Among the more colorful and adventurous figures of his day, Oxford-educated William Gifford Palgrave (1826–1888) joined the British colonial army in India, converted to Roman Catholicism, and served as a Jesuit priest in India, Rome, and Syria. In 1862 and 1863, he traveled through Central and Eastern Arabia
as a spy, disguised as a Muslim physician from Syria, a journey he later detailed in a best-selling narrative. After renouncing his vocation as a Jesuit priest in 1865, he joined the British foreign service, serving in Türkiye, St. Thomas and St. Croix, Manila, Bulgaria, Bangkok, and Uruguay in subsequent years.