how did the contagious diseases acts affect the garrison town of colchester?

1

How did the Contagious Diseases Acts affect

the garrison town of Colchester?

Maria J Rayner

2010

Project Supervisor: Dr Catherine Crawford

2

Contents

Page

Acknowledgements 4

Introduction 5

Literature review and overview of primary sources 9

One

Colchester, its soldiers and venereal disease

The effect of venereal disease on the armed forces in Colchester 13

The relationship between the Garrison and the town 19

Two

Perceptions of women in the nineteenth-century with venereal disease 22

Three

The Contagious Diseases Acts

The armed forces and venereal disease in the nineteenth-century 27

The political decision to implement the Contagious Diseases Act 29

Colchester as a political arena for the fight for the repeal of the

Contagious Diseases Acts 31

Four

Colchester, the Contagious Diseases Acts and venereal disease

Medical provision in Colchester 35

Five

The Colchester Lock Hospital

The Hospital 41

Lucy Clarke 47

3

Page

Six

Venereal disease and the development of a social conscience

The Reverend George Dacre 52

The Reverend Thomas Stainton Ellis 57

Seven

Reflections of the past 59

Conclusion 62

Appendices 1-7 67

Appendix 8

How to search House of Commons Parliamentary Papers 73

Selected Bibliography 74

4

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr Catherine Crawford for her help and suggestions in the completion of

this project. I am also extremely grateful to Dr Jane Pearson for her encouragement, comments

and enthusiasm. This project would not have been such a straightforward task without the help

of the staff at the Albert Sloman Library, and wealth of local knowledge from the staff at Local

History Section of Colchester Library. I also recognise the unfailing devotion of my family, and

especially my husband Martyn, who has travelled this journey with me. I would like to offer

thanks to my friend Nick for his comments on my writing, and to Jonathan Stainton Ellis who

shared with me his research on his Great Great Grandfather Reverend Robert Stainton Ellis. I

would also like to mention those people who reminisced with me their memories of the

Colchester Lock Hospital.

5

Introduction

The implementation of the Contagious Diseases Acts in the 1860s was a legislative attempt to

regulate prostitution, and contain the spread of known venereal infections amongst the British

troops serving in home stations. The intention of the Acts was to enforce medical examination,

and if necessary medical treatment, upon known or suspected prostitutes who operated within the

locality of garrison encampments and naval ports, which statistically revealed a high frequency

of the disease. A female prostitute, if found to be infected with venereal disease, would be

required by a magistrate to enter, and undergo, medical treatment in a hospital until she was

effectively cured. It was anticipated by this action, that the soldiers who spent their leisure time

frequenting public houses and brothels in these locations, would be less susceptible to infection.

It was calculated that this would improve the health of the British military forces.1

In 1862, statistical evidence from a royal commission into sanitary conditions in the army,

revealed that almost half the servicemen in Colchester, at some stage, had received medical

treatment for venereal disease.2 This percentage placed Colchester, alongside other garrison and

naval towns with a high rate of servicemen infected with the disease, under the implementation

of the Acts. The focus of this political decision referred to “a certain class of deplorable

objects,” the female prostitute, whom it was believed, substantially impeded the health of service

1 P. Cox, „Compulsion, Voluntarism, and Venereal Disease: Governing Sexual Health in England after the

Contagious Diseases Acts‟, Journal of British Studies Vol.46 (January 2007), pp. 91–115.

2 Army Medical Department , Statistical, Sanitary and Medical Reports for the year 1862

PP 1864 Vol. XXXVI:89 (The House of Commons, printed 1864).

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men by the sexual transmission of venereal disease.3 In reflection of this, one would consider

that Colchester, being implemented under the jurisdiction of the Contagious Diseases Acts,

would present a particular focal point for historical research, for those historians, both locally,

and with a particular interest in this controversial and gender based legislation. However it

appears that secondary sources provide little evidence of how the Acts affected the town.

The Contagious Diseases Acts did have considerable impact on the social history of Colchester.

Primarily these acts were to have a significant effect on suspected prostitutes who were

medically examined, and if found infected with venereal disease, imprisoned in the Lock

Hospital. Analyses made of parliamentary papers, census returns and local newspaper reports

will provide a fuller social representation of the situation. Many local individuals did exhibit a

social conscience in relation to their attempts to provide both reform, and reclamation of the

prostitutes imprisoned in the Colchester Lock Hospital. However it is also clear, that there were

wider social consequences of the implementation of the Acts. It will be argued that there was a

desire by some to retain this gender biased legislation, ignoring the prostitutes‟ rights as citizens.

This is highlighted when Colchester became engaged in the national political campaign for both

the abolition, and the retention of these acts, instituting a nationwide focus on the town during

the 1870 by-election.

3 T. J. Wyke, „The Manchester and Salford Lock Hospital, 1818-1917‟, Medical History, Vol. 19, (Jan.

1975), p.73.

7

An aspect, which has not gained quite so much scrutiny in relation to the Acts, was the general

situation of the soldiers stationed in the local garrison. It will be argued that the attitude of the

army command tended to regard the use of prostitutes as a sexual release for the soldiers. This

allowed for continuing transmission of the disease among the soldiers creating in its self, a

vicious circle of infection. However, in researching the local press of the period, the work of

A.F.F.H. Robertson, and Parliamentary Papers, there appeared to emerge a slow, however

progressive change, in the attitude of army command in relation to the physical and social needs

of its staff, and a reduction in the case of the disease among troops.

It has been possible to gain a first hand insight into the effects of the Contagious Diseases Act by

examining available primary sources. These have included Parliamentary Papers, newspaper

reports, census returns and interviews or e-mail exchanges with individuals who recall the

Colchester Lock Hospital, or had ancestors living in the town during the period. Notable

historical research has already been undertaken, considering various factors of the enforcement

of the Contagious Diseases Acts. In particular, Judith Walkowitz has made two major

contributions to women‟s history, working class history and the social history of sexuality,

politics and medicine.4 The first Prostitution and Victorian society: women, class and the state,

uses the implementation of the Contagious Diseases Acts to study gender and class in Victorian

Britain. The second City of dreadful delight: narratives of sexual danger in late-Victorian

Britain, shows how the narratives of sexual danger influenced nineteenth-century British

4 Judith Walkowitz, Prostitution and Victorian Society, women, class and the state (England: University

of Cambridge, 1994).

8

society.5 However as customary in such things, it appears that no one individual has brought

together and investigated the whole local story. In this project I will contribute new primary

source evidence and analyse those contributions already researched, which affected Colchester

under the Contagious Diseases Acts.

5 Judith Walkowitz, J. R. City of Dreadful Delight, Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late-Victorian

London (London: Virago Press, 1992).

9

Literature review and overview of primary sources

The study of the Contagious Diseases Acts in Britain, has engaged considerable interest,

predominantly since 1970s from historians, and in particular feminist historians. Secondary

historical sources, including the work of Mary Spongberg, Feminizing Venereal Disease discuss

the gendering of nineteenth-century medicine, by illustrating the evolving association between

different notions of femininity, health and state enforced legislation.6 Spongberg has been able

to offer this study, an explanation of how the female body became understood as a sexual

pollutant and the purveyor of venereal disease. Peter Baldwin‟s book, Contagion and the State

in Europe, 1830-1930, has also made a noted historical contribution not only in Britain, but

across Europe by explaining historically, how politics dealt with the prevention of the spread of

contagious diseases.7

The two most notable academic contributions to this research have been firstly; an unpublished

PhD thesis written by A. F. F. H. Robertson, relating to The Army in Colchester and its Influence

on the Social, Economic and Political Development of the Town 1854-1914. Robertson refers in

depth, to the relationship between the garrison and the town.8 In his research, Robertson argues,

that it was the changing perception of the army command, in relation to the treatment of its

6 Mary Spongberg, Feminizing Venereal Disease, The Body of the Prostitute in the Nineteenth-Century

Medical Discourse (England: Macmillan Press,1997).

7 P. Baldwin, Contagion and the State in Europe, 1830-1930 (England: Cambridge University Press,

1999). 8A.F.F.H. Robertson, The Army in Colchester and it Influence on the Social, Economic and Political

Development of the Town 1854-1914 (England: University of Essex, 1992).

10

militia that brought about a noticeable decrease in the use of prostitutes in the town, and

consequently, the decline of venereal disease among serving troops. Robertson‟s thesis has been

a major insight to this project in considering the attitude of the military hierarchy, (towards its

troops), both before and after the implementation of the Acts. The second significant work has

been written by Dr Pamela Cox (Essex University), who discusses „Compulsion, Voluntarism,

and Venereal Disease: Governing Sexual Health in England after the Contagious Diseases Acts‟.

Cox outlines, and traces, the treatment of venereal disease from the implementation of the Acts

in Britain. She argues that the Acts were a form of “targeted governance” focused on female

prostitutes and their sexual health.9 Her work has given an understanding of a sexual “double

standard” which emerged with the introduction of the Acts, by the governing of the sexual health

of female prostitutes to reduce the levels of venereal disease in the army and navy.

From examining local research, historical writing, and academic journals in the wider context,

there initially appeared to be little material giving any in-depth representative focus on the actual

workings, and effectiveness, of the Acts in the garrison town of Colchester. However, Trevor

Fisher‟s journal article, ‘Josephine Butler – Feminism’s Neglected Pioneer’ centres on the town

and political activities relating to the repeal of the Acts.10

Fisher‟s article provided a concise

overview of the campaign for the abolition of the Acts by the Ladies National Association and

the events which were centered round Colchester. This event was also reviewed in two local

9 P. Cox, „Compulsion, Voluntarism, and Venereal Disease: Governing Sexual Health in England after the

Contagious Diseases Acts‟, Journal of British Studies Vol.46 (January 2007), p.94. 10 T. Fisher, „Josephine Butler – Feminism‟s Neglected Pioneer‟, History Today, Vol. 36, Issue 6 (June

1996).

11

newspapers of the period, The Essex Standard & Essex Counties Advertiser and the Essex &

West Suffolk Gazette. The newspaper articles provided a useful resource, and interesting primary

accounts, relating to the socio/political impact of the Acts on the town. The late A F J Brown, a

prominent local historian, touches briefly on the impact of the Acts upon the town in his

summary of the period. However, Brown tends concentrate his analysis on the 1870 by-election,

which brought Colchester into the public spotlight. The by-election was used as a stage for the

Ladies National Association to present their campaign for the repeal of the Acts, and not the

focus of the Acts on the treatment of female prostitutes in the town.11

A brief account is reported

in The Nursing Record of 1893, relating to the service of former matron of the Colchester Lock

Hospital.12

This provided pithy insight into the working life in the hospital.

