Join Community Historian Andy Cuthbertson as they reveal groundbreaking new research into the lives of sex workers in Victorian Glasgow.

Disclaimer:

Where I use the term "prostitute" I use it only in reference to its historical context. Victorian newspapers and society at large referred consistently to "Prostitutes, vagabonds and thieves" when referring to the city's working class inhabitants. Applied in an incredibly binary fashion, it is used to strip identity from people, to cast judgement, and to remove any notion of empathy or solidarity. Terms like "gay house" "house of ill-fame" and even brothel are used in the same way. I take great care to ensure that none of the details presented are sensationalised, that we question historical terms, and that ultimately these are stories of real people. Throughout the talk we will question morality and power, and shine a light on those judged and margianilised by society. The event is not run for profit, and tickets cover the cost of hall booking and refreshments.

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 prison 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 under the oppression of Victorian ideas of shame and morality.

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 how was sex work defined? And is there evidence of male sex work in Victorian 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 Prison, 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 brie

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