Doreen Ingrams

Doreen Ingrams (; 24 January 1906 - 25 July 1997) was a British writer whose pioneering survey-work in South Arabia led to a memoir, A Time in Arabia, and to the "Ingrams' Peace", a truce between warring tribes in the Hadhramaut in southern Arabia.

Early life The daughter of Edward Shortt MP, who was Home Secretary 1919-22, she became an actress, with friends including Michael MacLiammoir and Peggy Ashcroft. in 1930, she married Harold Ingrams, a colonial administrator, and she gave up her stage career to accompany him to his posting in Mauritius.

South Arabia In 1934 Harold and Doreen Ingrams were transferred to South Arabia, where Harold was charged with investigating conditions in the inland territory of the Aden Protectorate. They faced an unprecedented and challenging nine-week journey through an anarchic and feuding region, but travelling by donkey and camel, Mr and Mrs Ingrams succeeded in producing a detailed Report on the Social, Economic and Political Condition of Hadhramaut (1935), the earliest European account of the territory. In the course of this first trip, They were the first Europeans to travel through Sei’ar country and the Mahra hinterland - where on one occasion their lives were threatened by local tribesmen - and Doreen was the first European woman to enter Seiyun and Tarim. The report, which had the rare distinction of being the subject of a Times leading article, became the mainspring of closer British involvement in Hadhramaut and later in the Protectorate as a whole. Collectively, the output of Harold and Doreen Ingrams concerning South Arabia have made a unique contribution to the history and sociology of the region.

During the Second World War, the area suffered from famine. Doreen was directly involved in organising relief centres and emergency medical care in Mukalla (where she later established the first bedouin girls’ school with Al-Sia‘ad Al-Ameria) for the victims of famine, especially women and children.

At a reception in her honour in 1994 the members of the Arab Club in Britain presented her with a silver tray as a symbol of "her outstanding contribution to the promotion of Arab-British understanding". For their pioneer work in Southern Arabia Harold and Doreen Ingrams were awarded jointly the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society (1940) and the Lawrence Memorial Medal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs (1939) - the only time either organisation offered a joint award. In addition, Doreen received in 1993 the Sir Richard Burton Medal of the Royal Asiatic Society.