St Ives 'Nymphs of the Pave'

St Ives 'Nymphs of the Pave'

There was a great sexual paradox in the 1800s, one of male promiscuity and female chastity and submissiveness. Women were frail, refined and asexual, men the superior sex.

A virgin bride was the standard model. ‘Lie back and think of England’ was one mother’s advice to her daughter before the wedding night, possibly the only sex education provided. Once married, for the wife sex was about procreation, not enjoyment. Women who lost their virginity before marriage were frowned upon. Not so the male, expected to be sexually experienced.

This was a society that 'skirted' piano legs and advised young women against using a seat still warm from a man's bottom. Prostitution was ‘The Great Social Evil’. Read on to learn more about prostitution in the 1800s and the St Ives women who practised the trade.

Why did women go into prostitution?

Long hours and low wages were the fate of the working-class single woman. Domestic service was the most likely occupation. Her reputation would be dependent on the goodwill of her employer. Rejection of advances from a male in the house could mean a ruined reputation. That meant poverty from unemployment and little chance of marriage.

Poverty brought boredom. Sex provided a lucrative distraction to the poor unconcerned with morals. Very few entered prostitution willingly. The few who did were attracted by its independence and autonomy. 

In some cases, a poor start in life meant prostitution was the only way to survive. As many as half of prostitutes were orphans.

Legislation

Selling of sex for money was not and never has been illegal. Organising such services, via brothels, pimping, public soliciting or kerb-crawling is illegal.

The 1839 Vagrancy Act was directed at prostitutes. It outlawed 'loitering for the purposes of prostitution and solicitation, to the annoyance of passengers or inhabitants'.

Concern over the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in the armed forces resulted in the 1864 Contagious Diseases Act. This was aimed at locations of military and naval bases. The Act subjected women suspected of being 'common prostitutes' to a fortnightly medical examination. The authorities compiled a register of known prostitutes. If found infected, imprisonment and treatment for up to a year followed.

The Act was controversial, accused of being a 'scientific sanction for immorality' and supporting double standards. Directed against women, the men who used prostitutes went unsanctioned.

Prostitution in St Ives

Every Monday more than 10,000 head of livestock flooded into the town. Hundreds of drovers, farmers, agricultural labourers, shepherds, stockmen, butchers and shopkeepers followed. They came from as far away as Ireland and Scotland.

As a child, a St Ives’ resident recalls falling asleep on Sunday evenings to the sound of cattle lowing in Hemingford Meadow. Many of those attending the market would stay overnight on Sunday in one of the inns or hostels.

St Ives had as many as seventy licensed premises to entertain visitors. These ranged from inns and hotels to public houses. The simplest were beerhouses, a front room open to customers, serving beer brewed in the back of the house. All these establishments were very much male-orientated. The presence of a woman was a certain sign of her lack of respectability. It was from the pubs, beerhouses and market crowds that St Ives prostitutes found their customers.

To St Ives’ residents, these ladies were well-known. One description was ‘notorious’. It was the common habit for ladies to wear a bonnet and shawl and hold up their skirts to keep free of dirt. Prostitutes raised their skirts higher. They dispensed with bonnet and shawl, their dress more revealing, tighter on the figure and of more garish material.

Shunned by local society, prostitutes stuck together. Of necessity they were independent and autonomous, part of the attraction of the profession. They adapted to survive and stuck up for themselves, both verbally and physically.

Here is information about four of St Ives’ 'Nymphs of the Pave'.

Rebecca Hopkins

Born in St Ives in 1842, Rebecca spent her early childhood abandoned in the workhouse. Soon after birth she was alone in Great Stukeley workhouse. She wasn't wanted there. The overseers applied to have her removed to St Ives Union Workhouse. They claimed she did not have a legal right to be chargeable to their parish. (Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 11 Nov 1842). In 1851, aged 9 years, Rebecca was alone in St Ives Union Workhouse. (1851 Census).

In 1867 Rebecca was fined for using obscene and profane language in the streets. (Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 18 May 1867). This was the first of a string of appearances in the local court. The following year she was again found guilty of using profane language. (Cambridge Independent Press 15 Aug 1868). In the same year John 'Mopsey' Trundley, rag and bone collector, was charged with striking Rebecca in the eye with his fist at the Spread Eagle. The court described Rebecca as a 'nymph of the pave', a fancy name for a prostitute. (Cambridge Independent Press 19 Sep 1868).

In 1869 Rebecca was described as a prostitute when imprisoned for seven days for again swearing in the street. (Cambridge Independent Press 23 Jan 1869).

By 1871 Rebecca seems to have settled down to a more conventional life. Employed as a needlewoman, she lived with her employer, Susan Mitchell, in Wellington Lane, unmarried and sharing with two other boarders. One was her 6-year-old son Joseph. The other boarder was Joseph Blackwell, a waterman employed transporting coal and grain along the Great River Ouse to Kings Lynn. It seems certain Joseph was the father of Rebecca’s son and they were living as a family. (1871 Census).

