Prostitution in France - late 1920s

[Muggins in Sussex]

Is it possible for an English woman to have earned a good living as a prostitute in France in the late 1920s and early 1930s? This would have been in the resorts close to the Channel - Wimereuex, Le Touquet and Sangatte.
I think I have just answered the question in my head - it's just not the answer I wanted!

Does any one know whether this would have been a criminal offence? and if so, what the punishment would have been on conviction?

Thank you

[Olde Crone]

Muggins

I don't know anything about the laws in France, either then or now, but prostitution covers a huge range of activities, and I expect if a woman was discreet, no one would care.

I believe brothels were certainly tolerated, if not actively encouraged and there must also have been many a Frenchwoman (and Englishwoman!) being kept in a very nice style by a rich admirer.

If you are talking about downright streetwalking, again I don't know the law, but the French have always been less concerned with sexual morals and took a far more practical approach than say the English.

OC

[Muggins in Sussex]

Thanks OC.. that is very helpful ...the English woman was my grandmother - and prostitution is, I now think, how she managed to maintain her life in France - and that of my mother

[Georgette]

I think that in the 19th and early 20th century the French felt that prostitution was a necessary evil. They had what they called a regulated system in place, whereby prostitution in brothels or in isolation was tolerated as long as there were medical checks. France had a more developed system of public health in the 19th century than Britain and visits to or by a doctor were required of prostitutes once a month, early on in the 19th century, increasing to weekly, at the end of the century, in an attempt to keep control of the spread of venereal diseases.

By the 1920s the abolitionist movement was growing, largely because the increase in venereal diseases showed that the regulated system was not working but also because there was a growing moral backlash. Attempts were made from the 1930s to close down brothels and to legislate against prostitution.

[Muggins in Sussex]

Thank you Georgette

That is very interesting - and has really made me think - LOL - and I presume the abolitionist movement would have started in Paris and other major cities, and taken some time to spread to the small towns along the Channel

I guess my mother may have had a somewhat unusual upbringing in northern France :confused:

[Georgette]

The regulation was in the hands of the local authorities so I suppose the opposition to prostitution may have depended on how much the locals felt that there was a threat to public order and health in their area. If, as OC suggested, she was more of a kept woman, then she would not have been worried by the regulations.

[Muggins in Sussex]

Thanks, Georgette...I think she was probably quite a poor woman in England, who went to France with my mother out of desparation....either to protect my mother from abduction, or to keep watch at the Channel Ports in case her other daughter, who had already been abducted (although possibly guardianship had already been legally granted to another) and taken to Germany, passed through.

I think she would have been desparate for money.

Hope that makes sense....sometimes I scarcely believe what I am saying myself...It all seems so far fetched and somehow remote

[Olde Crone]

I am sure that prostitution would be tolerated in port cities and towns....probably impossible to prevent, so the authorities would largely turn a blind eye to a known red light district I would imagine.

However, I am concerned you are doing this poor woman a mis-service! There were many other ways she could have earned a living which didn't involve blatant prostitution or prosatitution in any form.

OC

[Muggins in Sussex]

I am sure that prostitution would be tolerated in port cities and towns....probably impossible to prevent, so the authorities would largely turn a blind eye to a known red light district I would imagine.

However, I am concerned you are doing this poor woman a mis-service! There were many other ways she could have earned a living which didn't involve blatant prostitution or prostitution in any form.

OC

Thanks OC -

However there is other evidence as well - including allegations (albeit unsubstantiated) in files I read at Kew - I need to try and think about this long and hard! (no pun intended!!!!)

[Merry]

:eek: *flexes moderation finger* :d

[JessBow]

Dont know why I am posting this - Didnt someone end up in Philadelphia?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadfield-Spears_Ambulance_Unit
I started with Wimereux. in france - what was there? red cross hospital - just a thought train from there

[Muggins in Sussex]

Thank you Jess - what an interesting article. Strangly my grandmother used to speak of someone called May.. but I don't remember any Philadelpia connection.... I'll look into it further.

I have been told two stories as to why my Grandmother took my late mother to live in France as a young girl

The first was that she was in hiding from HW Wicks, who had already snatched her other daughter (and seemingly gained guardianship of her) and my grandmother believed that he would return for my mother.

The second reason given is that, because HW Wicks had already taken my aunt to Europe, my grandmother decided to keep watch over the Channel ports in case she spotted them returning to the UK.

The second reason doesn't make sense to me - as presumably she could have done this at ports in England.

I have never been able to understand how my grandmother could finance all this - she and my mother seem to have stayed at "hotels" - and I found a description of her "living an immoral life in France" (the source is not the most reliable!!)

For some of the time that they lived in France, my grandmother seems to have vanished, and a friend of hers from England seems to have come to France to look after my Mum. There is a possibility that my grandmother was in Malta at this time, looking for Wicks and her other daughter...but the thought crossed my mind that she could have been in prison.

Sorry this is so long... writing it out helps me get things clear in my head - or at least clearer :d

[MargaretMarch]

I wonder if a French genealogy site might be able to help with sources for criminal records in the area where your grandmother lived. There may even be some way of finding if there is any mention in newspapers at the time of an English woman imprisoned, fined whatever.
Margaret

[Muggins in Sussex]

I wonder if a French genealogy site might be able to help with sources for criminal records in the area where your grandmother lived. There may even be some way of finding if there is any mention in newspapers at the time of an English woman imprisoned, fined whatever.
Margaret

Thanks Margaret :) -I'll have a look

At one point I was in contact with the Wimereux Twinning Association - they very welcoming and helpful until I told the whole story - then I think they thought they were dealing with a lunatic!! :d

[MargaretMarch]

Ahah! perhaps you could tell a very abbreviated story to the next contact in France!

Have you checked the Times Online Archive at all? I found a news article in the Times for a French man with the name of my ancestor who was reported in that for attempted homicide - he was caught 'in flagrante' in a woman's bedroom in Paris by her husband!
Margaret

[kiterunner]

I would have thought "immoral" could just mean she was a "kept woman"?

[Muggins in Sussex]

Thanks Kite - yes I'm sure that could be right.

I'm going to re-read lots of papers I have and see if I can be more precise with timings.

A lot seemed to happen in 1928 - my grandmother took my mother to France, her husband filed a petition for divorce, and HW Wicks not only seemingly was granted custody of my aunt, but also adopted another (mystery) child.

I'll see if I can work out in what order these events happened as I'm getting a bit confused!!:d

[maggie_4_7]

Joan

Yes I think thats a good idea. It would be good to timeline events to get them clearer for you.

I agree with Merry, immoral doesn't necessarily mean prostitution. It depends who said and why they said it or wrote it down and on what!

For instance if it was a cuckolded husband then it may mean she left him for another man and was living with him while still married. Married man being very spiteful and they could in those days, women didn't really have much chance in that situation.

[Muggins in Sussex]

Thanks Maggie - wise words :)

[Jennifer Eccles]

Joan, what a fascinating, albeit tragic story, are you able to tell us more, on a separate thread perhaps?

sorry Joan just noticed i had skipped a page..
ignore me..

[Olde Crone]

Yes, as "immoral" is a very subjective judgement, it might just be she went outdoors without a hat and gloves, lol!

OC

[Merry]

Yes, as "immoral" is a very subjective judgement, it might just be she went outdoors without a hat and gloves, lol!

OC

Have you been speaking to my grandmother?? :eek: She thought an awful lot of things were immoral - another one being a married woman having any sort of paid employment. :(