Record Number: 33569

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'When we returned to Mukalla from the East Indies there was more work than ever; the war meant a number of new regulations which had to be enforced including the censorship of letters. Every morning Muhammad Ba Matraf, the Residency interpreter, and I sat down to large batches of letters addressed to East Africa, India, Aden, or the East Indies. They were sad letters, mostly written on behalf of women whose husbands had left them penniless and to soften the heart of an errant husband they often included the footprint of a child he had perhaps never seen; but the letters were unlikely to be of interest to an enemy, though just occasionally there were remarks about local events which had to be cut out.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1939 and 31 Dec 1939

Country:

Yemen

Time

morning
daytime

Place:

city: Mukalla
county: Mukalla
specific address: Residency
location in dwelling: Office room

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Doreen Ingrams

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

24 Jan 1906

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Wife of the British political agent of Aden and daughter of the Liberal Home Secretary, Edward Shortt

Occupation:

Writer, traveller, Arabist, and aide to the political agent in Aden

Religion:

Christian

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

Yemen

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

[Anon] [Anon]

Title:

[letters]

Genre:

Unknown, private letters

Form of Text:

Manuscript: Letter

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown
read by Doreen Ingrams in Mukalla in her role as official censor

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Source Information:

Record ID:

33569

Source:

Print

Author:

Doreen Ingrams

Editor:

n/a

Title:

A Time in Arabia: Life in Hadhramaut

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

2013

Vol:

n/a

Page:

93

Additional Comments:

Pagination is from the 2013 new edition. First publication in London by John Murray, 1970.

Citation:

Doreen Ingrams, A Time in Arabia: Life in Hadhramaut, (London, 2013), p. 93, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33569, accessed: 13 March 2025

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Additional Comments:

Doreen Constance Ingrams nee Shortt (1906-1997) was the wife of the British political agent Harold Ingrams and acted as the official censor of outgoing mail in the Mukalla residency after the outbreak of World War Two.