LAUSR

And what an amazing story she tells. Women started to go to India as early as 1617, increasing slowly in numbers thereafter; some went as wives of Company traders and officials, some as traders themselves (e.g. in cloth), and others simply as adventure-seekers. Later on, as sea communications improved, this trickle swelled to a steady stream. Many single ladies went East to find husbands (the “fishing fleet”), many others went as missionaries (or wives thereof), educators, and medical practitioners. There were also businesswomen. The consorts of senior Company and military figures were also personages of importance in expatriate, and indeed Indian, society.