means 'a good judge'. Farrokh, on the other hand, means 'happy or fortunate' in Parsi and Persian. It is a pity that neither name's meaning seemed to occur for him.

His father, Bomi Bulsara, was a middle-ranking clerk working for the British. Keep in mind that at the time this was a highly-sought after position (working for the colonial masters) and one which brought better pay and prestige then local employ. It is also generally true that colonial people who worked for the British tended to try to live in the 'British Style' so that their 'masters' would not think them ignorant or savages. This upbringing would see Freddie assimilate quite comfortably into British society when he emigrated to England and would also cause him to consider himself British without the fierce nationalism that grew worldwide in the 50's to 70's.

Freddie's birth on the 5th of September 1946 was just after the end of the War in Europe and the beginning of the breakdown of Colonialism. It would take some

years before this breakdown would reach Zanzibar and Freddie's childhood on the island was remembered fondly by him on the rare occasions that he spoke of it. He was of an upper middle class family and, as did many of the colonial employees, had servants to look after them. Throughout his life he seemed to maintain this need to be looked after. Many families who lost everything through the nationalist movements in African countries, found the loss of servants the hardest to bear: a cross which led to resentment in many, and in others the desire to be rich or famous and once more enter that area of being waited on. Freddie achieved that, never learning to drive, not shopping for himself, and having dressers and 'personal assistants' to help him. In some ways, these people could be seen to be the servants from his youth and an attempt to once more regain the joy and happiness he had as a child.

Zanzibar was largely a self-sufficient agricultural community. In the austere post-war years, the Island would still have been fairly well-off without many of the strictures that existed in parts of Europe for years.