Attitudes to Male Homosexuality in Late Victorian England: Charles Freston, a Case Study

Abstract

Victorian attitudes to sex were complex and often contradictory, and this is particularly true of sexual activities between men. As such encounters were regarded as immoral and were illegal, they were almost always clandestine and secretive and have left relatively little historical record. It is, therefore, difficult to judge the extent of such activities or to gauge their impact, particularly on a personal level. Prosecutions were, in fact, rare and both official records and newspaper reports generally provide minimal detail, often only a name and outcome, sometimes the defendant’s age and occupation but little that allows examination of the wider consequences and impact. This article examines the case of Charles Freston, a butler from Speke, Lancashire, who was tried and convicted of buggery in 1884. Unusually, by using a combination of sources, it is possible to establish comprehensive biographical details for those involved in, or affected by, the incident and to follow through the consequences for them all. It allows us to see beyond the sterile official record and come to a fuller understanding of the wider implications and nature of same sex activities in the late nineteenth century.