8
post-Edwardian era that they had little opportunity to prepare for any
occupation other than that of wife and mother. They were paraded before
London society as debutantes, strictly chaperoned, but they were never
permitted to use the glittering parties and balls they attended as occasions
for making the same influential contacts that their young male counter-
parts could exploit to further their prospects, including those of overseas
assignments and careers. Normally, young women never learned oriental
languages or even travelled beyond the European continent. They seldom
attended university, received professional training, entered government
service, or socialized in London’s club land. The rare exceptions were the
daughters of colonial families, who may have enjoyed the advantage of
having experienced social and cultural diversity in the colonies and may
perhaps have returned home with a smattering of, say, Hindi or Urdu,
learned in early childhood from their ayahs, as well as some degree of
Fig. 1.1 Diplomatic privilege: Sir Kinahan Cornwallis and his embassy staff.
Baghdad, 1940s. Source: GB165-0228 Perowne Alb no. 17, Middle East Centre
Archive, St Antony’s College, Oxford