Sexuality

Author : Bracebridge Hemyng (1841-1901)

Title : Prostitution in London (1861-2)

Keywords: Prostitution, poverty, Mayhew, London, crime, sex, women, brothels, marriage

Pages :
Intro
9 10 11 12 13 14

Originating in a series of articles for the Morning Chronicle in 1849-1850, Henry Mayhew’s monumental piece of journalistic research into poverty in London, London Labour and the London Poor was published in a complete edition of four volumes in 1861-2. Mayhew engaged a number of collaborators in the project, including a barrister, Bracebridge Hemyng, who wrote the section on Prostitution in London that takes up a large part of volume four of the work, devoted to ‘Those That Will Not Work’. After some general remarks and statistics, Hemyng surveys the complex extent of London prostitution from the kept mistresses and ‘prima donnas’ of the thriving Haymarket scene – of those on the way up, and those approaching severe states of degradation. Like Mayhew’s project as a whole, Hemyng’s approach draws on statistics where it can, but is mainly driven by first-hand investigation, mingling interviews with the subjects themselves with more writerly attempts to evoke the atmosphere of the street.

Pages :
Intro
9 10 11 12 13 14

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