Full-text databases and historical research: Cautionary results from a ten-year study abstract

Journal of Social History

Volumn 46, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 89-105

  Upchurch, Charles ^a  

^a FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84871521499     PISSN: 00224529     EISSN: 15271897     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/jsh/shs035     Document Type: Article

References (119)

1. Jeffrey Beall, "The Weaknesses of Full-Text Searching," The Journal of Academic Librarianship 34 (2008): 438-444
2. John W. East, "Subject Retrieval from Full-Text Databases in the Humanities," Libraries and the Academy 7 (2007): 227-241.
3. For recent work on effeminacy, friendship, and masculinity, see Philip Carter, "Men About Town: Representations of Foppery and Masculinity in Early Eighteenth-Century Urban Society," in Gender in Eighteenth-Century England: Roles, Representations and Responsibilities, ed. Hannah Barker and Elaine Chalus (New York, 1997
4. Philip Carter, Men and the Emergence of Polite Society: Britain, 1660-1800 (New York, 2001); and Matthew McCormack, The Independent Man: Citizenship and Gender Politics in Georgian England (Manchester, 2005).
5. For the most complete collection of eighteenth-century examples, see the eighteenthcentury timeline on the website of Rictor Norton, which makes freely available material from hundreds of incidents and examples.http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen
6. For representative works from the eighteenth century, see Randolph Trumbach, "Sodomy Transformed: Aristocratic Libertinage, Public Reputation and the Gender Revolution of the Eighteenth Century," Journal of Homosexuality 19 (1990): 105-24
7. Randolph Trumbach, Sex and the Gender Revolution, Volume One: Heterosexuality and the Third Gender in Enlightenment London (Chicago, 1998
8. Tim Hitchcock, English Sexualities: 1700-1800 (New York, 1997
9. nd ed. (Stroud, Gloucestershire, 2006
10. Theo Van der Meer, "The Persecutions of Sodomites in Eighteenth Century Amsterdam: Changing Perceptions of Sodomy," Journal of Homosexuality 16 (1988): 263-307
11. Jeffrey Merrick, "Sodomitical Inclinations in Early Eighteenth-Century Paris," Eighteenth-Century Studies 30 (1997): 289-95
12. For representative works covering the late nineteenth century see H. G. Cocks, Nameless Offences Speaking of Male Homosexual Desire in Nineteenth-Century England (London, 2003
13. Matt Cook, London and the Culture of Homosexuality, 1885-1914 (Cambridge, 2003
14. Sean Brady, Masculinity and Male Homosexuality in Britain, 1861-1913 (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, 2005
15. Morris B. Kaplan, Sodom on the Thames: Sex, Love, and Scandal in Wilde Times (Ithaca, 2005).
16. Charles Upchurch, Before Wilde: Sex Between Men in Britain's Age of Reform (Berkeley, 2009).
17. Brady, Masculinity and Male Homosexuality. Brady explains his search methodology in a footnote.
18. Jeffrey Weeks, Sex, Politics, and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality Since 1800 (London, 1981
19. Neil Bartlett, Who Was That Man?: A Present for Mr. Oscar Wilde (London, 1988
20. Alan Sinfield, The Wilde Century: Effeminacy, Oscar Wilde, and the Queer Moment (New York, 1994).
21. The number of hits for "indecent conduct" in the C19 Index version of the Palmer's Index did go up slightly after shortening the search period by one year, with eighty-two hits resulting from a search between 1801 and 1870. Searching 1820 to 1870 resulted in seventy hits.
22. "Police, Marlborough-street, Molyneux, Christopher, for Misbehaviour," Times, March 22, 1853, 8. "Christopher Molyneux, a young gentleman, nineteen years of age, reported to be nearly related to a family of distinction, and John Cody, a lad aged seventeen, having the appearance of a costermonger, were charged with having been found in Hyde-Park, on Sunday evening, inciting each other to filthy practices."
