As a youth I had it pointed out to me on many occasions that anyone can make a mistake - but only a fool makes the same mistake twice. As this is now a more or less universally accepted truth either it was discovered too late to be of service to Dum or, perish the thought, he was a bit of a fool himself. Having jumped from the frying-pan and into the fire but escaped from both once before, here he is again, back in the frying-pan. The corollary of course is that Dhunjibhoy was a thoroughgoing shit. In spades. Not to mention being exploitative, ruthless, dishonest, and motivated by greed and his own pathetic self-aggrandizement. That is my unbiased opinion anyway! whereas Dum put it somewhat more diplomatically in a letter to “Auntie May” dated 10 July 1927; Dhunjibhoy is a funny chap, and has a way of working totally different from what any one could or would expect, and without wishing to strain the point I am sure he looks upon me as one of his best friends, and if anything happened to me Elsie would never be in want. Huh! In another letter, written only 3 months later dated 17 October; Dhunjibhoy is of course not one that any one would admire but natives are natives and as such he is better than many...
There was a bit of mopping up to do on Dum's retreat from London to Windsor.
| 1929 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 14 December | Closed business at Luxtun as house was sold | |
| 19 December | Auction sale | 1 |
| 23 December | Completion date. House handed over to buyer | |
- Of furniture from Luxtun
to which Dum added the following summary. We held No. 32 [Belsize Court] for 5¼ years from Sept 1924, and ran it as an hotel for 4¾ years from 1st March 1925. Sold for £1800 After expenses and fees the balance on sale was £1712-12-8. Christmas, at the Willows Cottage with Nelson and W.P. must have been a comparatively jolly affair.
| 1930 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 21 April | Salary increased £100 to £500 | 1 |
| 4 December | Mrs Soundy to Cottage | |
| Christmas | At Willows Cottage. Mrs Soundy, W.P., Nelson and self. | |
| 1931 | ||
| 12 April | Came to bed | 2 |
| 15 April | to hospital | |
| 20 April | Returned home | |
| 21 April | Resumed duties at office | |
| 22 September | Nelson to Imperial Service College | 3 |
| Christmas | At Willows Cottage. Summer weather, all windows open, bright sun Temp. 60. Bruce, W.P., Nelson and self. | |
| 30 December | Nelson smashed teeth. | 4 |
| 1932 | ||
| 25 January | Notice from Bombay that salary reduced to £400 | |
- Not really a ‘rise’ because Dhunjibhoy had persuaded him to close his London business in return for the extra £100
- In 1923 it will be remembered that in his letter to the Forth Conservancy he said he had never been off duty through sickness at any time - but then in a letter to the Air Ministry seeking work in 1939 he wrote I am 60 and have never been ill...
- Haileybury & I.S.C. - public school on the edge of Windsor.
- Presumably his own! as opposed to Dum's or someone else's.
