British Empire Discussion

Hi. No Gin and Tonic in the house, sorry. But I do have a cup of tea. I am doing research for a novel and am curious about British Empire functionaries during the early part of the twentieth century (immediately before WWI). Specifically, can you suggest a functionary or diplomatic job that would have been suitable for a man of relative good breeding? Something that would have involved travel through Africa and the Near East, and which would have maybe allowed them to bring their wife along.
Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

A few things spring to mind. First of all, a District Commissioner would involve some travel to his area, but then he would stay fairly stationery in his area. I think a better one might be a political agent. These would also allow your character to 'leave' the empire as they were often assigned to areas that Britain had an interest in but didn't actually want to bother with all the hassle of occupying the territory. They were also used widely in India for the bits of India that weren't in the Raj - the so-called princely states. They could be surprisingly powerful people but through advice and the threat of force or the withholding of support for rulers.

An example might be William Henry Irvine Shakespear who was the Political Agent for the Gulf region immediately before the war. I have seen a very interesting photograph of his wife being carried ashore to Kuwait by servants at the turn of the century as they didn't yet have ports or any docking facilities. It is quite comical and would make an interesting anecdote.

You could always go the journalist route as Kipling and Churchill both did - that would also allow them to cross over into other territories and empires too and not be confined to the British Empire.