Same Sex Love 1700-1957: A History and Research Guide Paperback – September 11, 2017
by Gill Rossini
Queer Places:
3 Quay St, Greater, Manchester M3 3HP, UK
Weaste Cemetery, Cemetery Rd, Salford M5 5NR, United Kingdom
Harry Stokes (1799 - October 15, 1859) was a master bricklayer, beerhouse manager, and special constable in Manchester. Although assigned female at birth, he lived as a man for the entirety of his adult life. Throughout his decades-long career and community involvement, Harry maintained two long-term relationships with women, each lasting over twenty years. In both 1838 and 1859, his gender variance became the subject of extensive local and national newspaper coverage, where he was contemporarily described as a "man-woman" and a "female husband." Today, Stokes's life is examined within the framework of LGBT history, where he can be viewed as a historical trans man or as a cross-dressing lesbian.
Born in the Doncaster area around 1799 and assigned female at birth, Harry assumed a male identity at a young age and later undertook a builder's apprenticeship in Bawtry. Mid-nineteenth-century newspaper articles report that Harry married his first wife in Sheffield around 1816, a detail supported by parish records showing a marriage between Henry Stoake and Ann Hants at Sheffield Cathedral on January 14, 1817.
During the 1820s and 1830s, Harry Stokes built a successful bricklaying firm in Manchester. At its peak, he employed eight men and an apprentice, with his wife managing the company accounts. He earned a reputation as a well-respected tradesman specializing in chimney and flue construction. From 1824, he appeared regularly in Manchester trade directories, initially listed in Pigot & Dean's Manchester and Salford Directory at 13 Potter Street, before residing at 11 Cumberland Street from 1828 to 1830, and at 21 Cumberland Street from 1832 to 1838, an area now part of Spinningfields where Cumberland Street stood on the site of present-day The Avenue. In addition to his building trade, Harry worked shifts as a special constable during the late 1820s and early 1830s, policing large public gatherings such as protest marches and demonstrations where potential disturbances could occur. He is listed as a Special Constable for the 13th District of Manchester, the Old Quay District, in the 1829 Pigot's Trade Directory, and for the 11th District, St. Peter's District, in the 1832 edition.
In April 1838, after twenty-two years of partnership, Harry's wife approached a lawyer seeking advice on obtaining a formal separation and maintenance settlement, citing that Harry was withholding housekeeping money, drinking heavily, and mistreating her. She revealed to the astonished lawyer that her spouse was anatomically female, noting that she had discovered the truth two or three years prior but kept the secret. Examined by a police surgeon who issued a certificate confirming her female anatomy, Harry became the focus of intense local attention. The Manchester Guardian reported on the woman-man who had successfully concealed her sex for over twenty-five years while executing a hazardous, masculine trade. Although contemporary news articles asserted that his birth name was likely Harriet Stoakes, no surviving evidence indicates that Stokes ever confirmed this name for himself. The revelation sparked widespread gossip, local ridicule, and street ballads. While some ballads incorporated tales of a turbulent, short-lived marriage to a barmaid named Betsy, resulting in an assault charge and a two-month jail sentence after a wedding-night altercation, these specific theatrical details may have actually belonged to the life of James Allen, another historical female husband.
Following his separation from his first wife, Harry established a home with Francis Collins, a widow who had previously worked as a barmaid at his local beerhouse. After living in Salford for two years, the couple opened a beerhouse in 1840 at 3 to 5 Quay Street, Manchester. Francis's son from her first marriage, John Heaton, later recounted that he always regarded Harry as his stepfather, with his mother adopting the surname Stokes and passing as his wife. The 1841 United Kingdom Census officially records Harry and Francis Stokes living on Quay Street. Their business and residential addresses shifted over subsequent years, with Francis Collins and Harry appearing in successive trade directories as beer retailers at 3 Quay Street in 1841 and 1843, relocating in 1846 to a beerhouse named the Pilgrims Rest at 22 Camp Street registered under John Heaton's name, moving their beerhouse operations to 28 Camp Street in 1852, and appearing in Slater's Trade Directories as a bricklayer at 28 Camp Street in 1855 and 1856, before moving alongside Francis and John Heaton to 11 Richmond Street, Salford, around 1856.
On October 15, 1859, a body was discovered in the River Irwell at Mode Wheel, positioned bolt upright in the water with a top hat jammed firmly on the head. Taken to the Swann Inn in Pendlebury for an inquest, a juror recognized the deceased as Harry Stokes, declaring him to be female. An inspection by two women confirmed the anatomy. The inquest generated prominent headlines across regional and national newspapers, including A WOMAN PASSING AS A MAN FOR FORTY YEARS in the Manchester Examiner and HARRY STOKES THE MAN WOMAN in the Salford Weekly News. The coroner's jury returned a verdict of Found drowned, supposed suicide. Although his death was registered by the General Register Office under the name Harriett Stokes, and members of the local community occasionally used the name Harriet, there remains no evidence that Stokes ever adopted or confirmed that name himself. Testimony during the inquest demonstrated that Harry's gender variance was largely an open secret accepted by his working-class neighbors, with witnesses noting his decades-long life as a respected bricksetter, business owner, and community member.
Harry Stokes's life and identity have inspired several modern cultural and historical projects. In 2016, Abi Hynes wrote the play Mister Stokes - The Man-Woman of Manchester, commissioned for the UK's LGBT History Month and performed at the People's History Museum in February 2016, where Stokes has since been featured in the permanent LGBT+ history trail within the main galleries. In 2018, BBC Sounds released the podcast Ballad of Harry Stokes as part of the Gaychester series exploring Manchester's LGBT+ history, narrated by actress Annie Wallace with an original ballad by theatre maker Krishna Istha. Furthermore, in 2019, Stokes's service as a special constable was highlighted in a special exhibition at the Greater Manchester Police Museum.
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Same Sex Love 1700-1957: A History and Research Guide Paperback – September 11, 2017 by Gill Rossini |
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