IOR/R/15/6/58

The file contains correspondence in the form of telegrams, reports and letters regarding the appointment of a new Financial Advisor to Muscat State instead of Bertram Thomas whose contract ended in 1930. Among the names suggested by the High Commissioner in Baghdad was Stuart Edwin Hedgcock who was serving in Iraq at the time and who had a thorough knowledge of Arabic. The correspondence in the file contains discussions regarding the financial status of the Council of Ministers, Muscat, before Hedgcock starting his position as a Minister, and the terms and conditions of his contract, in particular his salary and annual leave allowance in comparison to Thomas’s.

The file also contains correspondence between Thomas and Hedgcock to set the former’s account and recovery of payment of his sea trips allowance. Upon taking his position Hedgcock provided a report titled ‘Levy Budget: Précis of Events’ (ff 123-128), in which he raised a few requests to the British Government which eventually were not answered. As a result, Hedgcock decided to resign in April 1931. Hedgcock’s resignation question went back and forth between British officials, the Council of Ministers and Hedgcock. Initially British officials were inclined to accept his resignation and tried to convince the Council to do so. Later in the correspondence Hedgcock decided to withdraw his resignation letter in agreement with the British Government. The Council of Ministers refused Hedgcock’s withdrawal and confirmed that his service to the State of Muscat terminated on 30 June 1931. The Council approved the payment of three months’ salary as leave pay and halting allowance for the time Hedgcock was in Muscat after June 1931. The file also contains revised budget estimates of Muscat State for the year 1931 (ff 227-230) prepared by the Political Agent, Muscat.

Folio 120 contains a letter that is incorrectly dated 8 April 1920 from Bertram Thomas to the Political Agent, Muscat, discussing sea passage allowance. Thomas was appointed as a Financial Advisor in 1925. There is a copy of the same letter on folio 56 of file IOR/R/15/6/57.

The majority of the correspondence is dated 1930-1931; the earlier start date given to the file is due to a letter (f 118) from the India Office to Bertram Thomas. Thomas provided this letter as an attachment to a letter he sent to the new Financial Advisor, Stuart Edwin Hedgcock, to support his claim for travel allowance.