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introducing reform. As a result of British pressure, the Ruler’s eldest son HH Sheikh

Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa became the new head of the Sheikhdom in 1923. Knox

believed that with this new and young leadership, ‘Bahrain should not be left

without a good Englishman in charge’ who ‘should be prepared to stay’ and

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understand how matters function on the islands. Early reform was sought in the

capacity of management of the country’s finances, the reorganisation of customs, the

establishment of government offices in Manama, and a survey of the islands as

proposed by Bahrain’s Political Agent Clive Kirkpatrick Daly.
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The Residency contemplated on the position, title, and overall

responsibilities of the Englishman to be in charge of affairs in Bahrain. One of the

initial proposals was to hire an assistant to the Political Agent. Daly proposed that

the assistant be paid directly by Bahrain, a view that was not encouraged by

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Resident Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur P Trevor. The idea of an assistant to the

Political Agent never materialised as an initiative from the Residency. However in

1925, it took on a different form when the Ruler of Bahrain Sheikh Hamad asked

Daly to assist him to recruit a British officer to work for his Government in the

capacity of Financial Adviser. The idea for the position was possibly inspired by an

earlier experiment in which the Englishman Bertram Thomas was hired by the

Sultan of Muscat and Oman to administer the Sultanate’s finances, as Resident

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Francis B Prideaux noted. To aid the process of searching for the right candidate,

21 IOR/R/15/1/331, Residency to Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, Enclosing Report on
Bahrain Reforms, 31 May 1923.
22 IOR/R/15/1/331, Daly to Knox, 10 June 1923.
23 IOR/L/PS/10/1039, Residency to Government of India, 26 December 1923.
24 IOR/R/15/2/128, Residency to India Office Political Department, 15 September 1925.

© Hamad E. Abdulla 6