Fanny and Stella
The flat where Fanny and Stella got changed.
Location: 13 Wakefield Street, Bloomsbury
Description: Thomas Ernest Boulton and Frederick William Park got changed here at the height of their fame in the late 1860's, the pre-eminent Victorian cross-dressers of their day.
In 1870, while in drag, they were arrested after leaving The Strand Theatre and charged with conspiracy to commit sodomy, a crime that carried a maximum prison sentence of life with hard labour.
Their case came to court the following year when they were acquitted after the prosecution failed to establish that they had anal sex.
The pair admitted to appearing in public dressed as women - an offence at the time against public morals and common decency. They were bound over for two years and became infamous pioneers in gay history.
They rented a flat here to store their dresses, cosmetics and other items, as well as a base from which they went out - the site is now a United Reformed Church. Evidence in their court case included that the police watched this flat for 2 weeks gathering evidence against them.
The flat where Fanny and Stella got changed. |
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