 |  | | | Husband hunting in the days of the Raj | 17 Oct 2008 | | |
The ‘Fishing Fleet’ – women who went to India looking for love.
Many years ago, if you failed to find a husband during ‘the season’, your family might choose to put you on a boat to India so that you could have a second stab at getting hitched before it was too late. Your chances of finding a husband in India were pretty good as European men outnumbered European women by three to one. But if you failed in your quest, you had to go home labelled ‘returned empties’ and in serious danger of being left on the shelf. Women who went to India looking for a spouse were known as the ‘Fishing Fleet’ and – whilst researching for her novel East of the Sun – author Julia Gregson discovered that they were a robust and determined breed. She joins Sheila to talk about these desperate women and about the life led by memsahibs in India before independence. | |
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