Ken Tilbury was born in the Eastern Cape in South Africa. He is a direct descendant of the English 1820 Settlers who were sent to establish that part of the country. He was educated in Natal and Swaziland where he grew up. After leaving school he was employed on a cattle ranch for two years then moved to Rhodesia to join the British South Africa Police. He served time in the police force before leaving to pursue his ambition of farming and grew tobacco, maize, cotton, wheat and sugar cane. With the struggle for independence and political conflict in the country at that time, he became a member of PATU (Police Anti Terrorist Unit) and was involved in the ‘Bush War’ for twelve years. After the war he moved back to Swaziland then Natal where he farmed and bred crocodiles. He moved back to Zimbabwe to farm and years later, under the threat of death, he and his wife were forced to leave their farm by Mugabe backed farm invaders. Like many others, they lost everything. Now live in the UK.