Caroline Hodgson
Encyclopedia
Caroline Hodgson also known as Madame Brussels, was a well-known brothel
proprietor and local identity of the Little Lon district
in Melbourne
, Victoria, Australia
, during the late 19th century.
, Prussia
; a daughter of John and Frederica Lohman. She married the well connected Studholme George Hodgson in London
on 18 February 1871 and the couple immediately migrated to Australia
, arriving in Melbourne
on the ship Melmerby on 24 June 1871. In November 1872, Studholme joined the Victoria Police
and was placed in country Mansfield
, leaving his 25 year old wife alone in Melbourne
. By the end of 1874, Caroline, using the name 'Madame Brussels', was running a number of brothels, an occupation she continued successfully until 1907. When her husband became ill with tuberculosis in late 1892, Hodgson arranged for him to be nursed in at “Gnarwin,” a property she owned on Beaconsfield Parade, St Kilda
. He died in 1893. In 1895, Hodgson married German Engineer Jacob Pohl, who was at least 15 years her junior. However, Pohl suddenly disappeared to South Africa
while they were on a trip to visit relatives in Germany
in 1896. Despite a reconciliation in 1898, they were finally divorced in February 1907. Hodgson died the following year at her Lonsdale Street home suffering from diabetes and chronic pancreatitis
. She was buried at St Kilda Cemetery beside her first husband. She was survived by an adopted daughter, Irene
, suggests she received financial backing from “friends in high places”, a charge also made by Melbourne’s Truth newspaper during their long campaign against her. Justin McCarthy also suggests the elite sex industry offered an attractive financial and social independence for women.
Hodgson’s principal establishment, which was also her home, was located at 32-34 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
, not far from Parliament House
. The building was extravagantly furnished and catered to Victoria's commercial, political and judicial ruling class
, acting much as a gentlemen's club
.
Eventually, Madame Brussels was forced to close in 1907, following increased efforts by the government to curtail prostitution.
“in charge of a beautiful young girl under twenty, with a white feather in her hat, telling by advertisement (the white feather) that maiden virtue was to be had for a price in her gilded den”
Edward Norton
’s Truth newspaper also regularly attacked her, reporting in detail any of her court appearances. For example, in March 1906, the paper ran the headline "Madame Brussels' Notorious Bawdy House: Her Junketing Jezebels," above drawings of her "flash" girls. A wealthy grazier had called the police after his watch and sovereign purse were stolen in the brothel. Later that year, in a major expose, the paper detailed Sir Samuel Gillott
's many years of financial dealings with Hodgson. As Leanne Robinson notes, although Gillott
“freely acknowledged his role as Caroline’s mortgagee, he claimed ignorance as to the nature of [her] business – despite the fact that, as a parliamentarian, he’d been instrumental in framing legislation against gambling and licensing and had chaired public meetings on the suppression of vice.” Within a week, Gillott
had resigned and soon after returned to England
, and Hodgson had lost a significant ally.
In April 1907, after appearing in court charged under new laws with "owing and operating a disorderly house", the ailing Caroline Hodgson closed her brothels in Lonsdale Street. With failing eyesight, diabetes and chronic pancreatitis, she continued to live at her Lonsdale Street property until her death in July 1908.
" block in 1988-9 and 2003, but they did not include the site of Hodgson’s former properties. The studies did, however, establish prostitution as one of the key activities of this area in the late nineteenth century. All of the artefacts recovered during these digs are held by the Melbourne Museum.
Several buildings still remain that were contemporary with Madam Brussel’s era. These include the former Black Eagle Hotel(built 1854) at number 42-44 Lonsdale Street and the worker's cottage at Number 17 Casselden Place (built 1877).
Caroline Hodgson’s former seaside property in St. Kilda still stands. A city laneway has been named after her, and a Melbourne bar also bears her name.
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
proprietor and local identity of the Little Lon district
Little Lon district
Little Lon was the popular name for a slum and red-light district in Melbourne, Australia.The area was roughly bounded by Lonsdale Street, Spring Street, Stephen Street and La Trobe Street. Little Lonsdale Street itself ran through the block, and the area was further divided by numerous narrow...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Victoria, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, during the late 19th century.
Life
Hodgson was born in PotsdamPotsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
; a daughter of John and Frederica Lohman. She married the well connected Studholme George Hodgson in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 18 February 1871 and the couple immediately migrated to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, arriving in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
on the ship Melmerby on 24 June 1871. In November 1872, Studholme joined the Victoria Police
Victoria Police
Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of Victoria, Australia. , the Victoria Police has over 12,190 sworn members, along with over 400 recruits, reservists and Protective Service Officers, and over 2,900 civilian staff across 393 police stations.-Early history:The Victoria Police...
and was placed in country Mansfield
Mansfield, Victoria
Mansfield is a small town in the foothills of the Victorian part of the Australian Alps. It is approximately 180 km north-east of Melbourne...
, leaving his 25 year old wife alone in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. By the end of 1874, Caroline, using the name 'Madame Brussels', was running a number of brothels, an occupation she continued successfully until 1907. When her husband became ill with tuberculosis in late 1892, Hodgson arranged for him to be nursed in at “Gnarwin,” a property she owned on Beaconsfield Parade, St Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
. He died in 1893. In 1895, Hodgson married German Engineer Jacob Pohl, who was at least 15 years her junior. However, Pohl suddenly disappeared to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
while they were on a trip to visit relatives in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1896. Despite a reconciliation in 1898, they were finally divorced in February 1907. Hodgson died the following year at her Lonsdale Street home suffering from diabetes and chronic pancreatitis
Pancreatitis
Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas. It occurs when pancreatic enzymes that digest food are activated in the pancreas instead of the small intestine. It may be acute – beginning suddenly and lasting a few days, or chronic – occurring over many years...
