Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Barbara Minchinton, La Trobe University Press, $32.99.
It’s a remarkable but little-known chapter in Melbourne’s history, but historian Barbara Minchinton paints a vibrant picture of Little Lon. It’s a surprising read.
Who were the sex workers in nineteenth-century Melbourne? Theirs was a thriving trade, even though they were judged morally corrupt by the respectable world around them. They had links to political leaders of the day and the police.
Drawing on rare archival material, findings of recent archaeological excavations and family records, Minchinton brings their fascinating world to life. In the 1880s, Little Lon was Melbourne’s premier sex-work precinct. Research into this district has revealed some complexities of the people and communities. This book is one of the results of that attention.
The sex industry in Melbourne is alive and well today, but between the current industry and that of the 19th century, there is one important difference: all of the well-known brothels in Little Lon were run by women. Madame Brussels was Melbourne’s most famous brothel owner.
Inclusive of light-hearted anecdotes, this book names more than 100 sex workers and looks at the attitudes of the hedonistic Chief Commissioner of Police, Captain Frederick Standish.
As a history, according to Minchinton, The Women of Little Lon aims to dismantle the myths and counter misinformation and deliberate distortions about the sex workers. “It begins from the premise that women’s lives matter, and pleads for less tabloid history and more respect for female historical figures in general.”
By telling the stories of individual women, the author hopes to heighten understanding of, and respect for, the lives of all sex workers. These stories are mostly about women of extraordinary character and resilience, who chose a way of life that brought them a living at the expense of respectability.
