William Richard Williamson facts for kids
William Richard ("Haji") Williamson was an English adventurer who became an important representative for an oil company in the Persian Gulf region. He was known for his amazing travels and for adopting the local customs and way of life.
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Early Adventures of William Williamson
Williamson's early life was full of exciting adventures. He was born in Bristol, England, in 1872. When he was just 13, he left school and joined his uncle's tea-clipper ship, sailing to Australia and the United States.
When the ship stopped in San Diego, Williamson decided to stay. He found work on a farm near Los Angeles and later with his aunt. He even tried to find gold in the Nevadas, but it didn't work out. After that, he went to San Francisco and joined a cargo ship heading to France.
After a short visit to France, Williamson returned to California through the Panama Canal. He tried different things, like investing in a railway company (which wasn't successful), performing in a show, and even trying boxing. But soon, he went back to sea.
Williamson became a sailor on a whaling ship that sailed to the Bering Straits. After an eight-month trip, he returned to San Francisco. Then, he joined a trading voyage to the South Seas and lived for a while in the Caroline Islands, trading in sea-cucumbers. He faced some difficulties there but managed to leave and continued his journey. He eventually boarded a British ship going to Hong Kong.
He continued his life at sea as a quartermaster on the SS Chusan. After a brief stop in Bombay, India, he sailed on the SS Siam to the British colony of Aden. Once there, he joined the Aden Constabulary, a local police force. Williamson was very interested in Islam and studied it in Aden. After a year, he formally became a Muslim, taking the name Abdullah Fadhil. The authorities in Aden were not happy with his decision, so he left the Constabulary and went to India.
Trading and Pearl Diving
After leaving the Constabulary, Williamson became a trader, buying and selling camels and horses in Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait. With the money he earned, he was able to join the Hajj caravan to Mecca in 1894. This journey earned him the nickname "Haji," which means someone who has completed the Hajj pilgrimage.
Later, Williamson traded horses with the British Army in Bombay and brought foreign goods to his home in Zubair, Iraq. Once, he caused a stir when he rode a penny-farthing bicycle (a very tall bicycle with a large front wheel) into the local market, as no one there had ever seen one before!
His relationship with the British changed over time. They sometimes suspected him of trading illegal weapons in the Persian Gulf. However, they also used him as a secret agent and a spy hunter during World War I. As years passed, his trading activities in the Persian Gulf became more official. He bought a traditional boat called a dhow and made many trips around the Persian Gulf. He often met British Royal Navy ships that were trying to stop the illegal trade of weapons and other forbidden goods.
Williamson also tried his luck in the pearling business. He joined the large pearling fleet in the Persian Gulf. The main pearling season, called al-Ghaus al-Kabir ("The Big Dive"), lasted from May to September. During this time, about 4,000 dhows of different sizes, like the regular sambuk and the larger boum and baghlah, would sail from various ports. Each boat had a master, a mate, divers, and apprentices, all working to find valuable pearls. This venture wasn't very successful for Williamson, and with a large family to support, a steady job became very appealing.
Working in Kuwait
Joining the Anglo-Persian Oil Company
In the 1920s, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (a big oil company) was trying to gain influence in Kuwait. They were competing with another important person, Major Frank Holmes. The company's director, Sir Arnold Wilson, remembered Williamson from his time in Iraq. He thought Williamson, an Englishman who had adopted Arab customs, would be perfect to help the company deal with local Arab leaders.
So, Wilson offered Williamson a job. Williamson had already started dressing and living like a town Arab. But when he met with Westerners for business, he would wear a navy-blue suit with an Arab headdress, which was a unique mix of cultures at the time.
In 1924, Anglo-Persian gave Williamson a house in Abadan and named him "Inspector of Gulf Agencies." They sent him to Kuwait to convince the local sheikh's (ruler's) advisers to support Anglo-Persian instead of Major Frank Holmes. He also helped the Anglo-Persian representative, Archibald Chisolm, in important discussions. Williamson tried to counter Holmes's influence by offering free meals and gifts to the sheikh's advisers. However, in 1933, Anglo-Persian joined forces with Gulf Oil, and Williamson was not involved in the final discussions. In 1935, the two companies successfully signed an oil agreement with the sheikh.
