Dr Tim Stanley wrote an article about Fanny & Stella recently in The Telegraph On April 28, 1870, two young gentlemen turned up to the Strand Theatre, London in evening frocks. Ernest Boulton went by the name of Stella and Frederick Park liked to be called Fanny. The behaviour in their box was outlandish and outrageous, …
Category Archive: cross-dressers
Jul 23
Blue Plaque recognition for ‘illegal’ cross-dressing double act ‘Stella and Fanny’
Following on from my earlier post, you can read more about the day I unveiled the plaque at 13 Wakefield Street to commemorate Fanny & Stella. This article was written by Alice Hutton and appeared in the Camden New Journal recently. A PLAQUE has been unveiled on a Bloomsbury church in honour of a Victorian …
Jul 16
Plaque unveiled to Fanny & Stella at 13 Wakefield Street
On 10th July I unveiled the commemorative plaque to Ernest Boulton and Frederick Park, Fanny and Stella, on the site of 13 Wakefield Street, London, their drag dressing rooms. The Mayor of Camden and Councillor Jonathan Simpson were there along with many supporters. Gay’s the Word bookshop also sold copies of Fanny & Stella on …
Jul 10
A Fanny & Stella Review by Xandra
I have just come across another review of my book, Fanny & Stella, by the blogger Xandra ‘A fantastic read, well researched, superbly written and a work which keeps the reader riveted, as well as laughing one moment and weeping the next.’ You can read the full review here
Jul 08
Fanny and Stella to be honoured with historic plaque on King’s Cross church
A Plaque commemorating the cross-dressers is to be put up on the wall of a United Reformed Church in King’s Cross, London soon. Tom Foot from the CamdenNewJournal has the story. I am looking forward to the unveiling. ‘A PLAQUE commemorating a celebrated Victorian cross-dressing double act is to be bolted onto the national headquarters of …
Apr 15
Interview with Future Radio and Nick Cordingly
I was interviewed recently on the Pride Live Show by Nick Cordingly of Future Radio about Fanny & Stella. You can listen to a recording here. We talk about how I came to write the book, cross dressing and gay history.
Mar 18
Reviewed: Fanny & Stella – The Young Men in Women’s Clothes by Juliet Jacques, NewStatesman
Neil McKenna’s book revisits one of Victorian Britain’s most explosive trials. The Charge of Personating Women Yesterday afternoon the Bow-street Police-court and its approaches were literally besieged by the public, owing to the re-examination of the two young men, Ernest Boulton aged 22 of 43, Shirland-road, Paddington, and Frederick William Park, aged 23, …
Mar 07
How crossdresser was accepted in Victorian Edinburgh – A review of Fanny & Stella in The Scotsman
The following review was published in The Scotsman on Wednesday 6 March 2013 WITH petticoats swishing the ground, blonde tresses artfully curled beneath a bonnet and a small bustle giving the fashionable figure of the day, Stella Boulton’s appearance on Princes Street turned heads. But not all the gasps and curious stares were perhaps for …
Mar 05
Excellent Review for Fanny & Stella in Lambda Literary by Cheryl Morgan
The following review was posted on 03. Mar, 2013 by Cheryl Morgan, Lambda Literary in Bio/Memoir, Reviews. It is a very thoughtful, well-written and fair review. Cheryl has obviously picked up every nuance of the book. When we think of Victorian England we tend to assume a moral code that was as tightly laced as …
Feb 06
Fanny and Stella on Radio 3 Night Waves with Matthew Sweet
On 4th February, I was a guest on BBC 3’s flagship arts programme, Night Waves. talking with Matthew Sweet about Fanny and Stella, chirruping and the invention of camp, among other things! You can listen to the podcast here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/r3arts
Feb 04
Drag, kissing and screaming – Review in HeraldScotland
Here, author Neil McKenna reveals the story at the centre of his new book, a tragic tale of love, lust and betrayal which scandalised society and led to a court case in which two transvestites and suspected homosexuals had their private lives laid bare Fanny And Stella: The Young Men Who Shocked Victorian England By …
Feb 03
Arrested for cross-dressing!
This article by Martha De Lacey appeared on USA-UK Online recently and includes an extract from the book. Meet Fanny and Stella, the Victorian gentlemen who shocked Britain and were prosecuted for the ‘unnatural offence’ of being transvestites Frederick Park, 22, and Ernest Boulton, 21, arrested in 1870 Were leaving Strand Theatre in London on …
Jan 29
Interview with George Miller about Fanny & Stella on The Faber Podcast
Listen to me talking to George Miller about Fanny & Stella on The Faber Podcast
Jan 25
The He-She Ladies – Fanny & Stella Review by Kathryn Hughes, The Guardian
A world of ‘lush longing for embroidered handkerchiefs and soft kisses’ is interrupted by a police campaign to achieve the downfall of the cross-dressing pair. In 1870, two tatty-looking girls were hauled before Bow Street magistrates court and charged with “the abominable crime of buggery”. After a night in the cells, with wigs slipping and stubble …
Jan 21
Sunday Times Book Review by Dominic Sandbrook for Fanny and Stella
I was delighted to have Fanny and Stella reviewed by Dominic Sandbrook in the book section of The Sunday Times on January 20th 2013. Here are some of the best bits! ‘This rollicking account of the trial of two middle-class cross-dressers unveils one of the most extraordinary legal dramas of the Victorian age.’ …
