‘The Foul Conspiracy to Screen Salisbury and Sacrifice Morton’: A Microhistory of Extortion, Resistance and Same‐Sex Intimacy in Early Nineteenth‐Century London

In the early nineteenth century, there was a concerted effort by the judiciary, media and the Home Department to close down official discussion and deny official recognition of same‐sex relationships and sex amongst men. The crime that dare not speak its name became a literal description. The offence of buggery or sodomy was replaced with — in official records and media reports. When the crime was discussed, as in the Vere Street case, it was condemned with increasing vigour as heinous and unnatural. The case Salisbury v. Morton 1827, reconstructed from the petitions and pardons archive, offers a rare insight into the lived experiences of men engaging in same sex relationships in London during this time. It also shows how the criminal justice system responded to these men, and how, in turn, they reacted to, used and manipulated the criminal justice system. Finally, this microhistory speaks to the intersection of class and sexuality as the context for legal decision‐making to reveal complexities and dynamics often missing from more generalized or structural histories of same‐sex intimacy.