dickson ... noble englishman,

the kuwaitis, the ruling family and the people, did not like or trust any englishman or american in their history but they trusted and loved the american missionaries and their spouses, who came to kuwait at the end of the first decade of the last century.
they also loved and admired harold richard patrick dickson, the british political agent to kuwait from 1929 until 1936, when he and his brilliant wife violet chose to stay there after the end of his official duties.
he died in 1959 at the age of 87 and was buried at a cemetery in al ahmadi before moving his remains to the british embassy gardens after the liberation of kuwait because as i was told by the meteorologist friend adel hassan the graves in the cemetery were affected by oil following the torching of the oilfields by the retreating iraqi army after kuwait was invaded by the stupidity of saddam hussein.
his wife, violet who was born in 1896, lived in kuwait during the days when there was no comfort, no electricity or water, not to mention the summer heat and the severe winter cold.
violet lived among us for 61 years and wrote about kuwait in more than a book, including her memoirs, and expressed her love for kuwait and the arabs by naming her eldest son saoud and her daughter zahra.
she was fortunate enough that she was not in kuwait during the iraqi invasion and occupation because at that time she was on vacation in england. she died in england and was buried there. a few years ago i along with my friend adel put a wreath on the grave of her husband dickson in the garden of the british embassy. harold dickson was born on feb 4, 1881 in beirut, where his father served as britain’s consul-general in jerusalem.
although he was a military man and served in more than one position and became a senior officer, before being appointed diplomat, politician and historian.
he had written several books that are considered important references today, whether related to kuwait’s history, its relations with its neighbors, and life of bedouins (nomadic arabs of the desert) in kuwait and the arabian peninsula.
dickson received his education at a school in oxford, then completed his education at wadham college in the university of the same city, joined the british cavalry in 1903 and served until 1915.
because of his knowledge of the middle east, dickson was transferred to the political department of the state department, a political agent in nasiriyah then bahrain, and then a political agent in kuwait in 1929. he remained in office until his retirement in 1936 to become a top local representative of the kuwait oil company until his death.
he served in india, then in the cavalry in iraq in 1914, and participated in operations that led to the capture of basra. when he moved to the foreign ministry, he was under the command of sir percy cox, who had a known negative role in determining kuwait’s current borders.
after the end of the first world war, dickson moved to bahrain as a british political agent. he returned to india in 1923 to serve as a secretary to the maharaja of the princely state of bikaner before becoming british political agent in kuwait.
the house where dickson and his family lived in kuwait is one of the most beautiful buildings in the old capital. violet dickson lived in that house until she left it shortly before the invasion of iraq. the national council for culture, arts and letters in 1992 transformed it into a beautiful historical museum worthy of visit.