Lessons in History: Sex Work, Crime & Corruption in Victorian Glasgow.
About this Event
History Doesn't Repeat. It Rhymes.
I have always struggled with the idea of repeating histories. I find it takes away the agency and experiences of those who lived through very different events, yet chained in similar power structures, and targeted by similar claims to moral superiority. The repetition is in the sound, not the shape.
Sex Work in Industrial Revolution Glasgow - The Thief, the Prostitute and the Gay House
What is a prostitute? What is a brothel? Was she importuning passers by? Or was she simply asking for directions late at night? We will look at the lives of women in Glasgow during the Industiral Revolution through groundbreaking new research uncovering stories not told since they were whispered in the city's brothels, shebeens and closes.
For this talk I have read over 38,000 primary sources including birth, marriage, death, census and Pr*son records, newspapers, medical journals, chapbooks and postcards. Through these records I have pieced together stories of women history didn't want to remember, that the city tried to suppress, who ultimately lived lives they should never have had to.
Together, we will explore the streets of Victorian Glasgow, up the wynds and closes, into the shebeens, the brothels and the dance halls. We will question power and "morality." We will uncover the deliberate mysteries of a brothel keeper named Ann, and how the crimes of a corrupt constable revealed the incredible life of a woman who spent her life in secrets. We will step into the world of the "Female Fagan" and "Queen of the Tontine Close," a woman who fought (quite literally) for her family. We will follow in the all too brief footsteps of an Irish immigrant named Lennie, who found herself in one of Glasgow's most notorious hospitals at just 14 years old, and the thousands of women the system decided to call "prostitute." Through intensive genealogical work, some Jessica Fletcher-esque detective work and some bloody good luck, we will explore their lives together.
12pm - Part 1
The Second City of Empire
An introduction to our city, how it grew, who lived there and the lives of the working classes.
Prostitue or Thief?
Most were neither, some were both. But what is a prostitute? And is there evidence of male prostitutes in Glasgow? (Spoiler alert: yes).
Close. Wynd. Lodging House. Poor House. Street.
Where did people live in Victorian Glasgow? How did corrupt landlords, an uncaring city and the newspapers drive desperation and decide whether or not you were "worthy" of help?
The Constable
"We are now assuming the case of an ordinarily honest, and not more than ordinarily stupid policeman" We meet Britain's first police force, "the funny handshake mob", corruption, violence, bribery: how could an organisation founded by the city's merchant class ever work in the best interests of the working classes?
Mythbusting & Handwringing
In a Post-Epstein world, we look at what we know and what we'll never know about people trafficking in Victorian Glasgow. Who were its victims? Who were the perpetrators? What did the papers say? And could it in fact happen to anyone?
The Female Fagan
Hide your pocket watches, lock away the linens and get home before dark as we meet the most notorious woman in Glasgow's criminal history. A thief, a gang leader, brothel keeper, shebeener and a regular inmate at Duke Street Pr*son, we'll meet a woman I have come to love for her brass neck, brazen thievery and battering three constables single handedly.
Keeping a Gay House
The Victorian Brothel will conjure the same image in your mind as it does mine: a smokey room, plush furniture, men drinking, women in corsets laughing, and a woman coquettishly leading a man up the stairs just in case you were in doubt about what kind of place this is. But how true is that? And what constituted a brothel in Victorian Glasgow?
1pm - Part 2
The Minette Mysteries
For fear of spoiling this, I'll keep it brief: here we take a walk through the most bizarre case of my historical career. A mystery which haunted me for months. A mystery I never thought I could solve. From Bath Street to the Rue Oudinot in Paris. From Ireland to Liverpool. From the home of a Tory MP and Inventor, to the doorstep of the City Chambers. Fraud. Bigamy. Trafficking. Together we will piece together the evidence of an entirely unknown woman in Glasgow's history.
Scotland in the Shadow of the Ripper
To be blunt: I will not talk about the who of Jack the Ripper. There is no good in that. But how did his misogyny, and the misogyny of the newspapers embolden men in Glasgow and beyond? And what parallels can be drawn between then and now in how the media's portrayal of society's most vulnerable opens the doors to hatred and violence?
The Fate of a Sex Worker
In my career I have done over 300 family histories, but what happens when the trail goes cold? As it went cold in more and more cases, I could only ask why? And who was responsible? How was a city as violent as Glasgow only reporting 2 murders per year? We will look at the evidence, the absence of evidence, the "sudden deaths", the nearly 100 drownings per year and ask the question: "What in the ever loving f- was happening to people in Victorian Glasgow?"
For the Treatment of Unfortunate Females
First of all, I want to say a huge thank you to historian Anna Forest, who gave me access to her personal archive to conduct this research. A hero of historical recovery, it's safe to say that without her work, we would know very little about Glasgow's Lock Hospital. Was that by design? And how does it link to the cold cases and disappearences in the city. And what does Protestantism have to do with all of that?
Final Words & Questions
Agenda
🕑: 11:30 AM
Arrival
Info: You can arrive any time between 11:30am and 12pm. Take time for coffee and a chat before the talk begins.
🕑: 12:00 PM
Talk begins
Info: The talk will begin at 12:00 sharp.
🕑: 12:45 PM
Comfort Break
Info: Stretch your legs, have a cup of tea, or the perfect time for an Irish goodbye.
🕑: 01:00 PM
Talk Resumes
Info: 1pm SHARP.
🕑: 01:45 PM
Questions & Event Close
Info: Please come prepped with questions. It's very awkward when you set time for questions and everyone shuffles in their seat. If you're worried about sounding daft, DON'T! Some of the best questions are the ones that sound daft.
Where is it happening?
GBP 8.00