23. "Police, Marlborough-street, Solomons, Abraham, for Misbehaviour," Times, March 9, 1850, 7.
24. Times, February 5, 1874, 11.
25. Examiner, July 31, 1869
26. The quote from Macaulay was also used by Samuel Palmer on the title page of his indexes. Colin Kyte, "Indexing 'The Times,'" The Library Association Record 71 (1969): 6-7.
27. For examples of these short stories, see Times, February 5, 1874, 11
28. Times, October 11, 1875, 4
29. Times, June 26, 1876, 6
30. Times, February 18, 1881, 11
31. Times, January 25, 1890, 4
32. Times, November 14, 1895, 2
33. Times, March 31, 1910, 15.
34. CRIM 10/36, case 977, 566-7
35. While this language used by Constable Lane does not explicitly describe an act of same-sex desire, "exposing themselves to each other" is a euphemism for such acts that does occur in other unnatural assault cases.
36. CRIM 10/36, case 977, 566, emphasis added. For another example of a constable using the phrasing "indecently exposing themselves" to one another to denote sexual acts, see CRIM 10/39, Third Session, 1853-4, case 201, 266. In this instance, the phrase was used to describe a man and a woman who were accused of engaging in sexual acts in Hyde Park. The Session Papers also record that in case 1513 George Sharpe was found not guilty of 'unlawfully and indecently exposing his person' at the Old Court, Saturday, August 24, 1850. Reports in the Times from August 26, 1850 and July 6, 1850 make it clear that sharp had sexually assaulted a police officer.
37. CRIM 10/36, case 977, 568-9.
38. For just a few of the cases centering on sex between men listed in the Palmer's Index under "for Assault," see Times, July 17, 1810, 3 (Criminal Trials, Siney, Thos, for Assault, London Sessions)
39. Times, October 9, 3 (Criminal Trials - Carter H. for Assault) 1810
40. Times, October 18, 3 (Police - Cambridge, Rich., for Assault)1810
41. Times, October 30, 1810, 3 (Criminal Trials, Clerkenwell Sessions, Rowell, Geo., for Assault)
42. Times, October 24, 1818, 3 (Criminal Trials, Beach, W., for Assault)
43. Times, December 3, 1822, 3 (Criminal Trials, Admiralty Sessions, Parker, Jos., for Assault)
44. Times, October 29, 1824, 3 (Criminal Trials, Moore, Wm, for Assault); Times, September 26, 1825, 3 (Police, Mansion-house, Dorrien, Wm., for Assault)
45. Times, July 19, 1826, 3 (Police, Marylebone - Sanderson, Wm., for Assault)
46. Times, September 4, 1826, 3 (Police- Archdall, Lieut. Colonel Rich., for Assault)
47. Times, September 14, 1826, 3 (Police, Marlborough street-Archdall, Lieut. Colonel Rich., for Assault); Times, September 18, 1826, 3 (Police, Marlborough-street,-Archdall, Lieut. Colonel Rich., for Assault), Times, September 19, 1826, 3 (Police, Marlborough-street,-Archdall, Lieut. Colonel Rich., for Assault); Times, September 29, 3 (Police, Marlborough street,- Archdall, Lieut. Colonel Rich., for Assault)1826
48. Times, September 30, 3 (Police, Marlborough-street,-Archdall, Lieut. Colonel Rich., for Assault)1826
49. Times, February 24, 3. The term "for Assault" returned 7,037 hits in the C19 Index version of the Palmer's Index between 1820 and 1870, while only 458 hits were returned in a full text search of the Times Digital Archive for those same years.1827
50. Incidents identified using an indexing key term were also searched for using the names of individuals involved and any other unique terms that appeared in the newspaper report or other documentation.
51. Upchurch, Before Wilde, 26-9, 34-5, and 39-43.
52. Upchurch, Before Wilde, 123, 129, and 152.
53. Upchurch, Before Wilde, 109, 140-1, and 143.
54. Court of the Kings Bench, before the Lord Chief Justice. Bell's Life in London, February 26, 1826, 66.
55. James Byrne, Cobbett, and the eventual resulting libel trial between Hunt and Cobbett, see Bristol Mercury, September 16, 1822; Examiner, August 25, 1822
