A SECRET BETWEEN GENTLEMEN
Lord Battersea’s Hidden Scandal and the Lives It Changed Forever
by Peter Jordaan
Alchemie. Books. 668 pages, $45.99
IN THE SUMMER of 1902, Great Britain was in the midst of preparing for the coronation of King Edward VII when a scandal broke that threatened to embroil some members of the gentry and even the new king, leading to a feverish high-level cover-up. The scandal involved the criminal procurement of young men for sexual favors for some thirty aristocratic gentlemen, including members of Parliament and the royal family. The ringleader of this group was the plutocrat and MP Cyril Flower, Lord Battersea, developer of the London suburb that bore his name. Considered the most handsome man in parliament, he was married to the heiress Constance de Rothschild.
This was a time when the aristocracy was powerful and protected by the British government, which worked to cover up any scandals that might arise in their midst. The elite could usually suppress police investigations along with newspaper coverage of these indignities. In A Secret Between Gentlemen, Peter Jordaan deftly unearths the story about a scandal of “gross indecency” and the cover-up that blocked it from view for over 100 years.
Illicit homosexual affairs were not uncommon at this time, and the people involved were often subject to blackmail by the procurers of sexual partners. But what if such introductions could be arranged by persons of one’s own class? This was the brainstorm that occurred to Cyril Flower, Lord Battersea, who resolved make this service a reality.
The Battersea affair began with the discovery of letters. At the turn of the century, the British Navy was filled with recruits who could be as young as fifteen years old. One such young sailor was found with letters indicating a sexual affair with an adult male. This led to an investigation that implicated another young sailor who was involved with the same type of sordid behavior. The real targets of these investigations were not the boys themselves but instead the adult males that they were involved with.
In the end, the investigation went forward, but so did the cover-up and the suppression of the scandal in the British press. Jordaan weaves a comprehensive and detailed story about the astonishing machinations that went on. He follows the investigation, the arrests, and the trial of Fraser and Thorold, and it exposes the privileged lives of people like Battersea. He also meticulously examines the workings of Edwardian society from the highest levels to lowest depths of the population. He describes the opulent lifestyle of Lord Battersea and his wife, along with their many political and philanthropic endeavors.
Contrasted with this, Jordaan takes us through the show trials of the two men who were designated to take the fall for the corruption of others. Fraser and Thorold were sentenced to hard labor in prison for ten and five years, respectively, while Battersea and the others were secretly granted immunity from prosecution and were free to go on with their opulent lives. Upon their release from prison, we learn, the two men who took the fall for this scandal rebuilt their lives. Thorold went to Australia and became a renowned educator and headmaster. Fraser fled to French Algiers and, with his inherited money, helped sponsor a very young Algerian composer with whom he had an intimate relationship.
A Secret Between Gentlemen is a carefully researched book that not only delves into an episode in early 20th-century British history but also provides an in-depth look at gay history in this era. The main story is one of great intrigue, filled with sex and crime and political scandal, outlandish lives, and an extraordinary cover-up. Unlike Oscar Wilde, Lord Battersea opted to use his connections and influence to escape prosecution and prison, a story that lay dormant for over a century.
William Burton is a writer based in Provincetown, MA.
