Offences against the person? Tracing hidden LGB histories through Berkshire court records and archives
Amy Hitchings and George Stokes
This summer, George Stokes and I worked on the UROP project, Tracing LGB hidden histories through Berkshire Court Records, 1861-1919. We uploaded a blog post on week three of the project and wanted to check back in now to reflect on our research findings and the overall experience…
In the second part of the project, we finished the data collection by completing biographical research for the individuals we found to have been convicted/acquitted for homosexual ‘offences’. To do this, we utilised corpus databases such as Ancestry and findmypast, alongside historical documents in the Berkshire Record Office such as Parish and electoral registers. We managed to collate information for around 70% of the individuals we had identified; unfortunately, the facts provided in the calendars of prisoners and prison registers were very limited in some cases. These were mostly individuals who lacked sufficient birth place information to create a paper trail.
Here are two examples of the life stories [or ‘biographies’] we managed to piece together as a result of our researches. The stories demonstrate the varieties of lives affected by the legislation.
Gladstone Lowell Main
Sentenced at Reading Summer Assizes on 3rd June 1918, Main was given 12 months hard labour for 17 counts of Buggery and gross indecency with five different men. The participants, although named in the indictment, were not charged for the offence but the relations appear consensual. Main was born in Galt, Ontario, Canada on 27th September 1888; he worked as a timber dealer until signing up for the war in 1916 and moving to Reading. Whilst in Reading, he stayed at Wantage Hall and later learnt to fly, but lost his sight in a plane crash and thus took up the position of Second in Command at the Milton Camp. The newspaper report covering the trial and his testimony in court reported Main pleaded with the court: “It is thought nothing of in such countries [i.e. Canada] for male person to sleep together and is most usual.” Here, Main gives a reasonable argument for his defence in that he was unaware of the illegality. This is an interesting viewpoint and one that we think needs exploring further. What was the Canadian viewpoint/legal status on homosexuality at this period of time?
After serving his sentence, Main travelled back to Canada and the trail runs dead; that is until we found the death report of his suicide in 1932, aged 44. We are unsure of the motivations for his actions and believe this is something that will never be uncovered. Consequently, we hope to have establish a picture of a successful man who dedicated his life to his work both in the Canadian forests as a timber dealer and that of his contributions to the war efforts, training new soldiers and offering guidance. In the newspaper report, it provides a material witness (Cast Sedgwick) opinions on Gladstone’s character in which he describes him to be a “very straight and upright but “a very extraordinary man” which accounted for some of his actions in this case.”
Francis Thomas Scriven:
Francis Thomas Scriven was sentenced to four years penal servitude for buggery with John Dobson on the 10th November 1905 at the Winter Berkshire Assizes, Reading. After biographical research, we located an individual of this name in Slowley, Southampton and the paper trial led to him working as a Curate in many rural towns across the UK. Interestingly, John Dobson was sentenced alongside Scriven for his participation and received 9 months hard labour. The relationship for which both were convicted appears to be consensual, yet we found it interesting that the judge’s response in court was to label Scriven as a ‘corrupter of the body as well as the mind’.
Thoughts moving forward:
Both George and I have thoroughly enjoyed working on the project with our supervisors Katherine Harloe and Mark Stevens and we are excited to start to disseminate the research to Berkshire communities. We have many ideas and plans for contributions to events/literature in the foreseeable future. To name a few, we are taking part in the Festival of Social Sciences on Saturday 10th November at Reading Minister.
Furthermore, in collaboration with the BRO, we have organised an event to support the Reading LGBT History Month on Monday 11th February 2019:
Offences against the person? Discovering hidden LGB histories in Berkshire court archives.
Monday 11 February 2019, 4:30-6pm (exhibition and refreshments from 4:30pm, discussion from 5)
Berkshire Record Office, 9 Coley Ave, Reading RG1 6AF.
As part of LGBT History Month, join us to hear University of Reading students Amy Hitchings and George Stokes discuss the findings of their summer 2018 UROP research; to learn about some previously forgotten lives; to see some of the Victorian and Edwardian documents they used for research; and to enjoy tea and cake. For tickets, contact the Berkshire Record Office on arch@reading.ac.uk to book your seats!
Another goal for the project is to write an academic article for the Journal of Victorian Culture over the course of 2019.
Overall, this experience has allowed us both to develop the research skills necessary for an academic career and we look forward to disseminating the research to share the hidden stories of the individuals we have found from the BRO’s records.