Dissection of Parliamentary Papers provided a useful primary source, particularly in giving an

understanding in relation to the health of the armed forces and the Contagious Diseases Acts

themselves. It was also possible, to obtain copies of correspondence between the Reverend

George Dacre, (the Lock Hospital army chaplain), and the House of Commons in 1869. These

papers gave a valuable insight into the attitudes and concerns of people in respect of the reform,

and reclamation, of prostitutes imprisoned in the Lock Hospital. Gaining information, relating to

the Colchester Lock Hospital, proved to be more difficult. The Essex Record Office provided no

material of any relevance. On their suggestion, I approached the House of Commons Archives

who held the former Metropolitan Police Archives. The Metropolitan Police were responsible

11 A. F. J. Brown, Colchester 1815-1914 (England: Essex Record Office, 1980).

12 The Nursing Record Vol. 10 (2 March 1893) pp.113-114.

http://rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk

http://rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk/

12

for administering the Acts. However papers, relevant to the Colchester Lock Hospital,

(Colchester Lock Hospital Return 25 May 1871), appeared to be untraceable in the archive. The

local studies department of Colchester Library was able to provide copies from the census

enumerator‟s books, for both 1871 and 1881. These listed the staff and inmates of the Colchester

Lock Hospital, alongside maps and plans of the establishment. These papers, in conjunction with

local newspaper articles and Parliamentary Papers, have provided an invaluable source of

information to obtain a deeper insight into individuals affected by the Acts.

The most interesting resources were provided by internet search. In The Essex and West Suffolk

Gazette of 18 November 1870, there was a letter written by the Reverend Stainton Ellis raising

his concern as a Methodist minister in relation to the Acts.13

By making searches on the internet

it was possible to trace his great, great grandson Jonathan Stainton-Ellis. Jonathan provided

further information relating to his ancestor, particularly regarding his service as a clergyman in

Portsmouth. Portsmouth being the home of the Royal Navy also came under the Acts. A second

source was made available by Monique Jones from New Zealand, her ancestor Emma Pentney

was an inpatient of the Colchester Lock Hospital.

13 The Essex and West Suffolk Gazette

18 November 1870. (Article forwarded by Dr Jane Pearson, Department of History Essex University).

13

Chapter One

Colchester, its soldiers and venereal disease

The effect of venereal disease on the armed forces in Colchester

Robertson accepts that by the mid nineteenth-century, a military and naval force was essential in

maintaining a strong British influence over its colonial empire, and to ensure it upheld its

international, political, industrial and economic standing.14

Pearsall states that numbers of

servicemen reached 265,466 in 1856, maintaining strength against the threat from Russia. He

further asserts that the army averaged around 200,000 men between 1876 and 1881. Figures

specify that nearly half of those serving during this period where permanently stationed in India,

indicating, that there were a significant force of home-based men.15

Therefore, the establishment of permanent garrisons, for such a vast national home-based

standing armed force, was to have a significant impact on the social, political and economic life

of mid nineteenth-century garrison towns; including Colchester. As the army evolved into an

organised and politically maintained force, thus this new form of military institution, radically

affected many aspects of life in this growing garrison town.16

The establishment of a military

base and the influx of military personal were to mark an era of new social attitudes, relationships

14 A.F.F.H. Robertson, The Army in Colchester and it Influence on the Social, Economic and Political


15 R. Pearsall, Night’s Black Angel, The Forms of Victorian Cruelty (London: Hodder and Stoughton,

1975).



14

and problems for the town which had a substantial effect on both military service men, and local

inhabitants alike.

By 1851, Colchester is shown to have a population of 19,443. In respect of this, the movement

of approximately 1,700 soldiers into the town in 1856 must have had a significant overall impact.

After a period of over forty years, Colchester was to once again become a garrison town.17

The

arrival of the new camp to the town generated an increase in trade for the town. Lucrative

contracts, particularly for coal and straw, were offered to local traders. However, the town‟s

occupation by the military encouraged newcomers into the locality – entrepreneurs looking for

new business opportunities, and as suggested in the minutes of the “Colchester Watch

Committee” also “camp followers of the worst kind.”18

This is noted as a further concern in the

Select Committee Report of 1866, that the arrival of new battalions into the town brought its own

attachment of women, and the likely hood of venereal infection.19

There were evident economic

benefits for local inn keepers, brothels and beerhouses, as the local troops began to frequent their

establishments.

17

A.F.F.H. Robertson, The Army in Colchester and it Influence on the Social, Economic and Political


18 Colchester Watch Committee Minute (WCM) 1 April and 7 October 1856, cited A.F.F.H. Robertson,

The Army in Colchester and it Influence on the Social, Economic and Political Development of the Town

1854-1914 (England: University of Essex, 1992), p.52.

19 Index to report from the Select Committee from Contagious Disease Act (1866)

PP1868-69 (306 (306-I) (The House of Commons 8 July 1869).

15

Servicemen were basically provided for, in the form of accommodation, clothing, food, medical

provision and life‟s necessities. However, Robertson remarks that there tended to be certain

issues which were exacerbated by the general attitude of the military hierarchy, in relation the

lower ranking service men. From 1847 onward, enlisted men served for a twenty-one year

period, or „to sign for life.‟20

Recruitment was generally at the age of nineteen years, however

there was an optional half-way break.21

This regulation remained firmly enforced until 1870.

Both military and civil offences for service men were severely punished. Army discipline was

harsh; floggings were a staged spectacle within the confines of the camp, alongside daily

punishment drills.22

These punishments were a manner of keeping the common solider in order,

and relieving boredom.

Life for the common soldier was often a brutish and violent existence. This was frustrated by the

conservative attitude, and denial of those in the higher ranks, in allowing the common soldier the

right to marry. A few fortunate soldiers were given permission to marry. There were limited

married quarters on the barracks. The wives and families of those men, who choose to marry

without permission, often lived in poverty.23

In the winter of 1866, a report was published in the

20

R. Pearsall, Night’s Black Angel, The Forms of Victorian Cruelty (London: Hodder and Stoughton,,

1975), p.194.

21

Report of the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the regulations affecting the sanitary conditions

of the army, the organisation of military hospitals and the treatment of the sick and wounded; with

evidence and appendix. (5 May 1857).

PP 1858. Vol. XVIII.I (The House of Commons).

22

A.F.F.H. Robertson, The Army in Colchester and it Influence on the Social, Economic and Political

Development of the Town 1854-1914 (University of Essex, England, 1992).

16

Essex Standard, stating that officers provided a soup kitchen in the garrison camp to offer the

families of married soldiers, “according to the number of children, a quantity of soup at a merely

nominal charge”.24

The legal right of a man to marry after enlistment was not denied, however

army regulations stated that only seven per cent of lower ranking servicemen were allowed

permission to marry, being at the discretion of the commanding officer.25

The enlisted man was

generally dissuaded from marrying, allowing for “a professional bachelor army without family

ties”.26

This enabled the easy amassment of troops in the case of war. Many nineteenth-century

soldiers therefore faced enforced celibacy. The Secretary of State for War commented in 1857,

that there was “no reason why soldiers should marry during their period of service in the

army”.27

Colchester Garrison Camp, like other military bases, offered limited social resources for the

common solider during his leisure. The working life of an enlisted man appeared to consist of

endless drilling and parades. Robertson states that soldiers had an existence of seclusion, sheer

boredom and enforced celibacy due to being prevented from marrying. This situation was

23 R. Pearsall, Night’s Black Angel, The Forms of Victorian Cruelty (London: Hodder and Stoughton,

1975).

24

The Essex Standard & Essex Counties Advertiser

23 November 1866.


Development of the Town 1854-1914 (England: University of Essex, 1992). 26 J. R. Walkowitz, Prostitution and Victorian Society, women, class and the state (England: University of

Cambridge, 1994), p.74. 27 A.F.F.H. Robertson, The Army in Colchester and it Influence on the Social, Economic and Political

Development of the Town 1854-1914 (University of Essex, England, 1992), P.67.

17

imposed by the conservative attitude of military command in denying what could be considered

basic social, physical and emotional necessities, which were all component parts of the need for

the common soldier, to a gain social diversion. This suggests that during the mid to late

nineteenth-century, there was little attraction for service men to remain on camp during off-duty

periods. The privately run army canteens had limited facilities in the form of relaxation and

entertainment, its accommodation was uninviting and the beer weak. Life for the unmarried

soldier, within the confines of the camp, led many into the town in search of recreation and

entertainment.28

It can be argued that the alcohol, music and dancing available in the local public

houses of the town, provided a suitable attraction to the off-duty solider. The saloons, drinking

establishments and theatres, whilst offering leisure activities for service men, also further served

as facilities for prostitution. Venturing into the local community, and the use of prostitutes for

both sexual release and entertainment, in essence, provided servicemen with an escape from the

mundane existence of military life. However, the temptation offered by the facilitation of sexual

debauchery within the local town, was to act as an effective catalyst for the generation of

venereal disease.29

Pearsall argues that the army authorities, tended to regard servicemen infected with venereal

disease with indifference. He further asserts that army officers assumed the common soldier

would, sooner or later, contract venereal infection. Sex with prostitutes was clearly recognised as

a safety valve, and association was little more than could be expected from this class of


Development of the Town 1854-1914 (England: University of Essex, 1992). 29 Ibid.

18

individual. He suggests that at Aldershot Garrison, brothels which emerged around the camp,

flourished unhindered.30

However, whatever the opinion as to the use of prostitutes, evidence

from the 1857 Royal Commission Report on the health of the army, considers the effect of

venereal disease on service men.31

This report is backed up by evidence from the Army

Statistical, Sanitary and Medical Report of 1862. This second report highlighted the serious

prevalence of venereal disease within Britain‟s army garrisons and naval ports. Interestingly, it is

possible to see the visible increase of the disease, particularly in Colchester.32

The Royal Commission Report itself, not only regarded the prevalence of venereal disease among

troops, but further highlighted how frequently men of the army and navy concealed their

affliction, adding to its intensity, making treatment severe and a cure more difficult.33

Whenever

a man presented himself with any illness to the medical officer, it was general practice to

routinely examine him for venereal infection. Dr Caddy, a naval medical officer, when

interviewed by the Committee appointed to enquire into the Pathology and Treatment of the

Venereal Disease on 8 November 1865, stated that he made it a general rule to examine the the

30

R. Pearsall, Night’s Black Angel, The Forms of Victorian Cruelty (London: Hodder and Stoughton,

1975).

