andrea's scrapbook
Life, images and links between advertising strategy and reading for modern society & global transformations at Cambridge .
The “fishing fleet” existed from the late 17th century when the East India Company first shipped women out to India to become brides for its officers. As India’s reputation grew as a place with a huge disproportion of men to available women, where even the plainest girl could find a mate, the company realised there was a business opportunity. British families were so desperate to unload “superfluous women” that rather than paying them to go to India, the company could actually charge those husband-seekers who were neither pretty nor rich enough to make a good match at home.
The Fishing Fleet by Anne de Courcy - review | Books | The Guardian
