William Dugdale (29 March 1800 – 11 November 1868) was an English publisher, printer, and bookseller of politically subversive publications and
pornographic literature
Erotic literature comprises fictional and factual stories and accounts of eros (passionate, romantic or sexual relationships) intended to arouse similar feelings in readers. This contrasts erotica, which focuses more specifically on sexual feelin ...
in England during the 19th century. By the 1850s he had become "the principal source of such publications in the country". Despite the numerous police raids on his shops and spending many years in prison he remained in the book trade for over forty years.
Family
William Dugdale was the first son born to
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
John Dugdale, son of John and Jennet Dugdale (also Quakers), and Ann Platt, daughter of William and Elizabeth Platt. John the elder worked as a
linen draper
In the Middle Ages or 16th and 17th centuries, a cloth merchant was one who owned or ran a cloth (often wool) manufacturing or wholesale import or export business. A cloth merchant might additionally own a number of draper's shops. Cloth was ext ...
; John the younger was a
Stockport
Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here.
Most of the town is within ...
hosier and tailor. William's mother, Ann, was born on 16 February 1772 in
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
. Her father was a clock and watch-maker in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. She died at the age of 38 on 2 January 1810.
John and Ann married on 29 June 1797. They had six children, all born in Stockport. Three of the children: Jennet, Samuel and Jabez died before reaching the age of 5; they, plus their mother, died within three years of each other of unknown causes.
Education
William, Thomas and John Lambert, once they reached the age of 9, were educated at
Ackworth School
Ackworth School is an independent day and boarding school located in the village of High Ackworth, near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school (or more accurately its Head) is a member ...
, a boarding school for Quaker boys and girls: William attended from 1809 to 1813, Thomas from 1812 to 1816, and John from 1814 to 1817.
Marriage
On 4 May 1826, William married Hannah Pinnell in St. Anne Soho parish,
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
. Hannah, the daughter of Robert Pinnell and Fanny Warren, was baptized on 23 May 1803 in
Warminster
Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...
. Hannah died August 1855, buried 14 August 1855 at
Nunhead Cemetery
Nunhead Cemetery is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries in London, England. It is perhaps the least famous and celebrated of them. The cemetery is located in Nunhead in the London Borough of Southwark and was originally known as All Saints' ...
in London. William and Hannah had 4 children:
* William John Dugdale – born abt. 1824, baptized 4 September 1827. In the 1851 England census, William's occupation is listed as bookseller at 35 Holywell-street.
** Married Jane Samuels on 8 November 1846 in Deptford.
*** William Ambrose Dugdale. He was baptized 18 March 1849.FamilySearch.org ''Parish registers for St. Clement Danes, 1558-1948''.
* Frances Dugdale - born 24 June 1827 in St. Martin-in-the Fields parish. Died at. 1881.
** Married John Higdon Thornhill, a tailor, on 26 October 1845 in St. Martin-in-the Fields parish. He and Frances also ran Dugdale's shop at 5 Holywell-street while Frances' father was in prison for selling obscene prints. In 1858, John and Thomas Blacketer (husband of Ann, Thomas Dugdale's daughter) were convicted of selling obscene prints from the same address. They were sentenced to 6 months hard labor.
*** Fanny M. was born abt. 1847 in Deptford, England.
*** John H. was born abt. 1848 in Deptford, England.
*** Joan was born abt. 1848 in Deptford, England.
*** Nellie Grace was born abt. 1868 in London, England.
* Jessie Dugdale - born the 1st quarter of 1844. died April 1880
** Married Theophilus Sebastian Judge in the 4th quarter of 1865 in St. Giles in the Fields parish. Theo was born the 1st quarter of 1840 in Windsor, Berkshire, Surrey, England. Theo, as well as his father, Jasper Judge, and many of his brothers were booksellers involved in the obscene book trade. Theophilus used many aliases during his career as a bookseller including Thomas Judge and C. Brown. He operated out of an address on Holywell-street (a Dugdale shop?) and Dugdale's shop at 44 Wych-street, which he continued running after Dugdale's death. He was indicted for selling obscene prints and books from that address on 13 April 1869 and sentenced to 2 years in prison. Theo died at the age of 86 in 1926 in Chelsea, London, England.
* Elizabeth Jane Dugdale – baptized 17 January 1847.
Occupation
At the age of 18 Dugdale moved to London where he was employed by
Cato Street Conspiracy
The Cato Street Conspiracy was a plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister Lord Liverpool in 1820. The name comes from the meeting place near Edgware Road in London. The police had an informer; the plotters fell into ...
. In 1822 he started his own publishing and book-selling business, initially of a general nature but specializing over time in pornography.