31

P. Cox, „Compulsion, Voluntarism, and Venereal Disease: Governing Sexual Health in England after

the Contagious Diseases Acts‟, Journal of British Studies Vol.46 (January 2007), pp. 91–115.

32 Army Medical Department, Statistical, Sanitary and Medical Reports for the year 1862

PP 1864 Vol. XXXVI: 89 (The House of Commons, printed 1864).

33 Report of the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the regulations affecting the sanitary conditions




19

genitals of all his patients. This is clearly demonstrated by Dr Caddy, who when asked “have you

found the men conceal their disease?” he replied, “very much indeed.”34

Such examinations

were not suspended until 1882.35

Concealment also appeared to be encouraged by the

withdrawal of service men‟s wages. Towards the end of 1873 the Minister of War, Lord

Cardwell, ordered the suspension of pay of soldiers presenting with gonorrhea or primary sores,

during the period which they were treated. Although the Medical Department maintained that

this would increase soldiers‟ concealment of the disease, and have little effect in restraining their

activities, the order remained in force until 1879.36

The relationship between the Garrison and the town.

Concern for such a high prevalence of venereal disease in the town, was to cause antagonism

between the garrison command and the local magistrates. A report in the Essex Standard &

Essex Counties Advertiser of 1863, refers to the unquestioned renewal of the 101 victuallers‟

licenses, within the Borough. The editor brought into question the justification of the provision

of some of these licenses, “knowing the meretricious allurements of many of the low drinking

34

The Report of the Committee appointed to enquire into the Pathology and Treatment of the Venereal

Disease (1868), p.537. http://books.google.co.uk.

35 R. Lawson, „The Operation of the Contagious Diseases Acts among the Troops of the United Kingdom,

and Men of the Royal Navy on the Home Station, from their Introduction in 1864 to their Ultimate Repeal

in 1884, Journal of the Statistical Society of London, Vol. 54, No.1 (Mar., 1891), pp.31-69.

36 Ibid.

http://books.google.co.uk/

20

places, and the adjuncts of vice” therein.37

He comments on the concerns of the Garrison

Commandant, which related to the disease that is so peculiar to this „social evil,‟ which was

fostered in certain low drinking establishments. However, in defence of the magistrates‟

decision, it is maintained that certain publicans felt compelled by threats to allow “soldiers to

bring prostitutes into their houses.”38

The military authority disputes this claim, suggesting that

this is “a mere subterfuge on the part of certain innkeepers, their houses concealing disorderly

practices, every inducement being held out to soldiers” thus encouraging them to frequent their

establishments.39

The editor further refers to a report from Colonel Guy, (Commander of the

Garrison), that venereal infection within the military hospital was three fold; that of the

beginning of the year, and half of all hospital admissions. The Colonel apportioned the

seriousness of this, to the significant number of “houses of infamy and disorder to be found in

the town.”40

Robertson argues that a number of factors were to reduce the presence of venereal disease in the

in the garrison. Within the garrison there emerged improved medical provision and hygiene.

Soldiers were provided with better leisure facilities, and a shortening of the period of enlistment,

hence lessening the need to frequent the town and make use of the services of prostitutes.

37 The Essex Standard & Essex Counties Advertiser, September 18 1863, p.2.

38 The Essex Standard & Essex Counties Advertiser, September 18 1863, p.2.

39 Ibid.

40 Ibid

21

Robertson is forceful in his assertion, “that the army fought a lone battle to reduce the incidence

of venereal disease in the Garrison”.41


Development of the Town 1854-1914 (England: University of Essex, 1992), p.82.

22

Chapter Two

Perceptions of women in the nineteenth-century with venereal disease

Mary Spongberg argues that the nature of the female body, as a sexual pollutant, across both

history and culture, appears to be a dominant belief. Spongberg relates the social and cultural

image of woman, as a carrier of venereal disease, alongside the more general views that suggest

the inferiority of the female body.42

Evidence of gender symbolism, in respect of venereal

disease, which determined women‟s bodies as sexual pollutants in the nineteenth-century, is

illustrated by reflecting upon the work of Spongberg.

Prior to the eighteenth-century there appears little evidence to identify “the source of the disease

in women”.43

Doctors were perplexed as to why gonorrhea could have such an acute effect on

men however, while being undetectable in women. New scientific research broke down the

“duality of virus theory”.44

Discovery that it was possible for gonorrhea to infect both the

external and internal organs, suggested that women could also be infected without showing any

visible external signs of the disease. This evidence combined with improved scientific

knowledge relating to the symptomology of venereal disease, alongside changing ideas of sexual

42 M. Spongberg, Feminizing Venereal Disease, The Body of the Prostitute in the Nineteenth-Century

Medical Discourse (England: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1997).

43 Ibid. p.5. 44 Ibid. p.5.

23

variation, was “to enhance the notion that women‟s bodies were a pathological terrain”.45

This

notion appeared to confirm, that the lack of external symptoms in the female body, was not

indeed evidence in the lack of infection, only that they were more dangerous as conveyors of

venereal disease. It can be argued, that this new knowledge attached to women, (in the case of

venereal disease), was to make them the force of the focus of the Contagious Diseases Acts, The

Acts themselves, to act as agents of control on female prostitutes.

However, Baldwin argues that the construction of sexual morality, particularly of nineteenth-

century society, tended to dictate that prostitution was an indispensable evil, and that Victorian

social structure had a requirement to countenance it. This was due to the high age of marriage,

which produced a disparity between the age of sexual maturity and marriage. There was also an

insistence of chastity of young unmarried women, which was linked to a concern of illegitimacy.

Furthermore, unmarried middle-class women were expected to remain chaste and married

women monogamous.46

Prostitution provided the middle-class man, who was not yet financially

established enough to marry, the manner in which to relieve his “uncontrollable sexual urges”

and still make a prudent marriage.47

It can be argued that this allowed the middle-class male, to

maintain the notion of female middle-class purity, whilst satisfying his own sexual needs in the

use of prostitutes.


Medical Discourse (England: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1997). 46 P. Baldwin, Contagion and the State in Europe, 1830-1930 (England: Cambridge University Press,

1999).


Medical Discourse (England: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1997), p.10.

24

Weeks‟s argues that during the late nineteenth-century, there emerged in middle-class society, a

„double standard‟ of morality. He highlights what was seen as the materialisation of an

“ideological separation between family and society,” the segregation between the private and

public sphere.48

The middle-class female became drawn into the home or the private sphere. This

forced a separation between decency and morality in the home, and the perceived social

pollution of the public sphere. Within this externalisation of the public sphere, became situated

the working-class. Palliser et al (2000) argues that there evolved, a subdued anxiety towards the

working-class due to the fear of earlier lower-class insurgence. In the latter part of the

nineteenth-century, this fear formulated into distaste and sometimes pity.49

It can be suggested,

that this had a measured effect on ideology and social organisation of the dominant class.

Further arguing, that both middle-class separation, (of the public and private spheres),

accompanied by unease towards the working-class, transferred the focus of the perceived nature

of this moral social pollution towards individuals, such as the working class prostitute.

48 J. Weeks, Sex, Politics and Society. The regulation of sexuality since 1800 (Essex: Longman, 1981),

p.81.

49 Palliser, D. M., Clark, P. & Daunton, M.P. The Cambridge Urban History of Britain: 1840-1950

(England: University of Cambridge Press, 2000).

25

Within Victorian society, there was the notion that copulation was not only necessary for the

male to procreate, but moreover „a biological necessity for both mental and physical health‟.50

In

a society which considered masturbation dangerous, prostitution became regarded as a tolerated

option for middle-class males. However, this suggested that the prostitute allowed for the

accommodation of sex, and a late marriage in the life of the middle-class males. It gave them the

opportunity to educate themselves, acquire status, wealth, and property, to enable them to

provide satisfactorily for a wife and family, however still being able to engage in sexual activity

without impinging on the social purity of women of their own class.51

Robertson further links the

use of prostitutes as being considered, a suitable form of sexual release for servicemen, given the

imposed celibacy of the unmarried soldier, due to the enforced military and naval regulations

preventing many servicemen of the lower ranks, marrying.52

Contemporary statistics show a vast disparity in the number of prostitutes in the late nineteenth-

century. It is essential to acknowledge, that many women drifted in and out of the profession.

Bartley suggests that many women were recruited from low paid employment, for example; shop

work, dressmaking, domestic service and farm work. These professions being either intermittent

or seasonal, suggests that prostitution was a means to supplement a poor wage, or fill a period of

unemployment.53

The 1866 Select Committee, was advised by Mr Waylen, (the Colchester Lock

50 P Baldwin, Contagion and the State in Europe, 1830-1930 (England: Cambridge University Press,

1999), p.359. 51 Ibid. 52 A.F.F.H. Robertson, The Army in Colchester and it Influence on the Social, Economic and Political


26

Hospital surgeon), that there appeared 98 females registered under the Acts as prostitutes in the

town. However, the surgeon raised his concern, in believing that much prostitution was

concealed. He states that “a great number of young women who work at the factories,” also

operate as prostitutes to supplement their low income.54

It can be seen that prostitution in the nineteenth-century, was tolerated as a hidden, however

necessary component, in the maintenance of middle-class society. More so in the case of

Colchester, prostitution provided a sexual outlet for soldiers serving in the local garrison. The

political construction of the soldiers‟ environment encouraged them, to engage in the illicit use

of prostitutes.

53 P. Bartley, Prostitution and Reform in England, 1860-1916 (London: Routledge, 2000).


PP1868-69 (306 (306-I) (The House of Commons 8 July 1869), p.45.

27

Three

The Contagious Diseases Acts

The armed forces and venereal disease in the nineteenth-century.

During the mid nineteenth-century, there was a general concern in the health of British troops

both at home, and abroad. This led to the Royal Commission Report of 1857, enquiring and

examining the powers of the Army Medical Department, in the prevention of disease amongst

troops. Part of this report was to reveal exceptionally high instances of venereal disease,

particularly in comparison with the civil male population between the same age ranges.55

Statistics from a further sanitary and medical report in 1862 indicated that admissions to hospital

by soldiers suffering from venereal infection, was 330 per 1,000. From this data, it was deduced

that the average duration of each case was 24.61 days, a loss of service to the Home Forces of

8.12 days. This equated to the annual inactivity of two regiments. Men constantly sick in

hospital with venereal disease was “1,759 or 22.24 per 1,000 of mean strength”.56

55 Report of the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the regulations affecting the sanitary conditions




56 Army Medical Department Statistical, Sanitary and Medical Reports for the year 1862

PP 1864 Vol. XXXVI:89 (The House of Commons, printed 1864), p.12.