Rebecca was convicted with two friends in 1873 for stealing chips. (Cambridge Independent Press 26 Apr 1873).

In 1881 Rebecca still lived in Wellington Lane in her own accommodation. Her occupation was a housekeeper. Recorded as unmarried, it is likely she was still with Joseph Blackwell. He was probably absent through plying his trade on the river. (1881 Census). 

Rebecca’s last recorded conviction was in 1883, fined for being drunk and disorderly. (Cambridge Independent Press 23 Jan 1883).

Aged 41 years, Rebecca married Joseph Blackwell in 1883. Joe and Rebecca continued to live in Wellington Lane until Rebecca’s death in 1892, aged 50 years. (1891 Census). She is buried in Broadleas Cemetery, St Ives.

Catherine Riley

Born in 1828, the first record of Catherine is in 1839 when gaoled for seven days with hard labour. She was convicted of stealing apples from a garden in St Ives, along with her brother John Riley and William Armstead. Aged just 11 years, the severity of the sentence indicates this was not her first offence. (Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 12 Oct 1839).

Two years later she was fined for hitting Ann Frost on the head with a stick. (Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 27 Nov 1841). In 1842 Edward Dolby assaulted Catherine.

The same court sentenced Catherine and Jane Burton (see below) to imprisonment for two months for assaulting Eliza Tebbutt. The court described both Catherine and Jane as 'two notorious prostitutes'. (Cambridge Independent Press 24 Dec 1842).

By today’s standards it seems outrageous to describe a fourteen-year-old girl as a notorious prostitute. But at that age Catherine had left the workhouse to find work. She may have operated as a prostitute while still in the workhouse. There are records of prostitutes aged just 12 years old. Young girls were regarded as less likely to carry venereal diseases. Her accomplice, Jane Burton, was aged 36 years and much more experienced. She possibly took Catherine under her wing. Catherine was only 13 years when convicted of assaulting Ann Frost in 1841. Even so, she appears to have had access to enough money to pay the fine of ten shillings (£50 today).

In 1843 Catherine was imprisoned for two months for again assaulting Eliza Tebbutt. (Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 4 Mar 1843). In the same year she was again described as 'a notorious prostitute' and given one month's hard labour for disorderly conduct on the street and annoying passengers. (Cambridge Independent Press 24 Jun 1843). Four years later Catherine was given six month’s hard labour for stealing a purse and £5 from Wakefield Bond. (Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 9 Jan 1847).

The last record of Catherine is in 1851. She was lodging in March with Abraham Dodson, his family and three other lodgers. Aged 23 years and unmarried, her occupation was 'traveller'. (1851 Census).

Jane Burton

Born in 1806, the first record of Jane is in 1841 when she was living in Poor Folk’s Square, St Ives. This was a deprived area of overcrowded housing. Jane’s occupation was a labourer, an agricultural labourer working in the fields. (1841 Census). The same year James Tebbet assaulted Jane. (Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 9 Oct 1841).

The following year Jane was imprisoned with Catherine Riley (see above) for two months for assaulting Eliza Tebbutt. The court described both Jane and Catherine as 'two notorious prostitutes'. (Cambridge Independent Press 24 Dec 1842).

The final incident was in 1852 when Jane fell into the river at Wisbech and nearly drowned. No doubt she was the worse for wear after spending time in the Old Bell. (Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 7 Feb 1852). The following week when brought up in court, they described Jane as a prostitute and ‘cautioned as to her mode of life’. (Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 14 Feb 1852).

Elizabeth Marsh

Born in Staffordshire in 1829, the first record of Elizabeth is in 1851. She was lodging in Wolverhampton with Richard Head, a hawker. With Elizabeth were her two young children, Henry and Michael. Her marital status was not recorded. (1851 Census). Michael, the youngest child, died the same year aged 1 year.

Elizabeth’s occupation was a nailor. She was one of 60,000 men, women and children in the Birmingham area who made iron nails by hand. She made a specific type of nail, one of about 300 different types produced. Making as many as 4 nails a minute, 3,000 a day, each nail required more than 25 blows of a hammer. It was hard work.

By 1861 Elizabeth lived in Campion’s Yard, St Ives, with her eldest, Henry, and two more sons, George and William. The Census records Elizabeth as married, but with no occupation or place of birth. It appears the family had moved about quite a bit. The two youngest were born in South Wales and Melbourne, Derbyshire. (1861 Census). George died the following year, aged 9 years.

Elizabeth charged Mary Ann Smith with assaulting her in Cambridge in 1863. In court Elizabeth’s occupation was given as a prostitute. (Cambridge Independent Press 29 Aug 1863).

Appearing in 1877, the court charged Elizabeth with creating a disturbance on Market Hill. Again described as a prostitute, she agreed to leave the town. (Cambridge Independent Press 8 Sep 1877).

In 1879 Elizabeth received a sentence of three week’s imprisonment. Charged with behaving in an indecent manner on a piece of unoccupied ground near Cambridge Corn Exchange, this was her last record. (Cambridge Independent Press 10 May 1879).