Ashbee Ashbee is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Barry Ashbee (1939–1977), Canadian ice hockey player
* Charles Robert Ashbee (1863–1942), English designer and entrepreneur
* Henry Spencer Ashbee
Henry Spencer Ashbee (21 April ...
described him as "one of the most prolific publishers of filthy books". Although Dugdale published some original works many were translations done by
James Campbell Reddie
James Campbell Reddie (26 November 1807 – 4 July 1878) was a 19th-century collector and author of pornography, who, writing as "James Campbell", worked for the publisher William Dugdale. According to Henry Spencer Ashbee, Reddie was self-taught ...
and reprints of previously published erotica. Eventually, William's two brothers, Thomas and John, as well as William's son, became booksellers and joined the family trade.
Addresses & aliases
William Dugdale set up shop at numerous addresses during his 40+ years in the book trade. He started out at 19 Tower Street, Seven-Dials in 1822. He then moved to 23 Russell Ct. in 1824, 30 Russell Ct. in 1830, 94 Drury Lane in 1837 and briefly at 3
Wych Street
Wych Street was in London where King, Melbourne and Australia Houses now stand on Aldwych. It ran west from the church of St Clement Danes on the Strand, London, Strand to meet the southern end of Drury Lane. It was demolished by the London Count ...
."''Middlesex Sessions of the Peace: Enrollment, Registration and Deposit''" (Printers Notices) before he settled down at 37 Holywell St. He remained at that address from 1839 until the late 1860s; although a couple of printer notices list addresses of 11 Holywell St. in 1842 and 5 Holywell St. in 1857. during that time frame. His last known bookstore was located at 44 Wych St., 1868."''The Times Online''" 19 June 1868.
His brother, Thomas, worked out of 51 Holywell St. from 1847 through at least 1855.1851 England Census From about 1851 through about 1855, brother John was selling books from 50 Holywell St. and William's son, William John, was doing business at 35 Holywell St.
The Dugdales used a variety of publisher and printer aliases on their clandestine publications (H. Smith, D. Brown, J. Turner, W. Johns, etc.). If this was done in the hope that it would keep the
Society for the Suppression of Vice
The Society for the Suppression of Vice, formerly the Proclamation Society Against Vice and Immorality, or simply Proclamation Society, was a 19th-century English society dedicated to promoting public morality. It was established in 1802, based o ...
from knocking on their doors they were sorely mistaken.
Obscenity & the courts
William was incarcerated numerous times on obscenity charges. "''England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892''" He was one of the main targets of the
Obscene Publications Act 1857
The Obscene Publications Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c.83), also known as Lord Campbell's Act or Campbell's Act, was a piece of legislation in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland dealing with obscenity. For the first time, it made the sale ...
, being one of the first people arrested under the act. His first known run-in with the law concerning the sale of an obscene book occurred in May 1830. Subsequent arrests for publishing obscenity occurred in 1845, 1851 (2 years), 1861 (2 years), and 1868. The latter landed him 18 months in the Clerkenwell prison, where he died a few months after incarceration.
William's two brothers were no strangers to the Society for the Suppression of Vice and to the English courts. Thomas was found guilty of selling and publishing obscene prints from 51 Holywell Street on 16 August 1847 and sentenced to 1 year in prison. John Lambert was indicted twice for selling obscene prints: in 1847 and 1856.
Death
William Dugdale died at the age of 68 on 11 November 1868 while incarcerated at the Clerkenwell house of correction. An article posted in Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper regarding an inquiry into the circumstances of his death reads in part: "Jessie Judge of 44 Wych-street…said she was the daughter of the deceased. She had seen him several times since he had been in prison. He had been very ill and was not ill when he entered the gaol…He was deprived of books and pen and paper and that I think affected his mind…it appeared that although sentenced to hard labour he did not do any; and had been in the convalescent ward, and on a first-class diet from the first." Cause of death was ruled as "death from natural causes". The jury also strongly recommended that books of a higher intellectual character than those generally distributed throughout the ward should be made available to the "high class of men who were prisoners". Dugdale was buried at
Nunhead Cemetery
Nunhead Cemetery is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries in London, England. It is perhaps the least famous and celebrated of them. The cemetery is located in Nunhead in the London Borough of Southwark and was originally known as All Saints' ...
* Ashbee, Henry Spencer. ''Bibliography of Prohibited Books''. Jack Brussel, 1962.
* Linnane, Fergus, ''London: The Wicked City : A Thousand Years of Vice in the Capital'', Robson, 2007, , p. 350
* Marcus, Steven. ''The Other Victorians: a study of sexuality and pornography in mid-nineteenth-century England''. Transaction Publishers, 2008, , pp. 74–76
* McCalman, Iain. ''Radical underworld: prophets, revolutionaries, and pornographers in London, 1795-1840''. CUP Archive, 1988, .
* Mendes, Peter. ''Clandestine Erotic Fiction in English 1800-1930''. Scolar Press, 1993.
* Nead, Lynda, ''Victorian Babylon: people, streets and images in nineteenth-century London'', Yale University Press, 2005, , p. 178.
* Sutherland, John. ''The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction''. Stanford University Press, 1990, , p. 201.
* Thomas, Donald ''A Long Time Burning: the history of literary censorship in England''. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969, p. 261.