28

Figures in the 1862 report, (see below), show an increase of venereal disease in Colchester. In

1860 the ratio per 1,000 soldiers was 430, it had decreased to 415 by 1861, however rose to 461

by 1862. Almost half the servicemen in Colchester, in any one year, had been debilitated by

venereal disease.57

The garrison town of Colchester was clearly being shown, as nationally

having the highest percentage of military personal infected by the disease.

Ratio per 1,000 of

Mean Strength

Ratio per 1,000 of

Mean Strength

1860 1861 1862 1860 1861 1862

Devonport and Plymouth 440 470 367 Colchester 430 415 464

Portsmouth 503 485 407 Winchester

Chatham and Sheerness 351 328 313 Dover 383 401 337

Woolwich 473 399 371 Canterbury 290 397 441

Aldershot 339 361 349 Maidstone

London Household

Cavalry

&Windsor { Foot Guards

Line Regiment

97

255

. .

135

328

. .

127

348

234

Cork 346 354 288

Shorncliffe 233 325 327 Curragh 373 364 304

58


PP 1864 Vol. XXXVI: 89 (The House of Commons, printed 1864).

29

The political decision to implement the Contagious Diseases Acts.

It was the evidence from these reports, and extreme health concerns in relation to British troops,

which brought about the implementation of the Contagious Diseases Acts. The Acts were to

enact a radical form of political governance, and marked tactics which would attempt to force

some form of control on the disease. The Contagious Diseases Acts of 1864, 1866, and 1869

were an attempt to limit the spread of venereal disease in a number of military and naval bases in

the United Kingdom, including the garrison town of Colchester. The focus of the Acts in

Britain, were those garrisons and naval bases, where statistics indicated that there was a high

prevalence of venereal disease among the serving troops.

However, Cox argues that Britain did not criminalise the transmission of the disease, neither did

it make it notifiable. In fact, it was the intention of the British government to interrupt the

transmission of the disease, by statutory law, placing a focus on those individuals whom it

observed were crucial elements of its transmission. It was generally conceived, “that women

could spontaneously generate gonorrhea…and possibly even syphilis”, equally, that less

feminine women were more susceptible to the disease.59

It was judged, that such individuals

were “unlikely to be able or willing to seek” voluntary treatment or in fact continuing their


PP 1864 Vol. XXXVI: 89 (The House of Commons, printed 1864), p.12.

59 Mary Spongberg, Feminizing Venereal Disease, The Body of the Prostitute in Nineteenth-Century

Medical Discourse (England: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1997), p.69.

30

treatment, therefore, other measures of enforcement were warranted.60

It was to be official

agencies, and their moral assumptions in relation to extra-marital sexual activity, which were to

be the direct focus of regulation on those they saw as the disseminators of venereal disease. The

late nineteenth-century was to see through political debate and legislation, the formation and

eventual functioning, of a framework which would address a key issue of public health.

However, this legislation would act as a moral and social reform mechanism which reflected the

social ideology of its own instigators.61

As such, it was female prostitutes who were seen to be

the purveyors of illicit sex, and therefore a key link in the chain of the continued transmission of

the disease. Thus, it was the official argument that these “vendors of copulation” should be taken

out of circulation, this breaking the link to the circulation of venereal disease.62

Therefore it is

argued that the paternalist culture of government, by placing its target of the regulation of sexual

activity upon female prostitutes, hoped that it would diminish the effect of venereal disease as a

general health risk. This they believed, would reduce their ability to transmit the disease to the

troops, and reduce the predominance of the diseases amongst servicemen.

Yet Sandra Holton argues that if the Royal Commission believed that women could

spontaneously transmit venereal disease, then removing them from circulation would be useless.

Once the prostitute was detained there was no certain cure. The removal of the female prostitute

60 P.Cox, „Compulsion, Voluntarism, and Venereal Disease: Governing Sexual Health in England after

the Contagious Diseases Acts‟, Journal of British Studies Vol.46 (January 2007), pp. 91–115.

61 J. Weeks, Sex, Politics and Society. The regulation of sexuality since 1800 (Essex: Longman, 1981).

62 P Baldwin, Contagion and the State in Europe, 1830-1930 (England: Cambridge University Press,

1999), p.357.

31

from the street would not alleviate her condition. Many doctors were opposed to the forms of

treatment used for the disease, one treatment in particular, salivation, involved “submitting the

patient to high doses of mercury, both externally and internally” which was seen as extremely

dangerous.63

A further treatment, escharotics, involved the use of substances to burn off

venereal sores and growths, also appeared to have little benefit.64

Walkowitz argues that the Contagious Diseases Acts were consistent with emerging nineteenth-

century attitudes towards women, class and sexuality which permeated through Victorian

society. These attitudes were more related to the apparent „social evils‟ than any direct relation

to female prostitution or venereal disease. The Acts sanctioned a „double standard of sexual

morality” by upholding a different standard of chastity for women and men, and demarcating

pure middle-class women from the impure female prostitute.65

Colchester as a political arena for the fight for the repeal of the Contagious

Diseases Acts

Linnane argues that the acts were to goad many individuals into a “furious resistance to this

infringement of women‟s civil liberties.”66

Many moralists and pre-early feminists were

63 Mary Spongberg, Feminizing Venereal Disease, The Body of the Prostitute in Nineteenth-Century

Medical Discourse (England: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1997), p.71. 64

Ibid. 65

Ibid

66 F. Linnane, A Thousand Years of Vice in the Capital, London the Wicked City (Robson Books, London,

2003), p.284.

32

infuriated by the regulation of the prostitute, asserting that her male client faced no such

discrimination. They further stated that the regulation of prostitution made it a legal act.67

Josephine Butler came forward to lead a campaign against the acts. Mrs. Butler was a member of

the Grey family, liberal landowners, who had given the country Lord Grey the prime minister.

She was also the wife of an Oxford clergyman. Josephine Butler and her supporters from the

Ladies National Association, were to take their challenge for the repeal of the Contagious

Diseases Acts, to the towns where they were in operation, inciting local prostitutes to resist

enforced registration and medical examination. The Ladies National Association launched their

campaign at the beginning of the New Year in 1870.68

In the spring of 1870, the Colchester by-election became an opportunity for the Ladies National

Association, to place a national focus on their campaign for the repeal of the Acts. The repealers

viewed the election as an opportunity to win over sympathetic Liberal voters, by running a

second Liberal candidate, Mr. Baxter Langley, against Sir Henry Storks, ex-governor of Malta

and a supporter of the Act.69

Putting up a second Liberal candidate, the campaigners believed

would split the vote and return the Conservative candidate Colonel Alexander Learmouth as the

67 F. Linnane, A Thousand Years of Vice in the Capital, London the Wicked City (Robson Books, London,

2003), p.284.

68 F. Linnane, A Thousand Years of Vice in the Capital, London the Wicked City (Robson Books, London, 2003),

p.284. 69

T. Fisher, „Josephine Butler – Feminism‟s Neglected Pioneer‟, History Today, Vol 36, Issue 6 (June

1996).

33

elected Member of Parliament.70

Although the Conservatives opposed a repeal of the Act,

campaigners felt that the strength of Liberal voters against the Act, might move Gladstone‟s

government towards repeal.71

The Essex and West Suffolk Gazette of 4th

November 1870, reported that Mr. Baxter Langley and

his supporters, canvassed the town with pamphlets decrying Sir Henry Storks‟s opinions.

However at a subsequent meeting, “the blood of Liberal partisan was up”.72

Mr. Langley and his

supporters, where driven out by Storks‟s supporters from the Queen Street Theatre where they

had assembled. The mob then turned their attention to the campaign instigator Mrs. Butler. On

discovering her whereabouts, they attacked the hotel where she was staying, forcing her to flee

into the back streets of the town seeking shelter elsewhere.73

The Colchester by-election and Mrs. Butler‟s activities were sensationalised in the national press.

The activities of the Ladies National Association had managed to split the Liberal vote. When

the results of the election were returned, the former Liberal majority of 183 in 1868, had turned

into a Conservative gain of 52. Colonel Learmonth, the Conservative candidate, had made a

70 G. Martin, The Story of Colchester from Roman Times to the present day (Colchester: Benham

Newspapers Ltd. 1959).

71

T. Fisher, „Josephine Butler–Feminism‟s Neglected Pioneer‟, History Today, Vol 36, Issue 6 (June

1996), 72 The Essex and West Suffolk Gazette

4 November 1870 (Article forwarded by Dr Jane Pearson, Department of History, Essex University).

73 Linnane, A Thousand Years of Vice in the Capital, London the Wicked City (London: Robson Books,

2003).

34

convincing victory. Although this local campaign for “women‟s rights, and for a common

standard of morality for men and women,” had forced the issue into the political arena, victory

was hollow. Gladstone‟s Liberal Government did not repeal the Acts. The General Election of

1874 was to return a Conservative government, which was wholly in favour of maintaining the

Act.74

The movement for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts now had to face reality.

The intention of weakening the Liberal Government paid no dividends, and a further sixteen

years were to pass before the Acts were repealed on 26 March 1886.75

74

T.Fisher, „Josephine Butler – Feminism‟s Neglected Pioneer‟, History Today, Vol 36, Issue 6 (June

1996). 75

T.Fisher, „Josephine Butler – Feminism‟s Neglected Pioneer‟, History Today, Vol 36, Issue 6 (June

1996).

35

Four

Colchester, the Contagious Diseases Acts and venereal disease.

Medical provision in Colchester

From the late eighteenth-century, many institutions were established under the auspices of

various Christian charitable organisations, these endeavored to morally reform, and socially re-

educate women who practised prostitution that were afflicted with venereal disease. Such

institutions were both, diverse in structure, size, with ideals of moral and social reform, being

generally established and financed by philanthropic sponsorship, and based on religious

sentiments. Bartley identifies that lock wards were established in some existing hospitals and in

particular:

„The London Lock Hospital opened a home because it believed

that there was no other provision for women who had just left the

hospital, but who could not yet find work (letter from Lock

Asylum July 1876)‟.76

However within Colchester, evidence suggests that there was only limited provision for the

treatment of female prostitutes suffering with venereal disease. It appears that only two pest

houses existed, both attempting to manage infectious diseases in the town. One is believed to be

situated between Mile End and Clay Lane, and a further, in the parish of St Mary‟s, both which

were established during the outbreak of plague in 1665-6. In 1860, the poor law guardians made

provision in the workhouse, to treat “non-pauper women suffering from venereal disease” in a

76 P. Bartley, The Changing Role of Women 1815-1914 (London: Hodder & Stoughton Educational,

1996), p.41.