Rivalry with Major Frank Holmes
Frank Holmes, a mining engineer from New Zealand and Britain, was already well-respected by the Arab leaders in the Gulf. Even though Holmes and Williamson worked for competing oil companies (Holmes for Gulf Oil and Williamson for Anglo-Persian), they were quite similar. Both were independent and understood the Arab perspective well.
However, they strongly disliked each other and had a big rivalry. Williamson even felt his life was in danger sometimes because of this rivalry. But mostly, their competition played out through grand lunches they hosted for the important people involved in the oil negotiations.
Oil Deals in Qatar and Abu Dhabi
In 1925, Williamson worked as an interpreter and guide for Anglo-Persian's survey of Qatar, led by George Martin Lees. Williamson returned to Qatar in 1934 with another Anglo-Persian representative, Charles Mylles. Their goal was to get an oil agreement from the ruler, Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al-Thani. The discussions were difficult, and Mylles had to return later to finalize the agreement on May 17, 1935.
Williamson also helped Anglo-Persian geologists (scientists who study rocks and the Earth) on their first visits to Abu Dhabi in 1934. He was responsible for signing the first oil agreement for Abu Dhabi in January 1935. He went back in 1936 to guide another oil survey for a company called Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Limited.
One of the geologists described their arrival: "We landed from the Gulf mail steamer at Dubai after waiting a day and night for one of the most violent storms of thunder and rain we had ever experienced to pass." He added, "During the first few months in Dubai, we were told never to leave the house without an armed escort. We were the first Europeans to live in the town, and it was thought best to slowly get the local people used to our presence."
The group traveled inland with the sheikh and his followers, who often used these trips as an excuse for hunting. "We had our two cars, plus the sheikh’s car and at least one other, all filled with his men, 6 or 8 to a car. Each man had his bag of belongings and his rifle. We also had to find space for cooking pots and one or two hawks. Once, a large saluki (a type of greyhound dog) was also squeezed in. Our paths followed camel trails, which were the only tracks around. Since most of the country was sand, the cars often got stuck."
However, British officials began to suspect that Williamson was favoring the local sheikhs more than the oil company's interests. By 1937, five Gulf sheikhs still needed to sign oil agreements. At this time, Frank Holmes was working for Petroleum Concessions Ltd (PCL), a company connected to the Iraq Petroleum Company. Williamson, who also worked for PCL, started to work against Holmes.
Williamson sent a letter to the sheikh of Ras al-Khaimah, encouraging him to demand better terms from PCL. This letter was secretly found by the British. Williamson also sent a man to the sheikh of Kalba to make him resist the company more strongly. For the British Political Resident, this was too much. On July 27, he wrote that it was "undesirable that Williamson should be employed anywhere on the Arab coast." So, Williamson retired from company life and returned to his family and a peaceful life in his house in Zubair.
Later Life and Passing
Williamson married twice, with one wife from Zubair and another from Baghdad. He had several children. He lived a typical Arab life at Kut-el-Hajjaj near Basra. There, he oversaw the daily work on his date palm and orange tree plantations. He enjoyed spending time with his children and grandchildren. He also liked to read adventure stories, like "Two-Gun Pete." He remained a devoted Muslim and often visited the Ashar Mosque in Basra. He passed away in 1958.
A Conspiracy Theory
In recent years, a conspiracy theory has appeared. It claims that the British secretly supported Ayatollah Khomeini in overthrowing the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in 1979. Part of this theory suggests that Khomeini was partly British, being a son of Haji Williamson. However, there is no strong evidence, like DNA evidence, to prove this theory.
Images for kids
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Mecca, around 1910. A view of the Kaaba with many pilgrims.
