'Bringing great shame upon this city': Sodomy, the courts and the civic idiom in eighteenth-century Bristol

Poole, Steve

Abstract

During the 1730s, Bristol acquired an unenviable reputation as a city in which sodomy was endemic and rarely punished by the civil power. Although the cause lay partly in difficulties experienced in securing convictions, the resolve of magistrates was exposed to fierce scrutiny. Taking an effusive curate's moral vindication of the city as a starting point, this article examines the social production of sodomy in eighteenth-century Bristol, analyses prosecution patterns and considers the importance of collective moral reputation in the forging of civic history. © 2007 Cambridge University Press.

Citation

Poole, S. (2007). 'Bringing great shame upon this city': Sodomy, the courts and the civic idiom in eighteenth-century Bristol. Urban History, 34(1), 114-126. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0963926807004385

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: May 1, 2007
• Deposit Date: Nov 17, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 15, 2016
• Journal: Urban History
• Print ISSN: 0963-9268
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-8706
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 34
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 114-126
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0963926807004385
• Keywords: sodomy, crime, Bristol, eighteenth century, homosexuality, sexuality, magistrates, corporation
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1033998
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0963926807004385
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This article © Cambridge University Press