36

building erected behind St Mary‟s Work House.77

However the arrangement was vetoed in 1861

by Poor Law authorities. In 1865, the authority further refused to allow the workhouse to be

registered for the purpose of a lock hospital in compliance with the 1864 Contagious Diseases

Acts. A „foul ward‟ at St Mary‟s did exist, which was built in 1865, however by 1868 it was

badly overcrowded. Between 1877 and 1921, a hospital ship was used by the borough to provide

treatment for infectious diseases.78

The Essex County Hospital was established in 1820 as a charitable medical institution. Patients

were only to be treated if they had been approved by a sponsor, a local subscriber to the hospital,

and then only upon written recommendation. The only exceptions to this where those considered

injured by accident, or requiring emergency treatment. Such cases could be admitted by the

Matron, or a House Apothecary. However, this service was chiefly for the benefit of the

labouring population of the locality, those individuals who were unable to subsist their own

medical treatment or pay for a cure. Individuals who could pay for medical treatment, would

seek it privately, those who were not working, or in the workhouse, would be treated in the

workhouse infirmary.79

However as Wkye claims, prostitution was perceived as not being due to

77 'Hospitals', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9: The Borough of Colchester (1994), pp. 284-

290.

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22004&strquery=lying

78 'Hospitals', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9: The Borough of Colchester (1994), pp. 284-

290.

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22004&strquery=ship

79 John, B. Penfold, The History of the Essex County Hospital, Colchester 1820-1948 (England:

Colchester,1984).

37

social deprivation, but to “sexual immorality and that those infected were not worthy of

charitable assistance”.80

The selectivity of patients continued to be an issue for the Board of Governors. Whereupon

instructions issued to the House Surgeon in 1857, were “to act liberally in the case of

„unrecognised wives‟ of soldiers”.81

There does not appear to be any records, which indicate how

many cases of venereal disease were treated in the hospital. However, Penfold argues, that those

inadvertently admitted with such afflictions, were immediately discharged.82

In 1960, a former

assistant matron, Miss Grace “Polly” Byford, was interviewed in relation to her service at the

hospital from 1916 onwards. She reflected that even during World War I, selectivity of patients

was still maintained, when asked about the admittance of patients suffering with venereal disease

she responded, “No, we did not have those in the hospital. No, they were not allowed in.”83

Miss

Byford‟s comments clearly identify the social and moral stigma, and the lack of social conscience

associated with women who prostituted themselves and suffered venereal disease.

There does appear some limited evidence of medical provision for „fallen women‟ in Colchester.

In 1860, a lock ward was established in the Colchester Union Workhouse with a grant of £50


1975), p.77. 81 A.F.F.H. Robertson, The Army in Colchester and it Influence on the Social, Economic and Political

Development of the Town 1854-1914 (England: University of Essex, 1992), p75. 82 John, B. Penfold, The History of the Essex County Hospital, Colchester 1820-1948 (England:

Colchester,1984). 83 Ibid. p 264.

38

from the government “... for the fallen women who always congregate in the vicinity of the

camp...”84

However, the town being highlighted in the Royal Commission Report of 1857 as one

of the garrison towns with a predominance of servicemen afflicted with venereal disease, made it

necessary for the government to make further provision, in compliance with the legislation the of

1864 Contagious Diseases Acts.

In December 1864, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Essex County Hospital,

received a communication from the Under Secretary of State for War – the Marquis of

Hartington. In respect of the terms of the Contagious Diseases Act of that year, the Under

Secretary was required to provide accommodation for prostitutes for the treatment of venereal

disease. The Secretary of State regarded the Essex County Hospital, as suitable to become a

“Certified Hospital for the Purposes of Act”.85

The hospital managers were requested to admit

patients suffering from venereal diseases at the Government‟s expense. As the hospital was only

one-third full at this time, it was felt that the management would be agreeable.86

However, the

response was not favourable, the Governor asserting that the Board would adhere to the Hospital

rules which „excluded the admission‟ of patients for the treatment of venereal disease and other

infectious disorders.87

Penfold reinforces this by pointing out that „a variety of people were

84 A.F.F.H. Robertson, The Army in Colchester and its Influence on the Social, Economic and Political

Development of the Town 1854-1914 (University of Essex, England, 1992), p.131. 85 Contagious Diseases Bill, PP 1864(212) (The House of Commons, printed 20 June 1864), p.2.


PP1868-69 (306)(306-I) (The House of Commons 8 July 1869).

39

banned as patients‟.88

The hospitals rules stated “... no women big with child, no persons in

consumptions disordered in their senses or suspected to have venereal disease, itch or other

distempers… 89

It can be argued, that the governors of the Essex County Hospital, felt justified

in refusing to provide medical treatment for those “afflicted with diseases arising from

indiscretion”.90

They gave the impression that patients requiring this type of provision – the

common prostitute, became diseased as “a justified penalty for sexual immorality”.91

It can be

argued, that the female prostitutes infected with venereal disease, did not conform to the ideals of

conventional morality, and therefore it was difficult to obtain sponsorship for such institutions if

they made provision for such patients. It appears within Colchester, that there was very little

available treatment or regard for the subsequent effects of venereal disease. However Wyke

argues that it was recognised in the nineteenth-century, that if venereal disease was neglected or

improperly treated, then the patient may endure lingering suffering, and it would result in fatal

consequences.92

87 John, B. Penfold, The History of the Essex County Hospital, Colchester 1820-1948 (England:

Colchester, 1984), p.101. 88

Ibid. p16.

89

Rules for the Government of the Essex & Colchester General Hospital (Colchester: Swinborne &

Walter, Nov, 14 1822), p.13. 90

T. J. Wyke, „The Manchester and Salford Lock Hospital, 1818-1917‟, Medical History, Vol. 19, (Jan.

1975), p. 76.

91 Ibid. p. 74.

92 Ibid.

40

It is evident that the Essex County Hospital was in a suitable position to act in compliance with

the legislation. However, the hospital board appears to have rejected the request in respect of its

regulations relating to the treatment of female prostitutes infected with venereal disease. This was

to have a significant impact upon the institution of the Acts, which would now not be enforced in

the town for a further five years.

Therefore, the implementation of the first Contagious Diseases Act, coming into force in 1864,

was to provide the ground work for the eventual provision of hospital accommodation, and the

detention of those women prostitutes inflicted with venereal disease. In essence, it was the

intention of the Act, to allow officials to physically detain women prostitutes, by separating

infected individuals from the community. By isolating such women, in suitably designated

hospitals, until they were satisfactorily cured, it would provide the means deemed necessary to

prevent the spread, and diminish the prevalence of venereal disease. It can be argued, that the

consequences of the restraint of this particular class of person, would become increasingly more

evident within the hospital wards of military and naval establishments. As such, the enforcement

of this law, would effectively maintain, and check public prostitution, with the willful intention of

annihilating the disease.

41

Five

The Colchester Lock Hospital

The Hospital

Although in 1864, Colchester was defined as one of the “stations which came under the

(Contagious Diseases) Act,” the 1868/9 Select Committee Report indicates that the operation of

the Act in the town was very limited. This was due to difficulty finding suitable hospital

accommodation, being accounted for by the Governors of the Essex Country Hospital refusing to

admit patients with venereal disease.93

The Lock Hospital was erected by the War Department on

the east side to the town in Port Lane, (formerly Park Lane). The construction of the hospital cost

the War Office £6,719.94

The Hospital was opened in January 1869 for the treatment of

prostitutes with venereal disease, the Acts now became fully operational in Colchester. The Select

Committee Report indicates that on 27th

January 1869 the hospital received its first seven

inpatients on 25th

January 1869.95

The institution was to be administered “by the War

Department. A visiting surgeon and a metropolitan police officer were to enforce the Act without

reference to the (local) authorities”.96

It provided beds for up to twenty-five patients however,

93 Lawson, R., „The Operation of the Contagious Diseases Acts among the Troops of the United

Kingdom, and Men of the Royal Navy on the Home Station, from their Introduction in 1864 to their

Ultimate Repeal in 1884, Journal of the Statistical Society of London, Vol. 54, No.1 (Mar., 1891), p. 37. 94 Robertson, A.F.F.H., The Army in Colchester and it Influence on the Social, Economic and Political

Development of the Town 1854-1914 (University of Essex, England, 1992), p.133.

95 Index to the report from the Select Committee on Contagious Diseases Act (1866)

PP 1868-9(306) (306-1), p.122.

42

figures from the same report suggest, that an average of twenty-three inpatients were receiving

treatment at anyone time.97

Any female being suspected of prostitution within the parishes under

the limits of the Acts, would be required to undergo medical examination, and if found infected

with venereal disease, imprisoned in the Lock Hospital.98

Female prostitutes could be detained in the establishment for period of six months in compliance

with section 24 of the 1866 Acts. In 1869 the period was extended further, “not exceeding three

months” if the patient was not cured.99

The original 1864 Act, stated that the parishes of St.

Botolph, St Giles, St Mary at the Wall, Old (Holy) Trinity, St Runwald and St Peter‟s came under

the schedule of the Act.100

However the Acts were not implemented in Colchester until 1869, due

to the delay in opening of the Lock Hospital. In the 1869 Bill, the parish limits in Colchester

were extended to include the parishes of All Saints, St. James, St John, St Leonard, St Martin,

and St Mary Magdalene, St Nicholas, St Andrews, Greenstead, Lexden and St Michael‟s Mile

End.101


PP 1868-9(306) (306-1), p.122. p.26.

97 Lawson, R., „The Operation of the Contagious Diseases Acts among the Troops of the United


Ultimate Repeal in 1884, Journal of the Statistical Society of London, Vol. 54, No.1 (Mar., 1891), p. 37. 98 Contagious Diseases Bill, PP 1864(212) (The House of Commons, printed 20 June 1864). 99 A Bill to amend the Contagious Diseases Act, 1866

PP 1868-69(255) (The House of Commons), p.3.

100

Index to the report from the Select Committee on Contagious Diseases Act (1866)

PP 1868-9(306) (306-1), p.122.

43

The garrison camp in the town attracted prostitutes from outside of the locality, into the town.

The Report from the Select Committee of 1866 clearly states, that prostitutes came in from the out

lying villages and Ipswich some twenty-two miles away.102

This appears evident from the 1871

census return, prisoners‟ places of origin being listed as Great Yarmouth, Stowmarket, Ipswich,

Chappel and Halstead.103

However it is also argued in the same report, that the worst areas of

prostitution were found “where all the sailors congregate”, by the Hythe Quay.104

Monson‟s 1848 map of Colchester shows an area off Park Lane, (Port Lane), and Barrack Street,

as part of the original Napoleonic Barracks (1793-1815).105

A plan of the hospital drawn in 1876

also identifies this area as the former location of the “Home Drill Field (Disused)”.106

This was

the site of the eventual construction of the Lock Hospital. It is possible to argue that as this land

still remained in the ownership of the military, it was considered a suitable site for the building of

101 A Bill to amend the Contagious Diseases Act, 1866

PP 1868-69(255) (The House of Commons), p.6.


