Page 97 - Personal Column (Charles Belgrave)_Neat

quisitcly made by an Indian goldsmith, with little bunches of pearls repre­ Out with die Police before breakfast. Not enough recruits. Non-stop office
senting dates, on a round silver base. It was an unusual and beautiful morning. G from die Residency about arrangements for the show next week when
ornament. I made a stumbling speech of thanks. I spoke so badly that Shaikh Sulman gets his K.C.M.G. Ahmed [a leading merchant) about trade
difficulties in Saudi Arabia. Director of Education on school affairs—an hour.
most of the audience thought that I was overcome with emotion; this
was
partly true. Shaikh A about some land which his retainer wanes to buy. Shaikh M complaining
that he owns no property so deserves larger allowance. Muharraq Municipal
We had other presents chat day. The girls’ schools gave Marjorie a fine
Secretary discussing operating new system of elections. Also came, couldn’t sec
Persian carpet and the Halaqa, a group of young Arabs who had studied
him, R.C. priest announcing Bishop’s arrival. Invited Bishop to lunch. An R.A.F.
at the American University of Beirut, gave me a cigar-box with a map about housing. Shaikh Hafiz Wahba arrived from London. Invited him to
man
of Bahrain, in silver, on the lid, encircled by a chain. * Halaqa’ means a link,
stay. Gardened after lunch. Dahlias from seed coming on well. Dinner at palace
hence the design. The judges in the court gave me a picture of the court tor visiting F.O. people. Had some of them to the house afterwards.
house in an inscribed silver frame. To conclude the celebrations we had a
cocktail party for about 200 people on the lawn in the gard en. At the end of 1951 and during part of 1952 much of my time was
On New Year’s Day 1952 Shaikh Sulman was created a K.C.M.G.; occupied in negotiations with BAPCO for a new fifty-fifty profit-sharing
he had been made a K.C.I.E. in 1943. To his, and other people’s, surprise oil agreement. The negotiations were long and wearisome and I was
this was not mentioned in the English papers. When I enquired about thankful when they were successfully concluded. It was difficult explain-
this omission I was told that honours granted to foreigners were not mg to Shaikh Sulman the ramifications of American Income Tax Law
published for fear of repercussions from abroad. This was a difficult which affected the discussions. He was present at many of them, and he
explanation to make to the Shaikh. I felt that it was ignominious that an displayed an aptitude for argument and bargaining which, after many
honour such as this conferred by Her Majesty on a friendly, though hours of talk, often left the American representatives completely ex­
hausted. Our income in 1951 was almost two-and-half million pounds, a
foreign, ruler should, to a certain extent, be kept secret.
In June of the same year I was promoted from a Commander to a far cry from the days when my budget was for £100,000.
Knight of the Order of the British Empire, and in July the Shaikh At this time Bahrain began to figure in the American and European
allowed me to go home for ten days to attend an investiture at Bucking­ Press and in books dealing with the Middle East. Many journalists visited
ham Palace. I had not expected to get a ‘K’, and when I was told about it Bahrain and gave it a good ‘write up’. It was only some of the Arab
by Sir Rupert Hay, the Resident, it was one of the pleasantest surprises in papers which were critical of the regime and the papers which abused it
my life. I am not one of those people who talk in a blase way about titles. were those which were politically Left.
I enjoyed immensely becoming ‘Sir Charles’ instead of being plain ‘Mr With a larger income it was possible to develop social services. A
Belgrave’. It was a long time since there had been a Belgrave with a ‘handle hostel for schoolboys was opened in 1951. It was designed by Major
to his name’ in the family. The last one was my ancestor Sir George Stanley Hills, who was for some years Director of Public Works. The
Belgrave, of Belgrave, in Leicestershire, who got into trouble with the architecture followed local style but the building, on four sides of a
Earl of Huntingdon and was arraigned before the Star Chamber in 1601. quadrangle, with arched cloisters, had a definitely collegiate appearance.
In December Marjorie was invited by the Bahrain Petroleum Com­ Several Englishmen, when they went over it, said how much better the
pany to launch the Caltex Bahrain, one of their new tankers. The Shaikh, accommodation was than at the public schools where they had been
knowing that it was cold in England, sent her some warm clothes on the educated. At the opening ceremony Marjorie, amongst other people,
made a speech from the platform in her capacity of Directress of Girls’
day before she left and two roughly cured fox skins, which was a very
r' :
kind thought. The launching took place in a snowstorm. She gave the Schools, thus making history by being the first woman to take an official
ship, as a memento, one of my water colours of Manama sea front and an part on a public occasion in Bahrain.
Arab silver coffee-pot. •Hills was also the architect of the new palace which was built a few
years later on the shore near Manama. It was not used by the Shaikh as a
Life in Bahrain continued to be interesting and varied. A typical day
residence but as a place in which to entertain guests. I had planned the
from my diary contains the following entries:
178 179

V.