The story of Ah Chew, convicted and flogged for attempted sodomy
Ah Chew (alias Ah Munn) was tried and convicted for attempted sodomy in Ballarat in 1871. His judicial flogging was the first ever performed at Ballarat Gaol, and was closely reported in the Ballarat press.
Beyond Buggery
Beyond Buggery: Digging Up Stories of Sex Between Men on the Victorian Goldfields. An exploration of the language used for queer acts in colonial era newspapers, including many stories from the Victorian gold rush era.
“The Gay Lothario of Wagga Wagga”
I was following a trail from an alleged diamond thief caught promenading in drag around Melbourne’s Exhibition Building, to a well-known gang of queer larrikins in Sydney, when somehow I wound up in Wagga Wagga. This story seemed too good not to share, so here’s an article from the Toowoomba Chronicle and Queensland Advertiser, circa 1871.