I have received an enormous amount of help and support while writing this novel. My thanks for their advice to Sarah Baxter at the Society of Authors; Caroline Kelly from the Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections at Nottingham University; and Claire Harrington and Sue Copp at the Flintshire Record Office. I was given invaluable legal information by Nicholas Bamforth, Fellow in Law at The Queen’s College, Oxford University and have received much support from Professor Richard Parkinson at The Queen’s College, Oxford University, author of the British Museum’s A Little Gay History. Gratitude also to Ben Campbell and Dick Drinkrow for emergency technical advice, and to Kitty Williston for research in America.
My ongoing journey took me to all sorts of places: I was taken through Burlington Arcade by the present Head Beadle, Mr Mark Lord – including down to where a real underground tunnel did once run. I was shown all around the House of Commons – including the basement – by Austin Mitchell MP and had many questions patiently answered by his Parliamentary Assistant, Matthew Kay. I was taken through the corridors and offices of the House of Lords by Lord Alan Hawath. In Christchurch I was given invaluable information about funereal history by Mr Stuart Major of the funeral directors Miller & Butler, and by Christine Mockett of the Christchurch Borough Council; and shown historical records and graves in Christchurch Cemetery by the caretaker, Steve Ryan.
To all these people my grateful thanks.
I would also like to thank my editor at Head of Zeus, Laura Palmer, whose brain seemed to attach itself to mine during the editing of the manuscript.
And, finally, to my beloved British Library, where I have just about taken up permanent residence, and the patient staff there, my gratitude for providing me with most of the books listed below, to the authors of which I am indebted.
Victorian London: the life of a city 1840–1870 by Liza Picard (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 2003)
Lost London 1870–1945 by Philip Davies (Trans Atlantic, Amersham 2009)
Gladstone: 1809–1898 by H.C.G. Matthew (Clarendon Press, Oxford 1997)
Gladstone’s Diaries: with cabinet minutes and prime ministerial correspondence (1869–1871) edited by H.C.G. Matthew (Clarendon Press, Oxford 1982)
Gladstone and Women by Anne Isba (Hambledon Continuum, London 2006)
A Beckford Inheritance: the Lady Lincoln scandal by Virginia Surtees (Michael Russell Publishing Ltd, Salisbury 1977)
Edward VII: Prince and King by Giles St Aubyn (Collins, London 1979)
Bertie: a life of Edward VII by Jane Ridley (Chatto & Windus, London 2012)
Masculinity and Male Homosexuality in Britain 1861–1913 by Sean Brady (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2005)
The Changing Room: sex, drag & theatre by Laurence Senelick (Routledge, London 2000)
Men in Petticoats: The Lives of Boulton & Park, Extraordinary Revelations (pamphlet: George Clarke, London 1870)
Sodom on the Thames by Morris B. Kaplan (Cornell University Press, Ithaca NY 2005)
Nameless Offences by H.G. Cocks (I.B. Tauris, London 2010)
Crossing the Stage: controversies on cross-dressing edited by Lesley Ferris (Routledge, London 1993)
Reclaiming Sodom edited by Jonathan Goldberg (Routledge, London 1994)
London and the Culture of Homosexuality 1885–1914 by Matt Cook (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003)
The Sins of the Cities of the Plain by “Jack Saul” (Privately printed, London 1881)
Bad Companions by William Roughead (W. Green & Son, Edinburgh 1930)
Who Was that Man?: a present for Mr Oscar Wilde by Neil Bartlett (Serpent’s Tail, London 1988)
Lewis & Lewis by John Juxon (Collins, London 1983)
A Little Gay History by R.B. Parkinson (The British Museum, London, 2013)
The trial records can be consulted at Kew under the numbers KB 6/3 and DPP 4/6.
About this Book
The Victorian gossipmongers called them the Men in Petticoats. But to Mattie Stacey, they are Freddie and Ernest, her gentlemen lodgers. It is Mattie who admires their sparkling gowns, makes their extravagant hats and laughs at their stories of attending theatres and society balls dressed up as the glamorous “Fanny” and “Stella.”
But one fateful night Fanny and Stella are arrested, and Mattie and her family are dragged into a shocking court trial, described in newspapers all over England as “The Scandal of the Century.”
Mattie is outraged. She and her family are determined to save themselves from ruin, and their friends Freddie and Ernest from shame. But they are just small cogs in a bigger story that will involve many people in the establishment, including the Prime Minister, Mr Gladstone, and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. For Fanny and Stella are dangerous ladies, and these are dangerous times…
The Petticoat Men is a gripping historical novel taking a new and startling look at a real trial which reached from the corridors of power to the darkest London alleys.
Reviews
Praise for
Barbara Ewing
‘Ewing weaves a complex plot darting teasingly between past and present, and fastens off all the threads so that the pattern is satisfyingly complete.’
Daily Telegraph
‘Ewing is an accomplished storyteller who puts the pleasure of her readers first.’
Independent
‘Consistently entertaining, amusing and enlightening – what more can one ask?’
Sunday Telegraph
‘Rich, vivid and interesting… plenty of fascinating detail.’
The Times
About the Author
BARBARA EWING is a New Zealand-born actress and author who lives in London. She is the author of eight novels, one of which, A Dangerous Vine, was longlisted for the Orange Prize.
Visit her website at www.barbaraewing.com.
A Letter from the Publisher
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HeadofZeusBooks
The story starts here.
First published in the UK in 2014 by Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Barbara Ewing, 2014
Jacket design: Leo Nickolls
The moral right of Barbara Ewing to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Hardback ISBN: 9781781859964
Trade paperback ISBN: 9781781859827
eBook ISBN: 9781781859841
Head of Zeus Ltd
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Contents
Cover
Welcome Page
Display Options Notice
Chapter 1
1870
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
; Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
1882
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Acknowledgements
About this Book
Reviews
About the Author
An Invitation from the Publisher
Copyright