Agricultural History Review, Volume 40 Part 2 (1992), pp. 142–150

Beadoc was an attempt to found a co-operative settlement of disabled British officers in the Highlands of Kenya after the First World War. It was designed both to reward ex-soldiers who had lost their health in the service of the Empire, and to provide Britain with supplies of a vital matcrial, flax, from within the confines of the Empire. Under-capitalized, grossly mismanaged, and located on unsuitable land, Beadoc collapsed with the end of the 'flax boom'. Its importance to the agricultural history of white Kenya, is that it illustrated the futility of placing comparatively large numbers of Europeans, with comparatively little capital, on the land as farmers. Kenya was a rich white man's country, which ultimately meant that it would not be any kind of white man's country. 

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