56. Examiner, September 8, 1822
57. Examiner, September 22, 1822
58. Examiner, October 6, 1822
59. Examiner, November 3, 1822
60. Examiner, November 10, 1822
61. Examiner, December 29, 1822
62. Examiner, February 26, 1826
63. Jackson's Oxford Journal, February 21, 1824
64. Leeds Mercury, August 10, 1822
65. Morning Chronicle, August 3, 1822
66. Morning Chronicle, August 10, 1822
67. Morning Chronicle, August 20, 1822
68. Morning Chronicle, September 9, 1822
69. Morning Chronicle, September 18, 1822
70. Morning Chronicle, September 19, 1822
71. Morning Chronicle, September 24, 1822
72. Morning Chronicle, October 11, 1822
73. Morning Chronicle, October 12, 1822
74. Morning Chronicle, October 30, 1822
75. Morning Chronicle, November 6, 1822
76. Morning Chronicle, June 18, 1823
77. Morning Chronicle, February 21, 1826
78. Times, August 3, 1822, 3
79. Times, August 5, 1822, 3
80. Times, September 6, 1822, 3
81. Times, September 17, 1822, 3
82. Times, October 8, 1822, 3
83. Times, October 11, 1822, 2
84. Times, November 2, 1822, 1
85. Times, June 4, 1823, 4
86. Times, June 5, 1823, 3
87. Times, June 7, 1823, 3
88. Times, June 18, 1823, 3
89. Times, February 18, 1824, 3
90. Times, May 8, 1824, 3
91. Times, May 10, 1824, 3
92. Times, May 12, 1824, 4
93. Times, May 13, 1824, 3
94. Times, June 3, 1824, 3
95. Times, July 3, 1824, 6
96. Times, November 17, 1824, 3
97. Times, April 16 1825, 3
98. Times, April 28, 1825, 3.
99. The Hull Packet, November 12, 1811
100. Jackson's Oxford Journal, November 9, 1811
101. The Morning Chronicle, November 4, 1811.
102. Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, October 12, 1822
103. Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, August 28 1824
104. Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, May14, 1825
105. Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, February 25, 1826; and Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, March 18, 1826.
106. Richard Ingrams, The Life and Adventures of William Cobbett (London, 2005), 238.
107. James Byrns, The Trial of Unfortunate Byrne, (Late Coachman to the Hon. John Jocelyn,) at the Suit of the Present and Absent Bishop of Clogher, Before the Commission, at the Sessions' House...October 28, 1811: For Accusing His Lordship of Endeavouring to Seduce Him to Commit an Unnatural Crime...to Which Is Annexed the Opinion of That Great Political Writer Mr. Cobbett, on the Late Abominable and Disgusting Transaction (Dublin, 1822
108. There was some suspicion that one of Cobbett's sons had written the affidavit attributed to Byrne, and this was part of the reason for Hunt pursuing the case. John Belchem, "Orator" Hunt: Henry Hunt and English Working-Class Radicalism (Oxford, 1985), 187.
109. Belchem, "Orator" Hunt, 187-8.
110. Ingrams, Life and Adventures of William Cobbett, 203.
111. Leonora Nattrass, William Cobbett: The Politics of Style (Cambridge, 1995
112. James Sambrook, William Cobbett (London, 1973
113. Anthony Burton, William Cobbett: Englishman, a Biography (London, 1997
114. M. L. Pearl, William Cobbett (Westport, Conn., 1953
115. Daniel Green, Great Cobbett: The Noblest Agitator (London, 1983).
116. Cole cites the Political Register, February 25, 1826
117. G. D. H. Cole and Frederick Ernest Green, The Life of William Cobbett (London, 1924), 298.
118. George Spater, William Cobbett: The Poor Man's Friend, (Cambridge, 1982), 487.2
119. Anna Clark, Scandal: The Sexual Politics of the British Constitution (Princeton, 2004). Castlereagh's suicide, brought about by threats of extortion stemming from an incident related to sex between men, was a cause for celebration among radicals, who saw him as one of the primary architects of the policies of the Liverpool administration. H. Montgomery Hyde, The Strange Death of Lord Castlereagh (London, 1959).