More than Officers and Officials: Britons in Occupied Egypt, 1882-1922.

Studies of the British in Egypt during the British occupation (1882-1922) have generally focused on the lives and exploits of the upper- and middle-class Britons who served in the military or in the civil service. Drawing from private papers, census data, court archives and business records, this article describes the socio-economic space inhabited by non-official upper- and middle-class Britons as well as those from the lower middle and working classes within the hierarchical structure of Egypt's British community. It discusses the income levels of British upper-middle-class lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers, bankers, businessmen, clergymen and missionaries; lower-class clerks, artisans and policemen; and working-class tradesmen, railway workers and domestic servants in the context of both their Egyptian and British socio-economic environment. The research also seeks to illuminate some of the hardship, inequality and snobbery that working-class Britons encountered in Egypt. Throughout the analysis, comparisons between the income levels for similar occupations of the British in Egypt and their counterparts in Britain are used to discern possible motivations for their working abroad. Since little research has been done regarding the non-elite Britons in Egypt during the occupation and particularly concerning those from the lower classes, this effort aims to be a useful contribution to knowledge of British imperial history and the colonial experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]