Group Hanky Panky in Perth? NOOOOO!

 

Perth Courier 1888

Mrs. Tufts, inmate of the dwelling in which the late “Yankee Brown” died and Tim Ryan, who assisted to shape and dress the remains say that there is no truth in the report current that the house was made hideous by the alleged orgies and scandalous actions of certain persons in town.

I find it hard to believe there was “group hanky panky” in proper Perth back in those days. For the love of all things human, how people love to talk– and still talk. I don’t think Perth even engaged in the Spring festivals with wild dancing and where sausages played an important part. But, that was the 5th century, and Perth wasn’t really around then was it?

Of course they could have participated in the village Maypole sensual dancing around that phallic symbol. As legend goes, once the frenzied la-de-da dancing was over they “retired” to the fields and open meadows to insure the fertility of the land.  Personally, I believe that some how the terrain of Lanark County would not be comforting to those that “wanted to entertain” for the prosperous yields of the crops.  Of course it must be remembered that the Puritans in jolly old England made Maypoles illegal in 1644.

How would one honestly keep tabs on wind patterns inside such a bawdy house in Perth? It was well known that if Victorians wanted “strapping children” they must ‘begat when the wind is blowing north’. No mention was made about the easterly wind, and really it sounds like Mrs. Tufts was not bothered one iota about the matters of the utmost importance of the human race. It also appears to the novice mind that if ten maidens came out of that house of ill repute in Perth- nine of them came out with child. But, that my friends is just my personal opinion.

It has been recorded that the Victorians loved their sordid literature, and one might think with the quaint bookstores in the town of Perth– there was a market. Well, at least willing to read about the mass orgies, but in reality they lived in squares and thought in triangles, and drew the line at what was reported in the Perth Courier.

As the parody book called:  ‘Instruction and Advice for the Young Bride’ by Ruth Smythers wrote on the “Conduct and Procedure of the Intimate and Personal Relationships of the Marriage State for the Greater Spiritual Sanctity of this Blessed Sacrament and the Glory of God” in 1894:

“Give little, give seldom, and above all, give grudgingly!”

Or in laymen’s terms:

“Just close your eyes and think of England.”

 

 

 

Buy Linda Secaspina’s Books— Flashbacks of Little Miss Flash Cadilac– Tilting the Kilt-Vintage Whispers of Carleton Place and 4 others on Amazon or Amazon Canada or Wisteria at 62 Bridge Street in Carleton Place

Great Social Evils —The Contagious Diseases Act of Canada

Granted, there were other, horribly sexist and awful laws enacted through our time but the  Contagious Diseases Acts in the 1860s was awful. These acts forced women to involuntary genital examination if they were suspected of having a venereal disease or had an affair. They were brutal, unfair, and cruel– and immediately people protested them and sought to have the laws repealed–which they finally were in the early 1880s.

It began in 1864 when something underhand happened in the Houses of Parliament in the UK. A bill was passed with no publicity, no debate, no discussion and no dissent. The public knew nothing about it, for all that the newspapers reported was that ‘The Contagious Diseases Bill passed its reading’.

By an extraordinary  ‘coincidence’, a Bill for the prevention of contagious diseases in cattle were also being debated around that time, and under precisely the same name ‘the Contagious Diseases Bill’, and so of course people assumed that any mention of those words in the newspapers referred to diseases of cows.

And so in 1864 a new law was brought in quickly. The secrecy was maintained when it was extended in 1866 and again in 1869. But the new law did not apply to cattle at all; it stripped half the human population of their civil rights. And this was known only by the few who administered and applied it.

This meant that any woman walking along a street in her own town was liable to be watched and followed by a plain-clothed policeman hell bent on identifying prostitutes. In those days without cars, most ordinary women walked everywhere, whether going to work, to church, to meetings, or on errands, shopping, or visiting. Every one of them, in 138 towns and parishes, fell under suspicion. A woman need only bump into a male acquaintance in the street and exchange a “good evening” with him to find herself arrested and forcibly genitally examined.

 

The “Contagious Disease Act” also passed in Canadian parliament and existed from 1865-1870 but there was silence among the Canadian public with regards to the act. But it was known as a way to control venereal disease and attempt to rehabilitate those who were a prostitute or had an out of wedlock affair— if they were proven guilty they were sent off to asylums and prisons.

The 19th century Canadians had no idea how to treat  prostitution, and wondered if it was a necessary evil, or the result of a male sexual erection. Anyone could swear that a female  was a woman of ill repute before a justice of the peace and she would be forced to be examined. In the UK the law was restricted to ports where the military sailed in, but in Canada it was governed everywhere.

Many middle class and upper class women put themselves in a straitjacket of chastity which forced their husbands to seek fallen women. There were so many false promises of marriages, mock marriages that had no legal status and deliberate attempts to entangle a woman in debt or emotional dependency that reform for the law was demanded. It was said the reason being was that Canadian women were being forced into prostitution by untruthful men. Of course men were never examined as they objected to it. Bet this was a tale no one ever told you. I know I had not heard about it until today.

Tales of the Chatteron House Corset — Queen’s Hotel in Carleton Place

In the mid 1880’s, as the story is told, Louise, Lilly, and Maud used to roller skate up and down Bridge Street in Carleton Place, ON. for exercise. They once had taken up rope jumping but stopped after they heard there was much danger in this violent exercise. It had been said that death or permanent injury had resulted from such foolish attempts from the indulgence of this exciting sport. Nerves of the limbs and foot had been reported paralyzed in Smiths Falls; so the girls decided to take up roller skating instead. Each day they would stop and rest their tired legs on a bench in front of the Queens Hotel and enjoy their daily dose of Beecham Pills for their nervous disorders.

