The Grim Legacy of Robert Marshall Hoppy the Notorious Colonial Hangman in Kenya

Robert Marshall Hoppy , Kenya’s Official hangman in 1940s and  1950s. He was  based at Kamiti where he   executed  those convicted   of murder or   rape.

Apparently  he was given the tender after providing  the lowest quote: £5 for hanging a white person, £1 for an African and a promise to hang Indians for  free . This only shows how European settlers  in Kenya  hated Indian settlers.

Apart from his job as a hangman, Marshall also owned a number of  restaurants  and clubs which made him really  rich.

He  owned  Hoppy’s Inn, Ngong Club at  Karen just  close to the junction  of Karen and Ngong roads, where Lord Erroll  was killed. Another one called the Mascot  was located on  Government Road . It was said “he took piles of money  home in a pillowcase.”

Hoppy was eventually deported from Kenya and died  in South Africa a very poor man.