PP 1868-9(306) (306-1). 103 Page from the Census Enumerators Book 1871 for Park (Port) Lane, Colchester, Ancestry Library.com

http://content.ancestrylibrary.com/Browse/print_u.aspx?dbid=7619&iid=ESSRG10_1682_1684-0422


PP 1868-9(306) (306-1), p.45.

105 Robertson, A.F.F.H. The Army in Colchester and it Influence on the Social, Economic and Political

Development of the Town 1854-1914 (University of Essex, England, 1992), Appendix 6.

106 Map of St. Botolph XXVIII.9.21 1

st Ward, Home Drill Field (Disused).

Ordinance Survey Office, Southampton, (1876).


44

the hospital. This would clearly defray added expense of purchasing land for the purpose of the

Acts.

The words „lock hospital,‟ are derived from the Lock Hospital at Southwark, which was founded

on the former site of a medieval leper house, whose patients were “formerly kept in restraint”.107

However the term „lock,‟ originates from the French „loques‟ which denotes bandages, lint and

rags. The establishment of early lock hospitals reflected the concerns of eighteenth-century

philanthropists, in providing medical provisions for prostitutes, who due to their morally deviant

nature, tended to be rejected by other hospitals.108

By interviewing people who recalled the building, it appears to have been constructed on two

levels – however the plan only shows the first floor.109

There appears to have been two wards for

the patients, and a long veranda which was linked to all other sections of the hospital. The

veranda leads out to a large area which was possibly for recreation purposes of the inmates. To

the south east of the building, there was a laundry and drying ground. A report in the Essex &

West Suffolk Gazette refers to a wall of nine feet high, and “woodwork by the sides of the walls in

which there were nails,” this was to prevent the inmates from escaping.110

The outer boundary of

107 Walkowitz, J. R., Prostitution and Victorian Society, women, class and the state (England: University

of Cambridge, 1994), p.59.

108 Ibid. p.59

109 Pamela Andrews, born 1935, „La Ronde‟, 81 Rectory Road, Colchester, CO5 7HY.

110 The Essex and West Suffolk Gazette, 18 November 1870.

45

the hospital is surrounded by trees, possibly to obscure it from general view. Although these trees

still remain on the outside the boundary wall, it is not possible to ascertain if they predated the

building, however their size appears to suggest that they did, (Appendix 7). There does not

appear to be any internal water supply, however „water points‟ were situated outside of the

building.

Brown refers to the life of the inmate of the Colchester Lock Hospital, as one of being locked up

“for boring months on end”.111

He argues that in reality, it was a humiliating experience, and one

which led to the “ultimate coarsening” of the women.112

Visits from the outside were mainly

forbidden, the women “friendless and quite helpless”.113

There appears little evidence of how

female inmates were medically treated. However Walkowitz argues treatment was generally

focused upon the need to cure, and prevent the spread of the disease. Treatment was concentrated

on treating chancroid and syphilis.

Pages from the 1871 census enumerator‟s book for Park (Port) Lane clearly indicate that a police

constable and his family were resident in the establishment. The return also shows the

engagement of a matron, two nurses, a cook and her husband who was the porter.114

The visiting

111 Brown, A. F. J., Colchester 1815-1914 (England: Essex Record Office, 1980), p.168.

112

Ibid 113

Ibid

114 Pages from the Census Enumerators Book 1871 for Park (Port) Lane, Colchester, Ancestry

Library.com

46

surgeon was Mr. Edward Waylen, M.R.C.S, he was also the military surgeon for the garrison.115

In the Nursing Record 2 March 1993, Miss M.B. Mackey, gives an interview where she refers to

her four year period of serving as Matron at the Colchester Lock Hospital between1883-1887.

She refers to her experience as being “very hard training, but terribly hard work”.116

Two years

before its closure in 1889, Miss Mackey has a desire to return to general nursing, she left the

hospital being offered the position of night sister at the Royal London Hospital.117

Mr Edward Waylen, when presenting his evidence to the 1868/9 Select Committee, argued that

since the establishment of the Colchester Lock Hospital some five months earlier, the extent of

venereal infection in female prostitutes in the town had decreased. Upon reviewing his report

from the principal medical officer at the camp for the previous week, it appeared that out of a

total of 1,655 troops, only 25 were receiving treatment for venereal infection. He further states,

that when the Lock Hospital originally opened, patients were detained for 50 days, that number

had now been reduced to an average of 35 days.118

http://content.ancestrylibrary.com/Browse/print_u.aspx?dbid=7619&iid=ESSRG10_1682_1684-0422 &

84-0423


PP 1868-9(306) (306-1). 116 The Nursing Record “At homes.” The Nursing Record Vol. 10 (2 March 1893), p. 114.

117 Ibid. 118 Index to report from the Select Committee from Contagious Disease Act (1866)



47

When the surgeon was asked if women objected to examination, he stated that women originally

were reticent; however their opposition appeared to be diminishing. He advised the committee

that women now voluntarily submitted to examination by signing the declaration, (Appendix1).

He also felt that the women‟s character and condition, notably improved whilst in the hospital.

The women appeared cleaner, and their language more chaste. It was also mentioned, that there

appeared to be no interference from the local authorities, and that the Acts did not appear

unpopular in the town.119

Lucy Clarke

Walkowitz argues that for the majority of women, migration into prostitution was not an

intentional act, but more often an unfortunate circumstance in “response to local conditions of

the urban job market”.120

Many women in nineteenth-century Britain, found themselves socially,

and economically vulnerable, they looked to prostitution as a solution, (if only in the short term).

For many women prostitution was an easier option, with shorter hours and better pay than the

overworked and underpaid domestic servant, and it was certainly a better alternative to the

workhouse.121



120 J. R.Walkowitz, Prostitution and Victorian Society, women, class and the state (England: University of

Cambridge, 1994), p.14.

121 Ibid.

48

Brown comments that prostitution in Colchester “occasioned only brief, usually embarrassed,

reference in the (local) Press”.122

However there is evidence, that prostitution was increasing in

Colchester even before the Camp‟s establishment. The Holy Trinity vestry in 1842 sent a

resolution to the Colchester Bench, raising an issue of the concern from its parishioners to the

extent of female prostitution in the town. Local protests were raised after the establishment of

the garrison, when it became evident that soldiers met local girls from the silk-factory and the

Ragged School. In 1867 a petition was raised by local clergy against relicensing of inns which

housed brothels.123

However, it is difficult to find accounts of the life of the prostitute in

Colchester. There appear few records preserved which relate to the Colchester Lock Hospital, its

operation, and the treatment of the inmates infected with venereal disease. Research at the local

history section of the Colchester Library, the Essex Records Office, and the House of Commons

Archives provided little relevant information. It is therefore difficult to examine the operation of

the institution, or the impact of the institution upon its inmates.

However, there is one reference to the activities of two prostitutes, in the Essex & West Suffolk

Gazette on the 18 November 1870. It is reported, that two prisoners, Lucy Clarke (17) and

Sophia Bacon (19), “unlawfully left the hospital” without being discharged by the surgeon.124

Lucy had been detained in the hospital on 4th

November and Sophia on the 7th

November. The

two girls had managed to scale the hospital walls and make their getaway across the recreation

122 A. F. J. Brown, Colchester 1815-1914 (England: Essex Record Office, 1980), p.167. 123 Ibid. 124 The Essex and West Suffolk Gazette

18 November 1870. (Article forwarded by Dr Jane Pearson Essex University).

49

ground, (Appendix 2). They were later discovered in the evening on the Butt Road, intoxicated

and associating with soldiers, still in their hospital uniforms. 125

The girls were recaptured, detained and charged by Mr William Jones the Metropolitan police

officer stationed at the Lock Hospital. As no prisoners were allowed to leave the institution, the

girls were in breach of the law for not having a discharge certificate from Mr E Waylen,126

the

visiting surgeon.127

The girls were charged under the 28th

section of the Contagious Diseases

Acts.

…any woman authorised by this Act to be detained in a certified hospital for

medical treatment quits the hospital without being discharged therefore by the

chief medical officer thereof by writing under his hand…in every such case shall

be guilty of a offence against this Act and on summary conviction shall be liable

to imprisonment with or without hard labour, in the case of a first offence for any

term not exceeding one month, and in the case of a second or any subsequent

offence any term not exceeding three months. 128

Lucy and Sophia were brought before the magistrates. Mr Jones stated the girls had once before

escaped from the hospital, the authorities had forgiven them on that occasion. However, the

mayor indicated that as this was the first time that the girls had been charged before the

125 Map of St. Botolph XXVIII.9.21 1

st Ward, Home Drill Field (Disused).

Ordinance Survey Office, Southampton, (1876).


PP1868-69 (306 (306-I) (The House of Commons 8 July 1869), p44.


128 Copy of the Contagious Diseases Act, 1866. 11

th June 1866

http://books.google.com/books?id=GhQDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR63&dq=copy+of+the+contagious+diseas

es+act,+1866&cd=1#v=onepage&q=copy%20of%20the%20contagious%20diseases%20act%2C%20186

6&f=false

50

magistrates, the designated punishment would normally be “one month‟s imprisonment with

hard labour”.129

On this occasion, the Bench acted compassionately, subjecting both girls each to

ten days in goal without hard labour, and then to return to the Lock Hospital. This sentence

obviously reflected the feelings of the Bench, that treatment in the hospital would be more

beneficial than a spell in the gaol. The article reports that the prisoners impudently thanked the

magistrates and the police officer.130

It must therefore be assumed, that the two girls were returned to the hospital. Interestingly it

appears in the case of Lucy Clark that she did return to the hospital. From examination of April

1871 census enumerator‟s entry for Park Lane (Port Lane), a Lucy Clark of Bromley, (a village

east of the town), is clearly shown as still being an inmate, (Appendix 3). It appears Lucy

remained a patient for at least a further four months.131

This suggests that neither the Governors of the Essex County Hospital, or the local authority, felt

or desired the need to gain involvement with the management of the Acts in the town. It would

therefore by valid to argue, that as the hospital was funded by the War Office, and run by the

Metropolitan Police, that it did not impose on the town, and particularly it made no undesirable


11 November 1870. (Article forwarded by Dr Jane Pearson, Department of History, Essex University).

130 The Essex and West Suffolk Gazette,


131 Pages from the Census Enumerators Book 1871 for Park (Port) Lane, Colchester, Ancestry

Library.com

http://content.ancestrylibrary.com/Browse/print_u.aspx?dbid=7619&iid=ESSRG10_1682_1684-0422.


