IOR/R/15/2/181

This file contains correspondence between the British Political Agent at Bahrain; the British Political Resident in the Persian Gulf at Bushire; Dr R Holmes, Assistant Surgeon, Bahrain; Major Charles Geoffrey Prior; Deputy Secretary, Foreign and Political Department, New Delhi; and the Bahrain Council of Regency (Majlis al-wiṣāyah) consisting of Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah, Shaikh Salmān bin Ḥamad Āl Khalīfah and Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, Advisor to the Bahrain Government.

These correspondence concern the post of Agency Medical Officer at Bahrain held by Assistant Surgeon Dr R Holmes. Details include: extensions to his duty at Bahrain in 1932 (ff. 2-3), 1934 (ff. 7-9), 1936 (ff. 17-18, 26-28 and 30-34) and 1938 (ff. 38-45); the promotion of Holmes 1935-37 (ff. 10-16, 19-26 and 35-37); and transferring to the post of Residency Surgeon at Bushire in 1941 prior to his retirement (ff. 47-49).

Many of these correspondence take the form of recommendations and therefore contain details concerning the number of patients treated by Holmes and his duties, including his role as Quarantine Medical Officer and at the Victoria Memorial Hospital, treatment of Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah for diabetes, treatment of Baharinah (Shiite) women, medical work on the Trucial Coast, and his knowledge of Arabic and Persian. Folio 39 is a recommendation letter by the Bahrain Council of Regency and contains an example of Belgrave's Arabic seal.