A Victorian Drama You will not Believe
Hidden in the pages of a very serious
magazine called History Today, I found a review of a book called Fanny and
Stella. The story looked irresistible, so I persuaded the author Neil McKenna
to come along for a chat about it. First let me tease you with one of the
opening paragraphs:
Miss Stella Boulton was seemingly the
younger of the pair and was resplendent in a brilliant scarlet silk evening
dress trimmed with white lace and a white muslin shawl. Miss Stella Boulton was
more than just pretty. In the glittering, flattering, faceted lights of the
Strand’s Saloon bar she was quite beautiful. She was tall and slender, with a
narrow waist and a magnificent bosom, her finely-shaped head topped by raven
hair fashionably dressed in the Grecian style with coils of plaited hair held
in place by a crosshatch of black velvet. Her pale face was captivating with
large liquid violet blue eyes, just a becoming blush to her cheeks, perfect
full ruby lips and pearly white teeth. She seemed to scintillate and shine like
a star and the men could hardly take their eyes off her. If she was indeed a
whore, she was an exceptional whore. A veritable queen among whores.
J. Mmh - I'm getting interested, and the subtitle is even
more intriguing. What was going on?
Neil. Fanny and Stella are,
in fact, young men dressed as women and they are just about to be arrested by
Inspector Thompson of the Metropolitan Police. Their arrest and trial became a
Victorian sensation and eventually they were the defendants in a Sate Trial in
Westminster Hall. My book is the remarkable and true story of Fanny and Stella.
Some people have said that my book reads like fiction, but it just goes to show
that the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.
J. I couldn't believe the story was true. I mean, I'd
always thought of the Victorians as very proper. The idea of two well brought
up young men cross-dressing in public, that doesn't seem to fit. And the way
you tell it, they did not stop at clothes but were what we would call gay
today. What was the gay scene like in Victoria's England?
Neil. Fanny and Stella loved having sex with men – Stella
lived with Lord Arthur Clinton, MP as man and wife, and Fanny contracted anal
syphilis from one of her many amours. Before – and even during – her 'marriage
to Lord Arthur, Stella was twice arrested for prostitution in London's
Haymarket. Sex between men was rife in Victorian England. Scratch the surface and
there it was for all to see. If you read the newspapers of the time, they are
filled with reports of 'unnatural offences' and 'uncleanness' between men. It
was all hugely illegal, of course. The death penalty for sodomy was only
abolished in 1862.
J. I guess today's gays
have it easy in comparison. No one is going to get executed for having a
boy-friend today. At least, not officially. There seems to have been an
acceptance of very close friendships between educated men, but friendships with
no sexual component. Actually, even the sex was probably acceptable as long as
no-one knew about it. Would you say that Fanny and Stella's main offence was to
have flaunted their sexuality so publicly?
Neil. Some gays do have it easy, but lots of today's gays still
have a terrible time. I wouldn't want to be gay in Uganda, for example. Yes,
Fanny and Stella's crime was to flaunt themselves, a heinous sin in British
society. But there was something else going on. Fanny and Stella were not just
men who had sex with other men. They had an identity. They identified
themselves as sodomites, as drag queens, they spoke a special language and had
a friendship network with others like themselves. I think this nascent gay,
camp identity was their worst crime. That and their effeminacy, which terrified
those who wanted a muscular, masculine nation of young men who would go out and
build an empire. Their State Trial in Westminster Hall was not so much a trial
of Fanny and Stella as individuals but a trial of what they stood for, of their
lifestyle and of their collective sexual identity.
J. Well, thank
you, Neil. You’ve got my congratulations on a really absorbing book. I had
never thought of homosexuality in a Victorian context, and you have painted a
rich portrait of the gay life in those times.
We have not even mentioned the details of
the arrest, ‘investigation’ and trial with all the might and pageantry of
British justice arrayed against two young men who liked to party. That story
would make a wonderful film!
The trial failed, so let me add a quotation
from Winston Churchill who was himself a product of Victorian England : "It
is impossible to obtain a conviction for sodomy from an English jury. Half of
them don't believe that it can physically be done, and the other half are doing
it." Thank goodness times have changed, and the hypocrisy and ignorance
are disappearing. At least, today a young man can wear whatever he likes on the
streets of London without risking arrest and persecution.
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Jacqueline
lives in Far North Queensland, on the shore of the Coral Sea. She keeps herself
busy with her cats and garden, and by writing books - some of which are far too
naughty for her own good. You can find out more about Jacqueline and her books
at www.jacquelinegeorgewriter.com
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