51

imposition on the poor relief system of the period. The hospital and the Acts themselves, were

relieving the local poor rate tax payers, a further and undesirable burden. It can be suggested that

the implementation of the Acts, and the Lock Hospital, were generally of benefit to the local

community. They kept female prostitution off the local streets, placed no imposition on the Essex

County Hospital, and no financial demand on the rate payer. This may suggest the magistrates‟

leniency, towards Lucy and Sophia, in sending them back to the hospital.

52

Six

Venereal disease and the development of a social conscience.

The Reverend George Dacre

It can be argued that prostitution was regarded as a necessary, if distasteful part of Victorian

society. It is clear from the charitable establishment of the Essex County Hospital, that there

were forms of middle-class paternalism existing in Colchester. Wyke argues that to appeal to the

benevolent nature of the local communities, and gain support, the objectives of such institutions

needed to include a focus on moral reform and rehabilitation.132

Although the hospital came

under the administration of the „War Office,‟ it still appears that there was more that just an

interest locally in the cure of the female prostitutes, as there evolved an element of charitable,

and religious concern, in relation to the social plight of these women.

On 21 July 1869, the Reverend George Dacre, Chaplain to the Forces and the Colchester Lock

Hospital, wrote to the Under Secretary of State for War. His communication was in respect of

his concern for the welfare of inmates, discharged from the hospital.133

He highlights Clause 27,

of the Contagious Diseases Acts which states that “every woman shall, on her discharge from the


1975). 133 Colchester Lock Hospital

PP 1871(260) (The House of Commons, 12 May 1871).

53

hospital, be sent to the place of her residence, if she so desires, without expense to herself”.134

However, he discusses that some patients had shown a desire to reform their behavior, and in

these cases, he asks that the cost of sending these patients to a place of reform may be met by the

state. He further comments, that this charge has on a previous occasion been met by, and at cost

to the hospital matron. The under secretary‟s reply is favorable, if the case is considered of a

deserving nature.135

In further correspondence of October 1869, the Reverend Dacre refers further to the moral

reform of the patients. He comments that whilst the patients are retained in the hospital, there is

a noted moral improvement, and he regards this as a “result of the weekly visits required by

Article 49” of the Acts.136

However, apart from two instances, this has not been lasting after the

patients are discharged from the hospital. He fears that their aversion to the regulation of

working in domestic service prevents them from earning a livable wage, that they therefore

return to their former practice of prostitution.137

The Reverend Dacre further refers to Article 75, which recommends the establishment of a

committee of visiting ladies. To this he remarks, that the hospital receives the occasional lady

134 Copy of the Contagious Diseases Act, 1866.

http://books.google.com/books?id=GhQDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR63&dq=copy+of+the+contagious+diseas

es+act,1866&cd=2#v=onepage&q=copy%20of%20the%20contagious%20diseases%20act%2C1866&f=f

alse p.ixviii.

135

Colchester Lock Hospital PP 1871(260) (The House of Commons, 12 May 1871).

136 Ibid.

137 Ibid.

http://books.google.com/books?id=GhQDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR63&dq=copy+of+the+contagious+diseases+act,1866&cd=2#v=onepage&q=copy%20of%20the%20contagious%20diseases%20act%2C1866&f=false



54

visitor, however no committee has been formed. He indicates that “the question is tabooed by

officers‟ wives, and the clergy of the town do not take sufficient interest in the matter”.138

To this end the Reverend met with local clergy in proposing, “the establishment of a receiving

house,” where inpatients for a certain period of time may be taught skills and “industrious

habits”.139

Though the committee approved the proposition, the Reverend Dacre was not very

optimistic as to its success, and further argued that he could not accommodate the expense of

such a project himself. In further correspondence with the War Office, the Reverend Dacre

indicates that he has personally boarded and found employment for an individual at his own

expense. However, she proved to be an “unpromising case” and returned to her former practice.

He presented a proposal, suggested by the matron of the Lock Hospital, for the cost of running

the receiving house for discharged patients, (see below). The purchase of the sewing machines,

suggests a focus of not purely reform, but to offer the inmates other skills, to enable them to

support themselves in a profession rather than prostitution.

138 Colchester Lock Hospital PP 1871(260) (The House of Commons, 12 May 1871) 139 Ibid.

55

The Matron‟s Suggestion of the Costs of Premises and Furniture as below; the Landlord putting

all in good repair

House rent - - - -

Teaching and maintenance,

say of 12 girls at 5s. per week

first month; 2s.6d. second

ditto - - - -

Gas and Candles - -

Wood and coals - -

£. s. d.

40 - -

}18 - -

5 - -

7 - -

Two machines; one Thomas,

and one Wheeler & Wilson140

(sewing machines)

Six bedsteads - - -

Sundries - - - -

Work stools - - - -

Work table - - - -

£. s. d.

}16 - -

12 - -

2 10 -

1 - -

- 10 -

£. 70 - - £. 32 - -

141

Few records appear to exist in relation to the operation of the Colchester Lock Hospital, and

there does not appear any further evidence to suggest the establishment of a receiving house for

discharged prostitutes. Brown tends to agree with this arguing, that the Reverend Dacre‟s appeal

fell short of its aim, as the sum of £100 could not be raised to provide a “reception –centre” for

discharged inmates.142

140

Wheeler and Wilson Sewing Machines

http://www.sewalot.com/wheeler%20&%20wilson%20sewing%20machines.htm 141

Colchester Lock Hospital PP 1871(260) (The House of Commons, 12 May 1871)

56

The Reverend Dacre‟s „Quarterly Report of the Chaplain‟ (1869), indicates the destinations of

inmates discharged from the Lock Hospital. Out of all the destinations recorded from forty-three

inmates, three women went to goal, two to the union workhouse, three were sent to reformatories

and twelve to friends. Interestingly, only one inmate was offered refuge locally, Rebecca

Gorman (23),143

was sent to the „Home for Fallen Women‟. The Goody’s Colchester Almanac of

1876, identifies a „Refuge for Unfortunate Females‟ in Ipswich Road which was opened in 1860

by Mrs Round, wife of the Right Hon. James Round, Conservative MP for East Essex, later a

member of His Majesty‟s Privy Council.144

This was the likely destination of Rebecca. It is

possible that Rebecca was pregnant, as it is thought that the refuge was a lying in home for

pregnant women .When interviewed by the 1869 Select Committee, Mr Waylen stated that

pregnant women were not admitted to the hospital, so the hospital would be keen to remove

her.145

It appears that the Reverend Dacre died shortly after his final communication to the War Office

in 1871.146

Had the Reverend Dacre survived and continued his appeal, he may have made a

significant impact on the reform and social welfare of prostitutes in the town.

142 A. F. J. Brown, Colchester 1815-1914 (England: Essex Record Office, 1980), p.168.

143

Colchester Lock Hospital, PP 1871(260) (The House of Commons, 12 May 1871).

144 H.W. Goody, Goody’s Colchester Almanac (Colchester: Goody, 1876).


PP1868-69 (306 (306-I) (The House of Commons 8 July 1869), p.44.

146 Colchester Lock Hospital, PP 1871(260) (The House of Commons, 12 May 1871).

57

The Reverend Thomas Stainton-Ellis

On 11 November 1870, a letter was published in the Essex & West Suffolk Gazette written by the

Reverend Robert Stainton Ellis, a Colchester Methodist Minister.147

This was in reference to the

forthcoming by-election, being held due to the untimely death of J. Gurdon Rebow MP.148

The

Reverend Stainton-Ellis admonished the proposed Liberal candidate Sir Henry Storks for being

one of the initial supporters of the Contagious Diseases Acts. He further alluded to his concerns

of the possibility of Sir Henry gaining a Parliamentary seat. The Reverend Stainton-Ellis had

three years previously, occupied a ministry in Portsmouth between 1854 -1857. He wrote in

earnest in his letter, of how the Acts were regarded in that town,149

(Appendix 4). In Portsmouth,

the Reverend Stainton-Ellis asserted that he was an active member of a committee which

provided a refuge for fallen women, where upon also sat members of the clergy, leading gentry

and military officers. He argued that many military officers were initially in favour of the

sanitary benefits of the Acts however, they subsequently raised opposition in acknowledgement

of their demoralising operation. He referred to the “scandalous, pestiferous and miserable

operation” of the Acts.150

He urged Methodist voters, in the Colchester constituency, to comply

147 The Essex and West Suffolk Gazette, 11 November 1870 (Article forwarded by Dr Jane Pearson,

Department of History, Essex University). 148

S. Durgan, Colchester 1835-1992(Victoria County History of Essex, Chelmsford, 1997).

149 Hill, William, The Alphabetical Arrangement of all the Wesleyan Methodist Ministers and Preachers

on Trial in connexion with the British and Irish conferences (London: Wesleyan Conference Office,

1878).

58

with the resolutions of the recent Ministersat Conference, and moved for a repeal of the Act by

voting against a Liberal vote for Sir Henry Storks.151

It appears clear from the Reverend

Stainton Ellis‟s argument, that he feels strongly enough against the Acts, to raise the issue

publically. He also refers to an idea of a refuge for the former discharged hospital patients,

reflecting the similar recommendation of the Reverend Dacre.

150

The Essex and West Suffolk Gazette,11 November 1870 (Article forwarded by Dr Jane Pearson,

Department of History, Essex University).

151

Ibid.

59

Seven

Reflections of the past

There would be no one now surviving, who could recall the Colchester Lock Hospital as a

working institution. However it was possible to trace a distant relative of a former inmate.

Emma Pentney, aged 17 from Colchester who is shown on the 1881 census return as being a

„hospital patient‟.152

Monique Jones, from Auckland, New Zealand, and originally from

Colchester, when researching her family history, found evidence that her relative operated as a

local prostitute.153

The Colchester Lock Hospital was finally closed in 1886.154

In 1884, Myland Hospital opened

an isolation ward to take over the medical treatment of patients with venereal disease.155

Ownership of the “Old Military Hospital, Port Lane” was transferred to Messrs. Spottiswoode,

Ballantyne and Co. Ltd., a local printing company in 1924.156

The premises where converted

152

Pages from the Census Enumerators Book 1881 for Park (Port) Lane, Colchester

Ancestry Library.com. p.28.


153

E-mail correspondence with Monique Jones, PO Box 24-466, Royal Oak, Auckland 1345, New

Zealand.

