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Eric Courtenay Haden Tebb 1896 - 1989
British Airship Captain, Salesman and Rhodesian Businessman

Early Life
He was born in the lap of luxury, with as he put it a silver spoon in his mouth. His father was a wealthy and succesful property owner and they lived at the Priory Ford in Abbotsbrook, which his father had bought and designed as an exclusive suburb with each house having acess to a stream. Here he lived a luxurious life and was the centre of attention, until his father had a car accident and ended up losing most of his properties and going bankrupt. They survived thanks to his mother, who took in lodgers. His parents eventually moved to the Old House, opposite the Marsh Lock near Henley. He was able to complete his schooling where he excelled at fencing and was in France learning French when the war intervened.

World War I
An Airship Captain in the RNAS, he narrowly survived after his Airship descended into the Mediterranean.

Oxford University
At the end of the War he studied a BA at Exeter College, Oxford. He completed the shortened course for veterans.

Unilever
A spell as a salesman for the Unilever corporation followed, during which he travelled the length of Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town and circumnavigated the world, stopping in Malaysia, Hawaii, the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and Canada where flowers were dropped on the deck of his liner by Jim Mollison for his wife Amy Johnson or vice versa.

Rhodesia
Having seen the world and having slowly fallen in love with Africa after several visits, he settled in Rhodesia and married Maude Kenworthy, a nurse from Manchester, who was living in Johannesburg. They were wed in the Church in the Veld outside Johannesburg and not long afterwards, he was trying to enlist for the 2nd World War. He was rejected in Simon's Town and Kenya, before finally being accepted in Pretoria. This was short lived as he was called back to his farm in the Vumba mountains on the border with Mozambique, just south of Umtali. Here he grew fruit and experimented until he finally had success.

Border Streams
His wife started making jam in the kitchen and this turned into a succesful business. A factory was built, their oldest son Rob was sent to Oxford to learn from Frank Cooper's Marmelade who made marmalade and jams.

UDI
They were visited by the Prime Minister Ian Smith and his wife, who sent them a christmas card. In time, the situation in Rhodesia became more violent and a security fence was built at the bottom of their garden which overlooked the town on Machipanda in Mozambique. A very heavily mined border was created between it and the Mozambiquean fence, but animals offered strayed across and detonated the mines as did people, who crossed to purchase produce at his youngest son Paul's farm store. A rocket attack was launched on one occasion and they returned fire. An attack plan was formulated and a bunker was built, troops were stationed, the factory and farming continued.

Independance
The war ended, elections were held and Mugabe became the new Prime Minister. Many people left, but they stayed. Shortages, especially of sugar, fuel and tins, made running the factory impossible and they sold to Cairns, with Rob as a director.

Personal Life
He died on his birthday, aged 93. He was survived by his sons Rob and Paul, his wife Maud who he called Rosemary and his two daughters Nickin and Jane. Rob stayed on the farm and managed the factory, Paul stayed for a while until he eventually left for England. Nationalisation became the buzzword and the soldiers on the border were now threatening. Nickin moved to South Africa and Maud died a few years after Eric. Jane married a farmer from Cashel, where Border Streams purchased much of their produce. They farmed for a while in Cashel, until nationalisation forced them to emigrate to South Africa. The factory was owned by a Norwegian company and was producing peanut butter.