Gertrude Bell (77 page)

When this book was just a vague idea, it was Valerie Pakenham, one-time colleague and longtime friend, who said “You must do it.” So I set about the writing with my husband, Christopher Bailey, sharing equally in the work. Simon Trewin of Peters Fraser and Dunlop has been more than encouraging. We have been immensely fortunate that Georgina Morley gave us the backing of Macmillan in London and has guided us with unfailing enthusiasm ever since. She took this slightly unusual style of biography in her stride, and with Sarah Crichton of Farrar, Straus and Giroux in New York edited it in masterly fashion.

When first writing about Gertrude Bell for
The Sunday Times Magazine
, I was privileged to be helped by Lesley Gordon, the late Archivist of the Robinson Library of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and custodian of the Gertrude Bell archive. It appears that she gave her life to the memory of Gertrude, writing the handbook and providing material for the British Council's Gertrude Bell exhibition in 1994. Authors and historians alike must be forever grateful for her “Gertrude Bell Project,” through which she raised funds for Gertrude's diaries, letters, and seven thousand photographs to be available on the Internet. When we wrote to tell her about the book, we were sad to discover that she had died. Nevertheless, we had the benefit of her help beyond the grave: her exhibition booklet
Gertrude Bell 1868–1926
is the best short guide you could hope to find.

Our searches for original documents were facilitated by the Robinson Library's patient librarians and archivists: Helen Arkwright together with Melanie Wood, Elaine Archbold, Frank Addison, and Alan Callender. The erudite Jim Crow of the School of Historical Studies at Newcastle University, another Gertrude enthusiast, helped us to grasp the essentials of Gertrude's contributions to archaeology and photography. In a very different field, Yvonne Sibbold of the Alpine Club and the climber Michael Westmacott kindly reviewed our chapter on Gertrude's climbs, an aspect of the book whose drama took some teasing from the detail of ledges and chimneys, arêtes and overhangs, in her writings. We are indebted to Timothy Daunt for guidance on the Gallipoli campaign,
and to Patricia Daunt, who walks in Gertrude's footsteps through the wilderness of sites she studied and loved in Anatolia.

Gwen Howell read every chapter as it was written, made salient comments, and found texts that had escaped professional researchers. Tom Buhler put at our disposal his grasp of the book-writing process at all stages, and developed the character of the book from the beginning. Charlotte Stafford's comprehensive understanding of book image also guided us from the first. Daniel Bailey contributed to our original conversations about the idea of a book on Gertrude, and has helped us with two years of encouragement, besides answering our occasional questions about military rank and practice. Alice Whittley has shown an enthusiastic interest and offered ideas throughout.

Gertrude's critics are quick to question her democratic credentials. We hope we confound them, but her attachment to the campaign against votes for women is hard to fathom some hundred years later. On both subjects, Joanna Morritt gave us well chosen texts.

Paul Miles placed Gertrude's Yorkshire garden schemes in the context of post-Victorian design, and explained the myth and legend of the mandrake.

While we were walking the overgrown site of the Bells' demolished Rounton Grange, by chance we met Gertrude's great-nephew Bob Richmond and his father, Miles. Their help, then and subsequently, has been considerable. Susanna Richmond, daughter of Gertrude's half-sister Elsa, lived for a time with Gertrude's parents, Hugh and Florence. She has given us many reflections and critical questions to consider. She still lectures about her aunt, and remembers a magical moment of empathy with her on her last trip to England. We have gained great pleasure from our visits to Patricia Jennings, Gertrude's niece, who remembers her with awe. At her home on the Trevelyan estate in County Durham, she showed us the family albums and the cedar of Lebanon that Gertrude brought home as a seed and planted on the lawn.

Sir John and Lady Venetia Bell, farming together the Yorkshire land acquired by Gertrude's grandfather, were extremely kind in showing us pictures and memorabilia. We are specially grateful to Venetia for introductions and guidance, photographs, and permissions. Dr. William Plowden kindly provided us with a wealth of anecdote and a valuable unpublished biography of Dame Florence Bell. We also appreciate the connections given to us by Nick Vester.

We would particularly like to thank the following: Jane Mulvagh and Anthony Bourne for wonderful hospitality and introductions; Anne-Françoise Normand for the historical identity of Iraq; Martin Brown, Secretary of Rounton Parish Council, for photography, and Terry Huck for showing us the Rounton festival displays. Malcolm Hamlyn of Edmund Carr has earned our gratitude for his professional advice throughout this project. When we stayed in Gertrude's childhood home, Red Barns, now a hotel, the proprietor Martin Cooper allowed us to crawl about in the cellars and attics where Gertrude played. While we were exploring the site of the Bell foundries at Clarence in Middlesbrough, Graham Bennet of the Bridge Museum showed us original footage of Sir Hugh and Lady Bell at the opening of the Transporter Bridge.

We are grateful to Mrs. Jane Hogan at Durham University Library for helping us with collections including the all-important letters from Gertrude to Valentine Chirol.
Gillian Robinson at the Imperial War Museum helped us find the last letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Doughty-Wylie about his wife.