154

British History Online, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22004.

155 Ibid.

156 Building Plan of (conversion of Old Military Hospital, Port Lane, Colchester),D/B 6 Pb3/4428

Seax – Essex Archives Online, http://seax.esssxcc.gov.uk/result_details.asp?intOffSet=0&intThis

RecordsOffSet=0

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22004

60

into a social club for employees of the company. However, the presence of the institution still

remained as part of the psyche of the town for many years to come. Pamela Andrews, (nee

Lambert), fondly recalls the comment of her mother Sylvia on the morning of her wedding on

the 26 December 1956. Her mother Sylvia Lambert was preparing food and she turned to her

daughter whilst peeling potatoes in the kitchen of the social club, and remarked “I feel like I‟m in

a prison with all those bars on the windows!” (Appendices 5 & 6).157

It is obvious that the

security measures placed by the Metropolitan Police, to retain the prostitutes in the hospital still

remained a part of the structure of the building. Ramon Chinnery, who was born in 1935 and

grew up in Military Road, Colchester, reminisced “we were told to keep away from the old VD

Hospital, it was a dirty place, I didn‟t really understand what VD was, but I kept away!”158

The

building remained until the early 1980s when in was finally demolished, where a small housing

estate was built on the site known as Falcon Crescent, (Appendix 7).159

However the legacy of the Colchester Lock Hospital, and the Contagious Diseases Acts, still

remain in Colchester. Although evidence of the building has long since disappeared, the

perimeter wall scaled by Lucy Clarke and her companion Sophia Bacon remains. This wall after

standing for 140 years is in now in a severe state of decay. To allow closure of this project, I

contacted Colchester Borough Council and spoke with to Steve Collis, Parks and Recreation

Department. Steve shared my concerns in regard to the dilapidated condition of the wall. He

157 Pamela Andrews, born 1935, „La Ronde‟, 81 Rectory Road, Colchester, CO5 7HY.

158 Chinnery, Ramon, born 1935, 12 Swan Court, Mistley, Manningtree, Essex.

159 G. Bober, Memory Lane (Colchester: Spottiswoode, Ballantyne Printers, Ltd., 1992).

61

mentioned that in respect of concern for public safety, his department had found it necessary to

demolish some parts, and to cordon off other areas of the wall. At this stage, the council is still

trying to ascertain who has ownership of the wall, before they are able to proceed with any

renovation,160

(Appendix 7).

160

Steve Collis, Colchester Borough Council, [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

62

Conclusion

The implementation and the effects of the Contagious Diseases Acts in Britain have been well

researched, analysed and documented by eminent historians. Judith Walkowitz argues that the

Acts are recognised as a nineteenth-century social and cultural ideology which was to “officially

sanction a double standard of sexuality”.161

However, in Colchester, the influence of the Acts

upon the town required a more thorough investigation. It is clear from this project, that the Acts

generally did have an impact. The purpose of this study was to contribute, and analyse, new

evidence in conjunction with contributions already researched, and to offer a fuller

representation of how the Garrison town of Colchester was affected by the implementation of the

Contagious Diseases Acts.

Colchester being designated a Garrison town in the mid nineteenth-century, was the catalyst for

the increased spread of sexually transmitted diseases within the town. The arrival of a substantial

number of troops was to have had a significant impact. The vast increase of the population

offered economic benefits to local businesses. However, in the case of this project, the arrival of

the regiments signified national concerns of the increased spread of venereal disease transmitted

due to sexual relationships between the soldiers and local prostitutes.

The focus of the Acts was placed on prostitutes and soldiers. However, evidence from the Report

from the Select Committee from Contagious Disease Act (1866) shows that it was not purely

soldiers associating with local prostitutes which increased the spread of venereal infection. Each

161 Walkowitz, J. R., Prostitution and Victorian Society, women, class and the state, (England: University of

Cambridge, 1994, p.70.

63

new regiment tended to bring along its own attachment of women.162

The spread of the disease

was intensified by the influx of females moving in from the local villages, and across the Suffolk

boarder from Ipswich, who also operated as prostitutes. The 1871 census return proves this, by

showing as a list of inmates, that not all the infected prostitutes in the Lock Hospital were local

females.163

This ripple effect contributed to the increased spread of the disease in the garrison.

The implementation of the Acts in 1864 was focused on certain military and naval bases, which

statistically had a high prevalence of venereal disease. However the Acts never came into full

force into Colchester until 1869. The War Office being effectively restricted, from its

enforcement by the reluctance of the Essex County Hospital to provide a ward for the treatment

of infected female prostitutes. The improvement of the health of the British military forces, and

the control of the disease, was therefore radically restricted by the intransigence of local opinion.

The refusal of the Essex County Hospital to become involved in the treatment of female

prostitutes also appeared to be reflected at local authority level. This is illustrated by the attitude

of the local magistrates when they returned Lucy Clark and Sophia Bacon to the Lock Hospital

162 Report from the Select Committee from Contagious Disease Act (1866),


163


Ancestry Library.com


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64

after their escape. In normal circumstances the offending female would have been sent to goal.164

The provision of the treatment of female prostitutes being under the governance of the

Contagious Diseases Acts, made no imposition on the local hospital, the local police or the poor

relief system. In view of this, it can be argued that as the Acts did not impinge on the town to any

great extent, many considered them as beneficial.

Robert Lawson, (1891) argues that the operation of the Contagious Diseases Acts in Britain, in

the latter part of the nineteenth-century, was a unique legislative attempt to reduce the frequency

of venereal infection amongst home based British serving troops. These Acts

“…led to the adoption of measures to reduce the frequency of that class of

diseases, by subjecting the unfortunate females, who were the chief sources

of its diffusion, to medical treatment while in a state of capable of

communicating it to healthy persons.”165

Lawson, Inspector General of Hospitals, stated that the implementation of the Contagious

Diseases Acts, which operated for a twenty year period between 1864 and 1884 “as a whole

maybe regarded as the most interesting experiment on public health”.166

This gender biased

legislation in 1864, was to legally enforce the medical examination of known female prostitutes.


165 R. Lawson, „The Operation of the Contagious Diseases Acts among the Troops of the United


Ultimate Repeal in 1884, Journal of the Statistical Society of London, Vol. 54, No.1 (Mar., 1891), p.31.

166 Ibid.

65

If being found infected with venereal disease they would be imprisoned in a Lock Hospital until

cured.

However, evidence does suggest forms of social conscience within the town, for the moral

reform and reclamation of the prostitutes. This is seen in my analysis in the correspondence

from the Reverend Dacre to the House of Commons, in his attempt to establish a receiving house

for discharged prostitutes. This document represents the empathy, and concerns of one

individual, in his endeavour to provide a receiving house to offer refuge and training for inmates

discharged from the Lock Hospital. However there was no further traceable evidence, to suggest

the existence of such an establishment. The Reverend Darce died soon after this correspondence,

and was unable to further pursue his intentions.167

The opinion of Reverend Stainton Ellis‟s, a local Methodist Minister, appears representative of

growing national concern in relation to the Acts, and the infringement of civil liberties, of female

prostitutes. The clergyman, as instructed by higher members of his ministry, publically directs

his parishioners to vote in the local by-election against the proposed local Liberal candidate, Sir

Henry Storks who was in favour of the Acts. The by-election gained a public focus after the

Ladies National Association used the town‟s by-election, to elevate their campaign for the repeal

of the Acts. By nominating a second Liberal candidate, they managed to split the Liberal vote,

and the Conservative candidate Colonel Learmonth was returned to Parliament. Articles in a

letter published in the The Essex and West Suffolk Gazette, focus on the condemnation of the

Acts by the Reverend Stainton Ellis‟s church nationally, however also his personal objection to

167 Colchester Lock Hospital PP 1871(260) (The House of Commons, 12 May 1871).

66

them.168

Further research into the Reverend Stainton Ellis provided evidence that he had shown

concern for the plight of prostitutes in Plymouth, where he had previously served as a minister.



67

Appendix 1

169

169

Contagious Diseases Bill

PP 1864(212) (The House of Commons, printed 20 June 1864).

68

Appendix 2

Plan of the Colchester Lock Hospital – Park (Port) Lane

170

170

Map of St. Botolph XXVIII.9.21 1st Ward, Home Drill Field (Disused).

Ordinance Survey Office, Southampton.

69

Appendix 3

171

171




84-0422


70

Appendix 4

172

172 Hill, William, The Alphabetical Arrangement of all the Wesleyan Methodist Ministers and Preachers

on Trial in connexion with the British and Irish conferences (London: Wesleyan Conference Office,

1878), p.54.

71

Appendix 5

A photograph of the Spottiswoode Ballentyne Bowls Club (former Lock Hospital) taken

circa1935. In the background the prison bars can be clearly seen on the window frames

Appendix 6

The veranda of the Lock Hospital latterly used for social functions (1956).

72

Appendix 7

Photographs of the dilapidated condition of the wall which enclosed the former Colchester Lock

Hospital.

73

Appendix 8

How to search House of Commons Parliamentary Papers

http://parlipapers.chadwyck.co.uk/

The House of Common Parliamentary Papers (HCPP) online covers eighteenth to twentieth-

century House of Commons session papers from 1715 to 2003/04. Access to these papers for the

purpose of study is available through Essex University Library website. HCPP provides

searchable full text and page images and for each paper, along with detailed indexing. The online

archive offers the researcher facility to „browse‟ its subject catalogue appropriate to their

particular area of research. The data base provides the facility to view papers online or to down

load to the user‟s own files. This search procedure was far more useful than using the „search‟

facility when entering keyword and date searches which tended to provide irrelevant papers.

The archive for this research provided a plentiful source of information relating to the legislation

and statistical evidence associated with implementation of the Contagious Diseases Acts. The

most significant papers were those which related Colchester Lock Hospital and the

correspondence between the Reverend George Dacre and the War Office. 173

This

correspondence offered a view of the social situation in Colchester relating to the Acts.

173 Colchester Lock Hospital


http://parlipapers.chadwyck.co.uk/

74

Bibliography

Manuscript Sources

Brown, V. J. „More sinned against than sinning‟: The representations and responses to the

„fallen‟ women in the long eighteenth century, (University of Essex, England 2006).

Kim, Heonsook, Charitable Associations in Colchester, 1800-1870: A of study a middle-class

world (University of Essex, England, 2004).

Robertson, A.F.F.H., The Army in Colchester and its Influence on the Social, Economic and

Political Development of the Town 1854-1914 (University of Essex, England, 1992).

Interviews

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how did the contagious diseases acts affect the garrison town of colchester?

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