RENFREW, November 1871 A fog had descended over Renfrew, swept in by the brisk November winds. Dr Allison turned his collars up against the chill and peered through the gloom, spying the address on Pinkerton Lane where a desperately ill young man awaited his attention. Discarding his cheroot, the doctor knocked firmly on the front…
I was recently interviewed by Christina O’Neill for Glasgow Live about my research into the city’s gay past. It was enjoyable to talk about my research and to add some layers to popular understandings of the city’s LGBT history, and to introduce Glasgow’s gay peaky blinders, the Whitehats. Pretty often, academic research is shepherded beind…
William Merrilees, the late former Chief Constable of Lothian and Peebles, undertook a ‘war against homosexuality’ in Edinburgh during the interwar period. Single-handedly, or at least that’s how Merrilees’ reminiscences seem to suggest, he embarked on a ruthless attempt to put away as many homosexuals as his workload allowed. In his autobiography The Short Arm…
In the recent film ‘Pride’ there is a scene in which Gethin of Gay’s the Word bookshop tries to encourage his partner Jonathan to participate in LGSM’s (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) initial attempts to raise money for the striking miners. Jonathan – some ten years or so older than the young campaigners –…
Claire Hayward’s recent blog post on ‘pardoning the past’ examined the meanings, motives and problems with the recent attempts to encourage pardons for the 49,000 men convicted of ‘gross indecency’ with males in Britain after the introduction of the 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act. The petition has attracted over half a million signatories. Claire Hayward…
By the 1980s the personal ad was fast becoming a popular medium for Scots gay and bisexual men unsure, tired, or weary of the ‘gay scene’ to meet others. During the 1980s these short advertisements were relatively free of the acronyms that would come to dominate the medium and lead to much head-scratching and confusion. Knowing…
In a recent blogpost John D’Emilio argued that AIDS and its impact upon LGBT individuals and organisations, the militancy it provoked, and the heightened attention it drew to LGBT causes needs to be more fully documented and appreciated. This is certainly applicable to Scotland, and its responses, both social and medical, to the significant challenges…
By the mid 20th century Glasgow was home to a growing non-heterosexual population, and wherever such groups exist there are platforms for social engagement. When I interviewed 2 dozen gay and bisexual men in the mid 2000s, stories emerged which detailed the history and development of the queer scene in Glasgow. I have already produced…
I recently revisited some of the interviews I undertook with gay and bisexual men from Scotland while putting together a postgraduate seminar on masculinities. One theme emerging from these interviews related to masculinity and effeminacy. Some of the men I spoke to remarked on the powerful cultural concept of the ‘man’, of the ‘otherness’ associated…
Andrew King’s recent piece about older people and homophobia published on the website The Conversation got me thinking about my own research interviewees with gay and bisexual male (GBM) elders, which I undertook in the mid 2000s. One of the notable issues concerning the homosexual law reform movement in Scotland during the late 1960s and…
Masculine Women Feminine Men Which is the rooster which is the hen It’s hard to tell ’em apart today And say… You go and give your girl a kiss in the hall But instead you find you’re kissing her brother Paul Mama’s got a sweater up to her chin, Papa’s got a girdle holding him…
Some years ago, while undertaking research into sodomy cases in Scotland, I began using precognition and trial records, held at the National Archives of Scotland. Although there were significantly fewer prosecutions in Scotland than in England, for obvious reasons, these records provided information on the sexual exploits of men from all walks of life (with…
I recently spoke at the ‘A History of Working-Class Marriage in Scotland, 1855-1976’ Spring Workshop held at the University of Glasgow, in conjunction with the Centre for Gender History. The Workshop – ‘Beyond Tradition?: Non-traditional marriages, partnerships and families in Scotland: Past and Present’ – explored continuity, change and the multiple forms of partnerships and…
Harry Whyte, who was born in Edinburgh in 1907, has chiefly one claim to fame: in May 1934, when employed by the Moscow Daily News, he wrote to Joseph Stalin to enquire whether it was possible to be both a homosexual and a Communist Party Member. What prompted Whyte’s appeal to Stalin was the decision…
Throughout early modern and modern history homosexual acts have been the focus of condemnation, religious outrage, penal sanctions and considerable suspicion. In the 16th century further connections between the act and sinister superstition were made, contradicting earlier works which suggested that even demons drew the line at buggery. The new narrative claimed that witches, in…
Putting the world to rights, one blog post at a time, over tea and cake.
(Formerly Hatful of History)
A blog about museums, heritage, stories and people
Matt Houlbrook: mobile historian; beard growing, head shaving; occasional cycling.
PhD History, University of Essex
stories from a nineteenth-century prison
the bent bookish blog that's a reel waist of thyme...
PhD bloggin'
Fathers, Fatherhood and Families in Scotland, c.1970-1995
Research in Ontario's post-war labour, gay and lesbian movements
Detective policing and criminal justice in the Victorian capital
lifestyle. beauty. feminism.
