Aldershot
LGBT history
A book by Xavier Mayne, privately printed in 1908, claimed that there were many soldier prostitutes in Aldershot [1].
In 1923 L/Cpl Albert Dearnley engaged in a bondage act with a drummer James Ellis. Dearnley called it a game of cowboys and indians and Ellis submitted to being trussed up and gagged. Ellis died of suffocation and Dearnley was sentenced to hang. But his sentence was reprieved. Dearnley was released from prison in 1932 [2].
Harold Gillies worked at the Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot. In 1951 he carried out gender reassignment surgery on Roberta Cowell (previously known as Robert Cowell) (1918-2011), the first known male to female surgery in the country.
The singer Steve Strange grew up there.
The Canadian MP Libby Davies was born in Aldershot in 1953.[3]
References
- ↑ Weeks, Jeffrey page 122 in 'Historical Perspectives on Homosexuality' edited by Licata and Petersen (1981) (Haworth Press; New York))
- ↑ footnote pages 61 and 130 in David Green (2024) The Murder of Lily White (Hastings Press)
- ↑ http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/biod1/davies01.html