. She was buried at St Kilda Cemetery beside her first husband. She was survived by an adopted daughter, Irene
Career as a brothel keeper
The reason for Hodgson’s decision to turn to brothel keeping in 1874 is unknown, but Historian Leanne Robinson suggests women had relatively few options open to them as a means to survive the economic uncertainty of life alone in the colony. Domestic service was poorly paid, as were the few occupations open to women – such as dressmaking and teaching. Hodgson’s establishment of brothels in the Little Lon districtLittle Lon district
Little Lon was the popular name for a slum and red-light district in Melbourne, Australia.The area was roughly bounded by Lonsdale Street, Spring Street, Stephen Street and La Trobe Street. Little Lonsdale Street itself ran through the block, and the area was further divided by numerous narrow...
, suggests she received financial backing from “friends in high places”, a charge also made by Melbourne’s Truth newspaper during their long campaign against her. Justin McCarthy also suggests the elite sex industry offered an attractive financial and social independence for women.
Hodgson’s principal establishment, which was also her home, was located at 32-34 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Lonsdale Street is located in the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid, it runs roughly east-west. Lonsdale Street's eastern end intersects with Spring Street while its western end intersects with Spencer Street. It is home to multiple office buildings, courts,...
, not far from Parliament House
Parliament House, Melbourne
Parliament House in Melbourne, located at Spring Street in East Melbourne at the edge of the Melbourne city centre, has been the seat of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia, since 1855 .- History :In 1851, even before the colony of Victoria acquired full parliamentary self-government, Governor...
. The building was extravagantly furnished and catered to Victoria's commercial, political and judicial ruling class
Ruling class
The term ruling class refers to the social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that society's political policy - assuming there is one such particular class in the given society....
, acting much as a gentlemen's club
Gentlemen's club
A gentlemen's club is a members-only private club of a type originally set up by and for British upper class men in the eighteenth century, and popularised by English upper-middle class men and women in the late nineteenth century. Today, some are more open about the gender and social status of...
.
Eventually, Madame Brussels was forced to close in 1907, following increased efforts by the government to curtail prostitution.
Campaign against her and end of career
In the late 19th century Hodgson became the target of increasing vilification from newspapers and public figures. In his 1891 pamphlet The War between Heaven and Hell, religious crusader Henry Varley singled out Madam Brussels for particular scorn, describing her as an “accursed procuress,” who was protected by the city’s magistrates. In one famous passage, he claimed she had toured the streets of MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
“in charge of a beautiful young girl under twenty, with a white feather in her hat, telling by advertisement (the white feather) that maiden virtue was to be had for a price in her gilded den”
Edward Norton
Edward Norton
Edward Harrison Norton is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor...
’s Truth newspaper also regularly attacked her, reporting in detail any of her court appearances. For example, in March 1906, the paper ran the headline "Madame Brussels' Notorious Bawdy House: Her Junketing Jezebels," above drawings of her "flash" girls. A wealthy grazier had called the police after his watch and sovereign purse were stolen in the brothel. Later that year, in a major expose, the paper detailed Sir Samuel Gillott
Samuel Gillott
Sir Samuel Gillott was an Australian lawyer and politician, commonly known as a former Lord Mayor of Melbourne.-Early life:...
's many years of financial dealings with Hodgson. As Leanne Robinson notes, although Gillott
Samuel Gillott
Sir Samuel Gillott was an Australian lawyer and politician, commonly known as a former Lord Mayor of Melbourne.-Early life:...
“freely acknowledged his role as Caroline’s mortgagee, he claimed ignorance as to the nature of [her] business – despite the fact that, as a parliamentarian, he’d been instrumental in framing legislation against gambling and licensing and had chaired public meetings on the suppression of vice.” Within a week, Gillott
Samuel Gillott
Sir Samuel Gillott was an Australian lawyer and politician, commonly known as a former Lord Mayor of Melbourne.-Early life:...
had resigned and soon after returned to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and Hodgson had lost a significant ally.
In April 1907, after appearing in court charged under new laws with "owing and operating a disorderly house", the ailing Caroline Hodgson closed her brothels in Lonsdale Street. With failing eyesight, diabetes and chronic pancreatitis, she continued to live at her Lonsdale Street property until her death in July 1908.
Legacy
Hodgson’s former brothels at numbers 6-8 and 32-36 Lonsdale Street were demolished to make way for factories sometime before 1914. These factories were, in turn, demolished to make way for the Commonwealth building in the 1990s. Major archaeological investigations were conducted in the "Little LonLittle Lon district
Little Lon was the popular name for a slum and red-light district in Melbourne, Australia.The area was roughly bounded by Lonsdale Street, Spring Street, Stephen Street and La Trobe Street. Little Lonsdale Street itself ran through the block, and the area was further divided by numerous narrow...
" block in 1988-9 and 2003, but they did not include the site of Hodgson’s former properties. The studies did, however, establish prostitution as one of the key activities of this area in the late nineteenth century. All of the artefacts recovered during these digs are held by the Melbourne Museum.
Several buildings still remain that were contemporary with Madam Brussel’s era. These include the former Black Eagle Hotel(built 1854) at number 42-44 Lonsdale Street and the worker's cottage at Number 17 Casselden Place (built 1877).
Caroline Hodgson’s former seaside property in St. Kilda still stands. A city laneway has been named after her, and a Melbourne bar also bears her name.
External links
- http://museumvictoria.com.au/littlelons/index.html Museum Victoria's website on "Little Lon"