Mrs. Abu Husainy at the National Archives, Judy Hunton at Redcar Public Library, Brenda Mitchell of Tyne Tees Television, Diana Wright of the Literary and Philosophical Society in Newcastle, David Spooner in the Cabinet Office, Julie Carrington at the Royal Geographical Society, and Helen Pugh of the Red Cross all earned our considerable thanks for their help. Jessica Stewart of Berkeley, California, did us a great service by sharing her transcripts of many of Gertrude's barely legible handwritten texts in the Bell Miscellaneous archive in the Robinson Library. Researcher Anita Burdett, a Middle East specialist, searched records in the National Archives, the Women's Library, the Red Cross archives, and the Imperial War Museum.

For their help and suggestions we thank Editorial Manager Georgina Difford and Kate Harvey of Macmillan; Zoe Pagnamenta of PfD, our agent in New York; and Claire Gill and Emily Sklar of PfD in London.

Amongst many lifelong friends in the world of books who have encouraged us with ideas and criticism we thank particularly Virginia Ironside, Jonathan Mantle, Jean Moore, and Nicky Hessenberg. Fiona McCarthy elucidated a reference of Gertrude's to Byron's goose. Reflections on Gertrude's character have provided a continuing source of discussion with Betty Woodall. Peter and Anthea Pemberton have heartened us with their continuing interest, as well as their occasional criticism for not writing the book on the back of a camel.

Note:
ill
. following an entry indicates that there is an illustration of the subject in the plate section.

GLB stands for Gertrude Lowthian Bell; WWI for World War I.

A

Abadan, Iran,
244

Abdiyah Hanem (mother of King Faisal),
335

Abdul Hamid, Sultan of Turkey,
335
,
337

Abdul Mahsin Bey, Iraq Prime Minister,
404

Abdul Rahman, Sayyid (the Naqib),
209
,
361
–62,
366
,
375
–76,
379
,
388
,
392
,
393

Abdullah (camel driver),
176
–77

Abdullah ibn Hussain, Amir: in Constantinople,
336

visits Storrs,
243

childhood,
335
,
336

and Arab Revolt,
337
,
339
–40,
343
,
359

suggested King of Iraq,
359

King of Transjordan,
365
,
368
,
398
–99

GLB meets,
398
–99

Abu Ghar, Iraq,
202
,
215

Abu Namrud (guide),
178

Adana, Turkey,
119

Addis Ababa, Abyssinia,
132
,
145
,
146
,
208
,
222

Admiralty, British: Intelligence Division,
160
–61,
236
–37,
238

Agail tribesmen,
107

Akhwan sect,
see
Wahabi sect

Al Arab
,
299

al-Muqtadir, Caliph,
210

Albania,
143
,
144
,
162

Aleppo, Syria,
110
,
119
,
313
,
314
,
358

Ali (camel driver),
173
,
174
,
184
,
193
,
200
–201

Ali ibn Hussain, Emir: in Arab Revolt,
335
,
337
–40

subsequently,
397

Ali Sulaiman, Sheikh, Chief of the Dulaim,
377
,
378

Allenby, Gen. Edmund, 1st Viscount of Megiddo,
344
,
346
–47,
349
,
355
,
357

Alpine Journal
,
86
,
92

Alps: French,
66
–67,
74
–79

Swiss,
79
–85,
86
–92

Amery, Sir Leonard (“Leo”),
387
,
415

Amida
(journal),
125

Amman, Jordan,
178
,
398

Anatolia, Turkey,
118
,
125
,
127

Anazeh tribe,
200
,
212
,
283
,
300
,
377

Anglo-Persian Oil Company,
244
,
333

animals,
187
–88,
297
–98,
315

dogs,
403
,
406
,
414

gazelle,
212
,
298

greyhounds,
298
,
315

horses,
97
,
298

see also
camels

Anti-Suffrage League,
72

Aphrodisias, Turkey,
128

Aqaba, Jordan,
122
,
344

Arab Bulletin
,
267
,
270

Arab Bureau, Cairo Intelligence Department,
240
–42,
244
,
246
–53,
254
,
270
,
271
,
308
,
341
;

“Intrusives”,
250
,
254
,
308

Arab Independence Movement,
247
,
254

Arab nationalism,
316
,
318
–25,
337
–38,
345
,
357

Arab Revolt,
242
–43,
246
,
247
–52,
254
,
338
–46

attitude of Indian government,
250
–51

Arabia (“Middle East”)
94
–96

in Sykes-Picot Agreement,
345

in San Remo Pact,
345

see also
desert, travelling in
and place names

Arabia
(ship),
160

Arabic language,
97
,
103
,
106
,
109
,
292

archaeology,
73
,
103
,
111
,
112
–14,
123
,
124
–25,
127
–29

GLB at Carchemish,
125

Director of Antiquities in Iraq,
410
–11,
416

Areh village, Jordan,
104

Armenians,
122
,
322
–23

Ashur, Mesopotamia,
126

Asir, Saudi Arabia,
336

Asquith, Herbert H., 1st Earl of Oxford, British Prime Minister,
71

Auda abu Tayyi, Sheikh,
344

Awali, massacre,
339

Awwad,
188

B

Babylon, Iraq,
110
,
124
,
131
,
210
,
403

Baghdad: history,
210

GLB visits,
1909
,
110

under Turkish rule,
279
,
289
–90

GLB in,
1914
,
207
–11

British occupy,
1917
,
272
,
276
,
288
–89,
291
–92,
309

Indian army surrounds,
280

GLB moves,
272
,
274
–75