'A Grandfather's Tale: Memoirs being mainly concerned with service in the Indian Army and the Indian Political Service in India and the Persian Gulf from 1932-1947' [‎53v] (106/118)

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presence of the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. who as ex officio Registrar of Marriages was
the only person on the Island other than an Anglican Cnaplain authorised
to perform such a marriage. This was because Bahrain had, in the distant past,
come under the jurisdiction of the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. , and so far as
Christian marriages were concerned, was still subject to an obscure piece of
legislation known as the Bombay Marriage Act. When I discovered what had
happened, I telephoned the couple the next morning, asking them to come
down immediately to the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , as I had something of vital
importance to tell them. When they arrived I informed them of the situation,
took them up to our Drawing room and, in the presence of Jane (prised away
from her last minute packing) and of an Anglo-Indian clerk, proceeded myself
to remarry them.. Having done this I gave them the necessary documents, and
we then produced a bottle of champagne and drank their health. They were,
in fact, the only couple I had ever married in my life, but in the Political
Service one had to be prepared to do anything in an emergency, and they were
duly grateful.
I viewed the end of the Indian Political Service The branch of the British Government of India with responsibility for managing political relations between British-ruled India and its surrounding states, and by extension the Gulf, during the period 1937-47. and my own service in
it with great sadness. I was then still only thirty-five. It had been a life
full of interest whether one was serving as a District Officer in Baluchistan,
or as a Political Officer in an Indian State, such as Baroda, or in the Persian
Gulf. The work was infinitely varied and I can never remember being bored,
even though one was, at times, extremely uncomfortable. Midsummer in Bahrain
was like living under a warm damp blanket of cotton wool, with a temperature,
even at midnight, close to 100 ° and in the daytime up to 120 °, with nearly
100$ humidity. In Agra, where I had done my civil training, the climate was
drier, but before the rains came in July, even hotter, so hot in fact that
the cutlery on one’s dining table was almost too hot to handle, and the chicken
in the compound went around with their beaks perpetually wide open.
We were, I think, well-trained, both in the field, in Secretarial duties,
and in the social niceties. As regards the latter I can remember one very
formal occasion when white ties and full evening dress were de rigueur and
an unfortunate guest arrived in a dinner jacket. Two of us then immediately
slipped away and changed into dinner jackets to keep him company. We were
taught, too, to take responsibility at an early age, and this was brought home
to me soon after I joined the Service. Some very tricky point had arisen and
I went to my Resident for advice. Having heard what I had to say, he just
looked at me and snorted, ”Boy, What do you think you are paid for? Go away
and make up your own mind”. I never forgot this admonishment and have done
my best to act on it for the rest of my life. I am grateful, too for having
had the good fortune to meet so many interesting people, well known and
otherwise, in such varied places. Had I remained a regimental officer my life
would have been much narrower.
On the whole we did, I think, a good job often with fairly limited
resources, and from a purely selfish point of view I should have been happy
to go on serving in India and the countries roundabout for another twenty or
twenty—five years. As it was one realized that India must have her
independence sooner rather than later but I think our quick scuttle did immense