Mrs Islay Mason-MacFarlane, Budapest 1931-1934

British Military Attaché Wife’s Diary & Hungarian Government Identity Card

Diplomatic and military circles, travel, social and family life

A fascinating and highly collectable manuscript diary, written by Mrs Islay Mason-MacFarlane, wife of Noel Mason-MacFarlane, British military attaché in Budapest during the inter-war years.

The diary includes detailed typed and handwritten entries, gruelling European motoring and more luxurious Orient Express rail journeys, visits to her husband’s WWI battle grounds and cemeteries, British diplomatic and military social life, meetings with government officials and Hungarian officers, Budapest legation life, hotels, parties, holidays, occasionally meeting their children from boarding school, and the author’s rare, original Hungarian photo identity card.

The front cover bears the handwritten label: “I.M.McF. Budapest Diary 1931-1934”

The diary is accompanied by Islay’s original identity card, issued on 31 November 1930, showing a seated portrait photograph and official stamps. This emphasises the provenance and appeal of the diary as a unique personal diplomatic archive, which should appeal to collectors interested in:

militaria — diplomacy — Hungary — Budapest — identity documents — manuscript diaries — inter-war Europe — British intelligence history — travel history — embassy and legation social life

For collectors of women’s history and travel writing, it is also attractive as the first-hand record of a British woman moving through diplomatic society in Central Europe during a highly charged historical period.

The Identity Card

Issued by the Hungarian Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Diplomatic Identity Card / Carte d’Identité identifies Mrs McFarlane as a British national “attaché neju-spouse de l’attaché Militaire Britannic à Budapest”. Showing signs of age-related wear and marks, the card features her photograph, official stamps, and punched eyelets, and should appeal to collectors of:

• Identity documents
• Diplomatic ephemera
• Travel permits
• Passport / ID card collectors
• Hungary and Budapest memorabilia
• Inter-war European paper history
• Women’s travel and social history

Noel Mason-MacFarlane

Noel Mason-MacFarlane was a significant British military figure. He was a senior British Army officer and his wartime appointments, included with BEF as Director of Military Intelligence based at GHQ in France 1939-40, attaché at the British military mission in Moscow and later as Governor of Gibraltar.

This diary belongs to the earlier and highly collectable Budapest period, when Mason-MacFarlane was serving as British military attaché in Central Europe.

Diary Description

• Government issue identity card
• Original period diary / cloth covered ring binder / 26 x 23 cm
• Date range: 1931-1934
• Written by Mrs Islay Mason-MacFarlane
• Wife of Noel Mason-MacFarlane, Lieutenant-General Sir Noel Mason-MacFarlane.
• Cover label: “I. M. McF Budapest Diary 1931-1934”
• Includes 12 typed diary pages
• Includes 100 neat and legible handwritten manuscript diary pages
• Sold exactly as shown in the photographs

Condition

Good original period condition overall, with clear signs of age and use. Please note:

• Light wear and rubbing to the cover
• Age marks and spotting to some pages
• Six initial pages are loose where punched holes have worn
• General signs of use consistent with a working private diary

A rare named inter-war diplomatic diary from the private circles of a famous British military attaché. Such 1930s Central European diaries are rarely encountered, and this example has the provenance and exactly the kind of named association and pre-war atmosphere that should appeal to many collectors.

Please request a more detailed provenance, which is available on request if required