Stewart Perowne
Stewart Henry Perowne
Early life
Born in
Perowne was educated at
Diplomatic career
Perowne later served in Malta, Aden, Iraq, Barbados, Libya and Israel.
During his diplomatic postings he designed stamps for Malta (1936), the Aden Protectorate (1938), Barbados (1949), Libya (1951), and currency notes for the West Indies Federation (1949) and Libya (1951).[5]
Marriage
Because of his career as a diplomat it was expected that Perowne should marry. As a homosexual he decided to embark on a mariage blanc, more specifically a lavender marriage, and on 7 October 1947 he married the explorer and travel writer Freya Stark at St Margaret's church in Westminster. She was his senior by eight years and had been his assistant in Yemen when he was Information Officer. Stark's biographer has argued that she may not have known of Perowne's homosexuality, and of his taste for men in uniform.[7][8][9] "In 1947 people's sexual proclivities were still part of their private lives and … no one among Freya's friends seemed able to warn her of the pitfalls of marriage to a homosexual."[10] Confused as to why Perowne would not sleep with her, she wrote to him, "I think you have left something lying between us, untold. Whatever it is, it will not make me think less of you or care less for you." Eventually, after skirting around the subject, he wrote to her:
It is difficult to say what "normal" is – my friend a counsellor of St George's Hospital always refuses to use the word and in both men and women, you have a wide and graded range from ultra-male to ultra-female with naturally most people in the middle ranges ... Now for myself, I put myself in the middle group. I have ordinary male abilities. I like male sports some of them, and I love the company of women. In fact, I find it hard to exist without it. At the same time, I am occasionally attracted by members of my own sex – generally. For some even pleasurable reason – by wearers of uniform.[11]
Despite their similar interests the marriage could not survive and they divorced in 1952.[citation needed] There were no children.
Later years
In 1947 Perowne was appointed Colonial Secretary to
Perowne's closing years were spent in the Distressed Gentlefolks' Aid Association's care home in Vicarage Gate, Kensington, London. He died in 1989 at Charing Cross Hospital in London aged 87 years old.[4] He was survived by his former wife, Freya Stark.
Publications
- Notes on Three Tablets in the "Ta Giesu" Church, Rabat, Malta (1937)
- The One Remains: On Jerusalem Hodder & Stoughton, London (1954)
- The Life and Times of Herod the Great Hodder & Stoughton, London (1958)
- The Later Herods Hodder & Stoughton, London (1958)
- Hadrian Hodder & Stoughton, London (1960)
- Caesars and Saints Hodder & Stoughton, London (1962)
- The Pilgrim's Companion in Rome. The Ancient City Hodder & Stoughton, London (1964)
- The Pilgrim's Companion in Athens Hodder & Stoughton, London (1964)
- The Pilgrim's Companion in Jerusalem and Bethlehem Hodder and Stoughton, London (1964)
- Jerusalem & Bethlehem Phoenix House, London (1965)
- The Political Background of the New Testament Hodder & Stoughton, London (1965)
- The End of the Roman World Hodder & Stoughton, London (1966)
- The Death of the Roman Republic Hodder & Stoughton, London (1969)
- The Siege Within the Walls : Malta 1940–1943 Hodder & Stoughton, London (1970)
- Rome, From Its Foundation to the Present Paul Elek Productions, London (1971)
- The Journeys of St. Paul Hamlyn, London (1973)
- The Caesars' Wives : Above Suspicion? Hodder and Stoughton, London (1974)
- The Archaeology of Greece and the Aegean Hamlyn, London (1974)
- Roman Mythology Newnes, (1983)
References
- ^ Geniesse, Jane Fletcher Freya Stark Passionate Nomad Random House, Inc (2000) (p. 328) Google Books
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press (2004) accessed 26 September 2012
- ^ Perowne in the London Gazette 23 June 1931 (p. 4072)
- ^ a b Perowne's obituary in The New York Times 16 May 1989
- ^ a b c d e Perowne on the British Museum Collection Database
- ^ Perowne, Stewart 'Im'adiya and Beihan, Aden Protectorate', Antiquity No. 13 (1939), pp. 133–37)
- ^ M. Izzard, Freya Stark: a biography (1993)
- ^ Geniesse, p. 295
- ^ 'Travelling tales of a reluctant virgin' The Observer 5 December 1999
- ^ Izzard, p. 210
- ^ Geniesse, p. 336
- ^ Perowne in the London Gazette (p. 273)
- ^ Perowne in the London Gazette 7 January 1955 (p. 158)
- ^ Travellers' Club Membership Book, published 1992.
- ^ "Who made the Conway Library?". Digital Media. 30 June 2020. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- 'Who Was Who, 1981–1990', p. 592.