Jack,
Yes, the notebook is fascinating. Hay was a highly intelligent man, a perfectionist in comedy and astronomy, and totally different to the bumbling characters he portrayed in films. Unfortunately he became so busy with films in the 1930s that astronomy had to take a back seat and then his health declined just as WWII ended, and just as he was elected to the BAA Council. See: http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/2009JBAA..119…67M/0000067.000.html
Regards,
Martin