Hussein Sheir (1 results)
More images[Mayor of Cardiff Visitors' Book] Visit of the Arabian Ambassador, 23 October 1942
Wahba, Sheikh Hafiz; Colonel S.F. Newcombe; Sheikh Hassan Ismail; Hussein Sheir; Cecil Francis; C.H. Wilmot
Published by (Mayor of Cardiff's Office), Cardiff 1942
- Manuscript
Seller: Dendera, London, United KingdomDendera
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Add to basketNo Binding. Condition: Very Good. A single leaf neatly extracted from the Mayor of Cardiff's Visitors' Book, laid paper with "WSH & Co British Hand Made" watermark, 30x27cm, with ms entries to each side. Very good with rough edge where the leaf was extracted, and horizontal fold crease. The delegation was led by Sheikh Hafiz Wah…ba (Saudi Arabian Legation), who signed first. Wahba (1889-1967) was Ibn Saud's long-standing Ambassador to the UK from 1930 until his recall by King Saud in 1956. The second signatory is Colonel S.F. Newcombe (30 Brechin Place, SW2). Stewart Francis Newcombe (1878-1956) had worked with TEL, Gilbert Clayton and the Sharif of Mecca during the Arab Revolt, and was one of TEL's pallbearers. He and his wife Elsie had moved to this address in Kensington upon his retirement from the Army in 1932, where he took up a civilian post with Turner and Newall, then in 1937 became involved in attempts to stop the violent confrontations in Mandatory Palestine through negotiation between the Zionist movement and prominent Palestinian Arabs. Accompanying them on this visit were Sheikh Hassan Ismail, Imam of the Cardiff Mosque and prominent Yemeni community leader (his name is also signed in Arabic), and his Secretary Hussain Sheir. Also present were C.H. Wilmot (British Council) and Cecil Francis (British Council, Cardiff). The purpose of the visit is not stated. However, on 16 July 1943 Wahba was back in Cardiff to declare open the Noor ul Islam Mosque in its temporary premises on Peel Street, Butetown. Photos in the IWM collection showing him at the ceremony with the above mentioned Sheikh Hassan Ismail among other dignitaries. The mosque had been built with Colonial Office and the British Council aid to replace the mosque that was destroyed in air raids in 1940 and 1941. An Islamic Cultural Centre was also built, and celebrations which included processions through the local area continued for three days (ref. IWM cat. no. D 15285 among others). It therefore appears likely that the 1942 visit to the Cardiff Mayor was in connection with these developments. The verso has signatures of other visitors on the same day, probably unrelated (Frank Lidington, Prince of Wales Theatre; A. Garrett, Sgt RAAF, NSW Australia; and FH Clarke, LAC RAAF, Mt Hawthorn, W. Australia).