As legend goes, Mrs. Mary Chatterton ran the “Chatterton House” in the Queen’s Hotel alleyway. It was well reputed that Mrs. Chatterton served more than alcohol to her clients! An advertisement for Chatterton House read: “the proprietress has spent a large portion of her time in catering to the wants of the traveling public and this house has become justly famous for its good cheer and pleasant associations.” 

Each day Louise, Lilly, and Maud gossiped on that very bench as they kept an eye out for Mrs. Chatteron’s “pleasant associations.”  One day as Maud chatted to the other two about her father allowing a guinea pig to wander the house to get rid of the rats they spotted a Chatteron girl prancing outside the hotel in a horse outfit. All of them exclaimed in unison:

“They’ve lost their heads!”

“No, they have lost their minds!”

With that they gathered up their skirts and roller skated down the street. After all, they didn’t want to be associated with these ladies because they appeared vulgar and very friendly with men. Of course friendship can exist between men and women but if they are too friendly they ought to be engaged. If anyone indulged in anything else they must all be vigorously put out of the pale of civilized society.

Mrs.Chatteron was the mistress of flirtation and also had rather a large appetite. When the girls made faces she told them quite loudly from the alleyway they should dress and adorn themselves only for the edification of the superior animal–Man.

“I can assure you that a well-dressed woman feels far more joy at a single look of admiration from a man than she does for a volume of flattering comments from your female rivals,” she said.

Louise, Lilly, and Maud shot her a look of disdain and chanted together:

“They’ve lost their heads!”

“No, they have lost their minds!”

In private the girls admitted to each other they had never heard such information. Their mothers never mentioned these words to them as they thought the most important thing they should know was about the marvels of Sunlight Soap.

“Happy is the bride who has been instructed in the matters of Sunlight Soap because it was the basis of simple household details as the future happiness and comfort of themselves and their future husbands must depend on.”

The next day at the hat store the girls mentioned the words of Mrs.Chatteron and asked if they had any merit. The women hushed them and told them not to pay mind as a man loves a woman who plays the piano and learn to make a happy home without a horse costume.

If they really wanted to have anything to do with a horse they might think of purchasing one of of the new horse exercise home units from Vigor’s Horse-Action Saddles. After all, one was personally ordered by H.R.H The Princess of Wales and the saddle had give her complete satisfaction. Not only did it promote health and invigorate the system, it brought all the vital organs into inspiriting action. They quietly mentioned in hush tones that if Mrs.Chatteron tried one of these home saddles it might be a complete cure for her hysteria, gout and obesity.

The girls shook their heads and said:

“They’ve lost their heads!”

“No, they have lost their minds!”

When the ground turned cold that year word spread quickly that Mrs.Chatteron had died. Details were hid from the public, but it was said her death was caused by her William Whitely smart french sewn corset. It was rumoured that it was tied so tightly that not even the smelling salts had not revived her. Or, had it been an argument with a favourite customer of hers who refused to buy her a poodle? Her working girls decided to go into mourning and the business was to be closed for awhile. After all, three months in deep mourning and three months slight was enough to drive the clients away from its business of ”pleasant associations.”

One evening Louise, Lilly, and Maud were deep in conversation on their usual bench. Maud had met a young mechanic of sober habits; industrious and of respectable connections. As they giggled they failed to notice a small gust of fog travelling near them. The fog seemed to stop right in front of them and as they looked closely they all screamed. There standing in front of them stood the ghost of Mrs.Chatteron with head in hand. Frozen in fear, they heard her sing:

Daddy wouldn’t buy me a bow-wow! bow wow!
Daddy wouldn’t buy me a bow-wow! bow wow!
I’ve got a little cat
And I’m very fond of that,

No I haven’t lost my mind,

But I have certainly lost my head!

So if you are walking down Bridge Street after midnight or you hear a creaky staircase on a stormy night, I guarantee you it is the ghost of Mrs Chatterton coming to visit you with her severed head along “with the haunting faces of her young prostitutes, in virginal white and vicarage embroidery.”

Chatterton House was located in what we now know as The Queen’s Hotel at 142 Bridge Street. Built in 1870 by Duncan McIntosh and operated as a hotel under the name of McIntosh House, it was bought in 1882 by the widow Mary J. Chatterton. By 1886 she has sold to Peter Salter, who ran it until about 1890.

Pictures are of innocent bystanders and some information came from research from:

“The Ruined Maid” by Geoffrey Eley -Modes and Manners of the Victorian Women.

Last quote by James Morris.

Queens Hotel

Address: 142 Bridge Street, Carleton Place, Ontario

Right near Moore House and the Town Hall –come and spend the day!!

 

Photos by Linda Seccaspina

Carleton Place & Beckwith Heritage Museum

The Carleton Place & Beckwith Heritage Museum

Email Us: cpbheritagemuseum@bellnet.ca
Call us at (613)253-7013
267 Edmund Street, Carleton Place ON
K7C 3E8

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Walking With Ghosts — Tales of the Chatteron House Corset – Zoomer

 

Walking With Ghosts — Tales of the Chatteron House Corset – Zoomer.