Victorian gentleman, Arthur Munby, was fascinated by working-class women – the bigger
and dirtier they were the more he admired them. He met Hannah Cullwick, a servant,
in 1854. He was twenty-six and enjoying his hobby of collecting stories and
photographs of working women as specimens, when he spotted Hannah who was
twenty-one. He followed her and struck up a conversation. She was to be more than
an example: they fell into a mad love affair that lasted for fifty years. After a
nineteen-year courtship they married in secret in 1873 at the church of St James, Clerkenwell Close in London.
Secrecy vital
Hannah's family knew about Arthur from the beginning and were unhappy: it was turning their world upside down. Secrecy was vital, and if any of her employers knew that her sweetheart was a gentleman she would have been dismissed. Arthur would have lost his inheritance and his job, and his family and friends would have shunned him.
Class barriers
It was a passionate affair, secret times were spent in his chambers in the Temple, or they snatched moments in the kitchen at her work. Arthur travelled miles to catch a glimpse of her scrubbing the step or beating rugs against the railings. Sometimes he could only gaze at her, the class barriers were so impenetrable that chatting was out of the question.
Secrecy vital
Hannah's family knew about Arthur from the beginning and were unhappy: it was turning their world upside down. Secrecy was vital, and if any of her employers knew that her sweetheart was a gentleman she would have been dismissed. Arthur would have lost his inheritance and his job, and his family and friends would have shunned him.
Class barriers
It was a passionate affair, secret times were spent in his chambers in the Temple, or they snatched moments in the kitchen at her work. Arthur travelled miles to catch a glimpse of her scrubbing the step or beating rugs against the railings. Sometimes he could only gaze at her, the class barriers were so impenetrable that chatting was out of the question.
Pygmalion myth
Their attempts to 'walk out' as a couple were abandoned. Arthur had dressed her up as a lady in gloves, bonnet and shawls but working-class antennae were finely tuned to this odd coupling and Hannah would be stared at and abuse was yelled at her, but never him. Eventually they worked out a system where she would walk behind him and he turned and spoke covertly.
Last will and testament
Hannah and Arthur could never live openly as a married couple. It was not until his parents were dead and she had left London after a breakdown that he set her up as Mrs Munby in the country. After eighteen years of secrecy he told three college friends who disapproved mightily. He waited until he knew he was dying before he told his brother to brace himself for a storm, when his last will and testament would reveal the full story of his love for Hannah.
Their attempts to 'walk out' as a couple were abandoned. Arthur had dressed her up as a lady in gloves, bonnet and shawls but working-class antennae were finely tuned to this odd coupling and Hannah would be stared at and abuse was yelled at her, but never him. Eventually they worked out a system where she would walk behind him and he turned and spoke covertly.
Last will and testament
Hannah and Arthur could never live openly as a married couple. It was not until his parents were dead and she had left London after a breakdown that he set her up as Mrs Munby in the country. After eighteen years of secrecy he told three college friends who disapproved mightily. He waited until he knew he was dying before he told his brother to brace himself for a storm, when his last will and testament would reveal the full story of his love for Hannah.
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