ago .... the place was being broken up and some went to Roger Whittal's Humani and some went to Mokore .... Has anyone seen William (and his lady, Jenny ?) lately ???? He was working with Roger Whittal for years ... ??? Thanks, folks !

Are you a hundred and fifty years old?

quote:

Are you a hundred and fifty years old?

Rofl... I was thinking the same thing when I saw this thread!

Is his great grandson a PH?

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
Are you a hundred and fifty years old?

Ya never know on AR! I was just reading some "Ol' William" few days ago.

The legendary old elephant hunter managed to have a descendant or two ... Sheeshhhh !!! You guys crack me up !!! This latter day William Finnaughty should be about 79 ... (I hunted with him in 1992 ... time does fly !) William was one of the old time Rhodies that never took the gap .. in fact, on his tobacco farm (where he used to shoot sable to feed his staff !!! ) .. he was the only white guy in that immediate area who was not killed or driven out during the bush war .. Be that as it may .. when the war was over the new government appropriated his place anyways ... A very interesting man and hope that he hasn't joined his grandfather/great grandfather ... Cheers !

Well, I had tea with Selous the other day at the Norfolk. I call him Fred.

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
Well, I had tea with Selous the other day at the Norfolk. I call him Fred.

I just received a text message from Sir Samuel White Baker. He's doing well for a chap who'll be 190 years old in about five weeks. Says he enjoyed your books, Will.

Any of you folks talk to Elvis lately?
(I have.)
Cheers,
Cal

William Finnaughty's decendants that I am aware of have moved to Australia.
They moved from Swaziland in about 1992 were successful in business in Joburg from 92-2001. Excalibur bakkie rails were their mainstay which they then sold to his partner.
The two youngest were Brian and Paul, both of which hunted as kids on their family ground in Zim but never went back after 98 when their father moved to Aus.

Whether the connection to the chap hunting with Roger is a direct or not I cannot say, but I do know they were visiting a Grandparent in Zim.

Wlliam had a couple of sons that I remember hearing about but they were grown up and gone in '92. ... He also had a brother who had a tobacco farm near Harare ..... but I suspect that farm was long since stolen. Around the campfires in the evenings he would tell of how he managed to survive the bush war .... I have so much respect for the Rhodesians ... True grit, indeed !

scruffy

Back in 2001 me my dad and my brother hunted with William for Leopard, Eland and some plainsgame. I am not sure if he is still hunting but back then he was living on Humani and still hunting for Roger Whittall.

Mike

The old man got too old, Deon steffen took over Finots Camp and ran it as a hunting camp at least up till late 90's or so...have a sneaky suspicion deon may have been one of the gang that holed up somewhere in the gwaai...and said they weren't leaving ever, ever ever ever! EVER! and then they drank all the beer, when it was finished they figured now somebody would have to leave to get more beer, and if one was leaving then all were leaving...so they left...Old man Finot may have been there but i doubt it, i think he moved to easier lodgings in the mid 90's and hopefully is still enjoying...most of the muppets above seem to be mixing William up with one of his forefathers, whose name I am sure was Patrick Finnaughty...a famous elephant hunter...

Muppets, indeed ! I actually have the old elephant hunter's book in my collection. He was certainly a bit of a rogue. Back in '92 William was a teetotaler. Actually that was a bit of a breath of fresh air as the crew in the Devuli in '89 were pretty well all drunks !!! Sigh ... Thanks for the help ..

PM David Hulme...he will probably know if he is around Humani or Zim anywhere.

I spent several evenings around the campfire with William in 1998. He was working on Humani for Roger. Those stories he told are priceless and truly the stuff of legends. He was thinking about writing a book but don't know if he ever got it done. I went back in 2001 and had him sign his great grandfathers book for me. One of my most prized African treasures!!

I was introduced to the gentlemen at the Whittal's home.I believe it was 1997.

There was a lot of history about that place. Zebra in the yard.And an eland.The Whittal boys were pretty good atheletes if the stories were true.

Good , honest , hard-working people. I will look back fondly for the rest of my days and hope to get back again while I am able and some of those fine people are still around.

William is, to mt knowledge still on Humani. I hunted there late last year and had the pleasure of an eveining with him around the fire. He was building the skinning pole at the Bedford camp at the time. Great guy

As far as I know, William is still hail and hearty and on Humani. If anyone would like to send their greetings PM me and I will make sure the message gets to William.

David

And yes, he is a direct descendant of the William Finnaughty, not sure if it's grandson...

Hi David

I will be on Humani on the 1st July and im looking forward to seeing William again. I met him for the first time in 2001 when we hunted with him out of what was once Samboni Camp (not sure about the spelling).

Mike