Homosexuality, class and the church in nineteenth century England: two case studies

This article seeks to reconstruct and contrast two episodes in the nineteenth century Church. Both involved churchmen, Bishop Percy Jocelyn and Dean Charles Vaughan, in homosexual incidents. The second episode, that of Dean Vaughan, has been reconstructed for the first time using the Broadlands Manuscripts of Lord Palmerston. The most interesting aspect of these events is the response of the "establishment" to homosexuality. There seems little doubt that attitudes of the "establishment" were determined largely by class. The "establishment" would not officially condone homosexual behaviour, but in both cases (to varying degrees) it seems to have acted toward these men with latitude. One was able to evade justice, the other denied a mitre but otherwise allowed advancement in the Church. Both incidents provide evidence that persecution of homosexuals was something confined to the lower orders; and that the discreet middle class or aristocratic homosexual could rely on his class for protection. Perhaps integral to this tolerance was a Victorian taste for self-denial. The homosexual who treated his sexuality as a curse and a source of tragedy was more likely to attract the tolerance of his peers than the homosexual who acknowledged his sexuality to the full.