Page 1167 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

1165
1165
1940

Sunday 15th March

Office. Meeting at Agency with Bottomley & a Mr Humphrey who is the head man of Cable & Wireless in

India about the lease of the ground for the new cable house. Humphrey sseemed a decent fellow & more
sensible than Bottomley who is an awful ass. His draft lease & my one were almost the same so there was
not much to discuss. Played golf in the afternoon, played better than I ever have before. The Skinners
didn't have Bridge as their roof is being mended, seems likely to subside on them. Court in the morning but
didn't get there till rather late. Young Shaikh Abdulla is very good as a magistrate. His ideas are suprisingly
up to date. He considers that women, under certain circumstances, should be able to divorce their
husbands, in Moslem law that is almost an impossibility. The Police went for a march outside.

Monday 16th March

Fort. Lovely weather just now, neither too hot or too cold & brilliant sunshine. Office, went over to see
Loch for a short time & then did office work & then went into court for two big cases, the Hedd theft case
and the Muharraq misappropriation case, finished early. Drove out to the camp after tea & left a lot of
invitations for a cocktail party which we are having on the 23rd. We have invited about eighty people &
expect about sixty to come, it is timed for the season when the stocks are out in the garden, they are
looking quite lovely, this year I have a long wide bed of them the whole length of the garden & they are just
a mass of colours. My new sort of veranda will be done by then & I am considering having the band as well.
Boowlby & a young man from Teheran came to call, he is third secretary, dull. Played bridge at the
Kirkpatricks, very late as a woman from an island beyond Hedd came & complained that her daughter was
going to be murdered - the usual reason!

Tuesday 17th March

Very busy day, didn't go to the Fort as I had a lot of office work. Meeting of the Khalifah Estate Committee,
very long & a waste of time, then dealt with some letters and then attended a meeting of the Wakf
department, very argumentative & rather exhausting as all shouted so much, however for the time being I
must attend. I quite like some of the members of the new council & they certainly seem more keen than
the old lot. Played tennis at the Officers Club at Jufair, the Steeles & ourselves & some of the Navy, poor