Pineheath, the 40-bedroom mansion owned Sir Dhunjibhoy and Lady Bomanji, who were well-known figures in British high society at the start of the 20th century and were friends of the royal family, has been sold to a local businessman who plans to make it a family home again. Bethany Clarke/ Getty Images
Pineheath, the 40-bedroom mansion owned Sir Dhunjibhoy and Lady Bomanji, who were well-known figures in British high society at the start of the 20th century and were friends of the royal family, has been sold to a local businessman who plans to make it a family home again. Bethany Clarke/ Getty Images
Pineheath, the 40-bedroom mansion owned Sir Dhunjibhoy and Lady Bomanji, who were well-known figures in British high society at the start of the 20th century and were friends of the royal family, has been sold to a local businessman who plans to make it a family home again. Bethany Clarke/ Getty Images
Pineheath, the 40-bedroom mansion owned Sir Dhunjibhoy and Lady Bomanji, who were well-known figures in British high society at the start of the 20th century and were friends of the royal family, has

Dhunjiboy Bomanji’s Pineheath mansion opens a window on the past


James Langton
  • English
  • Arabic

Sir Dhunjibhoy Bomanji was a true son of the British Raj.

A Parsee shipping magnate from Bombay, knighted for his philanthropy, he was as comfortable in the countryside of his adopted Yorkshire as in his native India.

Once a well-known figure in English high society, his name and legacy were all but forgotten.

But perhaps not for much longer. For the world inhabited by Sir Dhunjibhoy and Lady Bomanji has been found almost perfectly preserved in their 40-bedroom mansion in the picturesque spa town of Harrogate.

“Pineheath” is where the Bomanjis would spend the autumn months, after a summer at their home in Windsor and before leaving to winter in Poona.

Today it is a time capsule, untouched since the death of Lady Bomanji in 1985, but with much of the interior and contents dating from the 1920s.

The death of their only daughter, Mehroo Jehangir, last year cast doubt on the future of Pinelands, but a local businessman has bought the house and plans to restore it as a family home.

As a result, the doors of Pineheath have been opened to the outside world for the first time in decades.

Inside is a world of privilege familiar to anyone who has watched an episode of Downton Abbey.

An internal telephone system summons servants to every corner of the house. The yellow labels still carry the names “Sir Dhunjibhoy’s Dressing Room” and “Lady Bomanji’s Bedroom”.

In the drawing room, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth shares space with an oil painting of Sir Dhunjibhoy, who died in 1937.

Some of the walls are covered with 80-year-old hand-painted wallpaper, with the monogrammed initials of the owner in gold leaf pressed into the plaster mouldings.

Still in the kitchen are sets of heavy-metal weights for scales, an antique cake-decorating set and a wall-mounted coffee grinder.

Invitations to 40-year-old society events sit on a table next to yellowing newspaper cuttings. A reel-to-reel tape player from the 1970s seems like a concession to modernity.

Sir Dhunjibhoy, who made his fortune in shipping and jute, was knighted in 1922 for his services to the British Empire, including financial support during the First World War.

In the same year, he presented an equestrian statue of the British commander Earl Hague to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Mehroo was born and educated in what is now Mumbai but made England her home, where she was known locally as Lady Harrogate.

Widowed by an air raid in the Second World War, she had no children. Mrs Jehangir never disclosed her age, but was believed to be in her 90s at the time of her death.

Among the more poignant relics in the house is a pile of keys, labelled with everything from tennis courts to an “expanding suit case”.

Those same suitcases and trunks, now covered in dust, are still stored in the luggage room, empty of everything but the memories of the long voyage between Yorkshire and Poona.

jlangton@thenational.ae

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.

Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.

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1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption. 

3. More tax audits

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4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

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9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations. 

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity. 

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

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