HO 144/1289/243437 and HO 334/62/24650

            Salman Aboudy Dellal was born in Baghdad on July 5, 1880. He had no record of his exact birthdate, since the Ottoman Empire lacked a “system of registration,” but surmised the date from what he learned as a boy. His parents were Aboudy Moshy (or Moshif) Dellal and Rahma Dellal, both Ottomans residing in Baghdad. His police report states that he could read, write, and speak English fluently, thanks to the “good education” he received as a boy.

            He arrived in England in July of 1905, settling in Manchester. Thereafter, he carried out business at different addresses on Lloyd Street, Queen Street, and Princess Street. He resided at 23 Mauldeth Road West, Withington (1908-1910), 31 Ladybarn Lane, Fallowfield (1910-1911) and Claremont Grove, Didsbury (1911-1913).

            He first established himself as a shipper of cotton goods to the Near East and became a member of the Manchester Royal Exchange, trading as S. A. Dellal & Company. The company consisted of himself and his father and uncle in Baghdad and had a capital of £5,000. Due to “bad speculation in cotton, and a sudden drop in trade in the East,” Dellal lost so much capital that he gave up business, paying all his creditors £20. He decided not to reenter the business and left for the U.S. to learn the fur trade (Dellal had relatives engaged in the business) as well as the Persian carpet business. In his naturalization application, he reported traveling to the U.S. twice, from December 1909 to February 1910 and again from October 1910- to February 1911. He apparently forgot to mention a previous trip to New York on December 5, 1908. The ship manifest from the latter trip identifies him as a 29-year-old shipping merchant and his “race or people” as “Hebrew.” The document also refers to a relative in New York named M. J. Somekh. On his second trip to New York, Dellal sailed in the company of several other passengers from the Ottoman Empire, including one fellow merchant (Aron Michel) and 8 fur merchants (Saul A., Abram Shashoua, E. J. Sashoua [the last names appear as “Shashona”], S. Settie, Sam H. Kallan, Solomon S. Schemtob, Solomon Somech, and J. Smouha). Since the family name of his future wife was Shashona, Abram and E. J.—and perhaps the other fellow Ottoman travelers as well—may have been Dellal’s relatives.

            Back in England, with his newly acquired knowledge of dealing in carpets and furs, Dellal engaged in purchasing these products and travelling the country, selling them to retailers, drapers, and a large number of private customers. He had no business premises, his transactions being conducted, so far as correspondence was concerned, from 20 Claremont Grove, Didsbury. He showed his stocks in hotel stock rooms. When he was not travelling, he kept his stocks in the Railway Company’s premises. At the time of his application in 1913, Dellal travelled throughout the United Kingdom, typically returning to Manchester on weekends. He declared in his application that after four years of hard work he had established a large connection and was in sound financial condition. That same year, Dellal sent for his brother from Baghdad to assist him with his Manchester business. Dellal’s sister came along, with imminent plans to marry and reside at Llandudno, Wales. In 1913, all three siblings resided together. On his naturalization certificate, Dellal identified his occupation as “Traveller.”

            Dellal first applied for naturalization as an Ottoman at age 33 in 1913 and was naturalized early the following year. In his application, he indicated that he was “practically on the eve of getting married to an Englishwoman.” This may have been Charlotte Shashona, whom he married in Chorlton, Lancashire in October 1917. His motivations for applying were that England, and especially Manchester, were his home, he had no intentions of returning to his native country, and he wished to “enjoy the political rights and other privileges of a naturalized British subject.” His referees were his physician, a salesman associated with the shipping business, a manager, and a cashier. These referees regarded Dellal “as a man of good business instincts, keen, and also one of good principle.” In June of 1919, Dellal sailed in first class from Glasgow to Busra (the Persian Gulf). He died on January 23, 1940 in Manchester, leaving his widow Charlotte Dellal to administer his estate, whose effects amounted to £206 11s. 1d.

            Subfiles 2-5 were destroyed. This file was originally classified until 1914.