A Regency Era Sapphic Schoolteacher Scandal

In the Regency Era, reputation was all many working-class women had. When Edinburgh schoolteachers Marianne Woods and Jane Pirie were accused of sapphic behaviour by their student Jane Cumming, they lost everything. So they decided to sue their accuser's wealthy grandmother for libel. The legal case, Pirie and Woods vs Cumming Gordon, only fanned the flames of the scandal.

This week, our guest Indigo Dunphy-Smith walks us through the racism, classism, and homophobia that turned these rumours into a well-known scandal.

Learn more about Indigo's work at A Queer Was Here

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