Victorian Sex Work Scandal: The Prince And The Telegraph Boys

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

History Hit

Society, Sex, Scandal, Education, History

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the summer of 1889, a London police officer stopped and searched a telegraph boy, suspecting him of stealing from the Post Office he worked for. What he uncovered was not theft, but instead a network of male sex workers being frequented by some of the most respectable gentlemen in the country.

Kate is joined by John Scott to discuss the scandal that ensued. John is Head of School in the School of Justice at Queensland University of Technology.

This episode was edited by Tomos Delargy. It was produced by Sophie Gee and Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone, it's me your host, Kate Lister. I'm just jumping in before the episode to ask you for a little favour.
0:07.6	If you are enjoying betwixt, and I hope that you are, we'd love it if you could vote for us for the
0:12.5	Listeners Choice Awards at the British Podcast Awards. If you follow the link in the show notes,
0:17.9	it should take you to the place you need to go and it would mean the world to us. We were shortlisted last year and the one before that, and the one before that.
0:27.8	We were so close. And it just made us want it even more. I think we can do it this year.
0:34.1	Right. On with the show.
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