Following the First World War, a group of European settlers emerged in Kenya, known as the Happy Valley set.

Under the political guidance of Lord Delamere they sought to ensure that colonial policy suited the interests of these White settlers.

However, with a certain amount of migration from the sub-continent of India, then under British rule, the racial exclusivity of the prime areas for settling came into dispute, and in 1923 Lord Devonshire issued the Devonshire Declaration.

[1] In 1942 the provisions of this act were used initially to fund the British Colonial Research Committee.

The financing made available was increased to £120 million for all purposes to be spent between 1946 and 1956.